The Power of the Off..

Copywriting Genius: The Master Collection
The Power
of the Offer
“$20K Secret” Report
An expanded look at this
month’s high-level secret
that can boost your income
by $20,000... or more
American Writers & Artists Inc.
Copyright © 2007 by American Writers & Artists Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
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The Power of the Offer
By Sandy Franks
Editor, Copywriting Genius
Joseph Sugarman is world-famous for selling millions of pairs of his BluBlocker sunglasses via direct mail and television. In his book, Advertising Secrets of the Written Word,
Sugarman says that the headline, subheads and graphic elements of a promotion are there
for only one reason: to get the prospect to read the first sentence.
The first sentence, Sugarman continues, only exists to get the prospect to continue to
the second sentence. Likewise, the job of the second sentence is to get the prospect to read
the third. And so on.
Each sentence exists only to compel the prospect to read the next one, sending the
prospect down what Sugarman calls the “slippery slide” of your promotion.
At the end of that slide is a sale… but only if the prospect finds an offer at the bottom
of your slide that more than matches the value you’ve shown him on the way down.
The most compelling copy in the world can’t overcome a poorly designed offer. But
even mediocre copy can sell when the prospect sees real value in the offer.
But offers don’t stand alone… so let’s begin by looking at the big picture.
The complete offer includes everything the prospect gets when he places an order. And
that means we’ll be discussing the approach, premiums and guarantees, too – and how
they add to the strength of the offer.
Plus, we’re going to look at some real-world examples of compelling offers. We’ll delve
into them and figure out what makes them so successful.
And a successful offer starts with giving the prospect what he wants.
It’s All About What the Prospect Wants
In On the Art of Writing Copy, copywriting master Herschell Gordon Lewis wrote,
“Tell the reader what he wants to read, not what you want to sell.”
Page And that’s the first rule of a good offer: Make your product fit your prospect’s desires. In fact, that’s exactly what Doug D’Anna did in writing the control for KCI
Communications’ newsletter, Personal Finance (Monthly Copywriting Genius, issue #29).
As Doug explained in his
interview, “It’s a
perfect example
of matching what
you have to sell to
what the market
wants. This is a
general interest
newsletter being
marketed in a
‘high-tech 50 percent profit’ world.
Why would
anybody want to
subscribe to this
type of general
information?
“I said, ‘Let’s
make it look like
a tech letter.’
The client said,
‘But it’s not a
tech letter.’ I told
them, ‘That’s an
easy hurdle to
overcome. We’ll
cover some of the
basics, but we’ll
also focus on tech
stocks.’”
Page Notice how Doug emphasizes the new direction of his client’s product in
the offer. The client’s prospects desired high-tech stock information, so
Doug made the product meet those desires.
In this case, Doug convinced the client to actually change the product content to meet
the prospects’ desires.
The client went on to mail over 4 million pieces of Doug’s promo. (Think of the royalties on that!) And the response rate was 2.4%.
Matching the offer to the prospects’ desires is just the first step. An effective offer has
to appear to give good value, too.
You’re Not Really Selling What You’re Selling
Of course, the perception of
value comes first and foremost
from the copy. That’s why highlighting every advantage – and
answering every objection – in
the copy is so important.
And it’s also why successful
promotions “sell the sizzle, and
not the steak.”
Take a look at the cover of
this mail-order catalog for The
Teaching Company. There’s not
much about classes, recordings
or lectures here, is there?
Instead, “The Great Courses”
approaches the offer from the
aspect of adventure and uncovering secret knowledge. They
know that trying to sell recordings of lectures on history and
philosophy will appeal to a very
limited audience.
How many prospects would open this catalog if the cover
offered lectures on subjects such as The History of the
English Language and The Early Middle Ages? Not many I
would guess. It’s no wonder they’re selling the sizzle!
Page So, they use a backdrop of Egypt’s pyramids to hint at exotic adventure. And they tailor the headlines to appeal to their prospects’ emotional side: “Ancient Mysteries of Egypt
Unveiled”… “Time Travel”… and “6 Ways to Win Any Argument.”
Those sure sound more appealing than the real titles: “The History of Ancient
Egypt”… “Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics or NonScientists”… and “Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd Edition.”
The product may be recorded lectures, but they’re offering adventure, secrets and personal advantage. They’re selling the sizzle.
Let’s look at another
example:
This is a great example
of selling with “fascinations” from Reader’s
Digest.
Does this magalog cover even mention the word
“book”? No… yet that’s
the product they’re actually selling.
Instead they entice the
prospect with unexpected
uses for everyday items.
They’re offering insider
knowledge… money-saving advantages… an edge
over everyone else.
What these – and most
successful promotions
– are doing is framing the
prospect’s view of the offer
Page Can you tell exactly what the product is from this magalog’s
cover? No, it’s selling the benefits. At this point, the “product”
is transparent.
from the very start by focusing almost entirely on the benefits. The product itself is there,
but it’s nearly invisible.
This is what Michael Masterson calls “The Secret of Transparency.”
Each benefit your prospect can grasp adds to the perceived value of the product. By the
time he reaches the offer, he’ll associate all these benefits with the product. And if you’ve
provided enough credible benefits, he’ll see a product worth far more than the price asked
in the offer.
The Three Elements of an Offer
Up to this point, we’ve briefly discussed the copy elements that build up to the offer.
We’ve seen how the prospect’s desires determine how you’ll present the offer, and how
you really won’t sell the product so much as you’ll sell the benefits.
That’s laying the groundwork – the approach – to the offer. Now let’s take a look at
the offer itself.
Copywriter David Foley says, “Virtually every direct response offer is created from
three inter-dependent elements… Price, Incentives and Guarantee…”
And in Secrets of Successful Direct Mail, direct mail guru Richard Benson wrote that
the offer is “at least” the second most important element of any direct mail package. Only
the list, he said, can rival the offer in importance.
So, understanding each of the three elements is critical to a successful offer. In the
sections that follow, we’ll look at each element – with some real-life examples – in some
detail.
Price – Getting to the Bottom Line
Unless you’re selling your own product, the chances are that your client will have a set
price – or an idea of the price – he plans to charge. But that doesn’t mean that you, as the
copywriter, don’t have to think about price.
First, how does your client’s price relate to what his competitors charge for similar
products? Is his price similar? Much higher? Much lower?
Page Perhaps there is some feature of your client’s product that justifies a higher price than
the competition. Or your client’s cost of production may be so low that it allows him to
sell at a bargain price.
As you can see, either of these situations can provide you with great material for your
copy. (“The only
with
!” or “Price Breakthrough!”)
Both situations can also provide you with warning flags. If your product is priced
much higher than the competition, you’ll have to create more value for it with your copy.
If the price is significantly lower than the competition, you run the risk of your product
being seen as “cheap” rather than as a bargain.
Besides knowing what the competition is charging for similar products, there’s one
other important step to take with pricing. And that’s testing.
In Magic Words That Bring You Riches, Ted Nicholas identifies price as one of the 12
critical elements of any mailing and gives this advice: Allow your customers to set your
product’s “correct” price for you.
Now, that may sound crazy at first, but here’s what Nicholas is saying: Test prices.
You may be able to make a decent profit by selling a product at $24.95. But what if
you could sell the product at $29.95 with no drop in sales volume? Or even an increase
in sales volume. Just think, if you sold 1,000 units, that would be $5,000 in additional
profit.
Most experienced marketers test pricing. In fact, in Secrets of Successful Direct Mail,
Richard Benson wrote that even the non-profit producers of “Sesame Street,” Children’s
Television Workshop, regularly price-test their products!
Soft Offers vs. Hard Offers
Determining the most profitable price for your product is only one important aspect of
pricing. A second consideration is how you’ll ask the buyer to pay. And here, you generally
have two options – the soft offer and the hard offer.
A soft offer is basically a “bill me later” option. Soft offers often increase response, but
run the risk of the buyer failing to pay. And that increases fulfillment costs. Interestingly,
Page the increase in sales profit from the buyers who do pay up can often outweigh the costs of
those who don’t.
Hard offers are those that require payment with the offer. Response rates tend to be
somewhat lower than with soft offers, but up-front payment reduces losses.
Soft offers are commonly used to sell magazine and newsletter subscriptions and
books. Companies such as Boardroom and Nightingale-Conant frequently use soft
offers.
Most other offers are hard offers. Vitamin and health product marketers, catalog retailers and most other direct marketers generally use hard offers.
Following are examples of both a soft offer – for a newsletter subscription – and a hard
offer – for a self-help product.
The editors of Consumer Reports on Health make it easy to try their newsletter. It’s a
simple reply card. You don’t have to enclose anything or even check a box.
Notice how the order card says “Please do not send money.” This is a
classic soft offer.
On the next page, you’ll see that the folks at Lawrence Crane Enterprises take a different approach, using a hard offer. They even go so far as to specify “No COD’s.”
Page You’ll see soft offers
used most often where
the marketer’s cost for
the product is relatively
low.
Newsletters, for example, are fairly cheap to
produce, but can sell for
hundreds of dollars per
year. A low production
cost – coupled with a
relatively high sales price
– reduces the marketer’s
risk from “deadbeats”
who don’t pay or return
the merchandise.
A variation of the soft
offer is the “we’ll hold
your check” approach.
This is basically the
marketer’s promise not
to cash the buyer’s check
until after the guarantee
period has expired.
Probably the most
famous use of this novel
technique was Joe Karbo’s
“The Lazy Man’s Way to
Riches” promotion.
(See next page.)
“The Release Technique” uses a hard offer. No credit; no
COD’s. But they’ve stressed the savings and included a
“double guarantee.”
In this promo, Karbo promised to hold the buyer’s check for one day longer than the
guarantee period before depositing it. If the buyer wasn’t satisfied with the book, Karbo
promised to return the buyer’s original check, uncashed. And he was as good as his word.
Page Page While holding checks isn’t practical for most high-volume operations, it’s a very personal touch that can boost sales.
Incentives – Nudging Your Prospect off the Fence
The price the prospects pay usually isn’t just for the product itself. It’s for the offer in
its entirety – and that often includes incentives.
Premiums are the “extras” you offer with the product. They may be additional “bribes”
simply for placing an order, or they may be used to add an extra push to place an order
promptly or even to order a higher-volume option.
Sometimes your product itself may be great, but so seemingly insubstantial that throwing in plenty of “extras” is the only way to justify your price. (These may not always be
premiums.)
Take, for example, the popular hairstyling product from the early 1990s called the
TopsyTail, a simple plastic oval with an elongated tail. The TopsyTail made looping long
hair through itself easy, resulting in some striking hairstyles.
But the TopsyTail was still a simple plastic loop that couldn’t have cost more than just a
few cents to produce… and it wasn’t very impressive to look at, either. If the marketer had
tried to sell the product alone via direct response, it would have been hard to justify any
price that could have turned a decent profit.
So, the TopsyTail became the centerpiece of a styling set. At $14.95 (its current price),
the set – consisting of the TopsyTail, a TopsyTail Jr., a brush, a compact mirror, six “no
damage” elastics, a suction cup and an instruction guide – seems like a fair deal. And the
marketer can still make a good profit.
In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal, the TopsyTail and its related products
racked up $120 million in sales between 1991 and 2004. Not bad for a few cents’ worth
of plastic! (See ad on the next two pages.)
Page 10
Topsy Tail
Page 1 of 15
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If You Can Ponytail, You Can TopsyTail!
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Now you can create fabulous hairstyles
in just minutes with the Topsy Tail by
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http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/topsy_tail.html
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Page 11
Topsy Tail
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Here Are Some Other Great Products You Might Like!
TopsyTail ad continued
Newsletters, on the other hand, face a difficult situation by their nature. If you try to
sell a newsletter by highlighting past articles, your prospects will read only “oldAB
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can’t offer your prospects predictions. So what’s left?
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than the specific contents of the letter itself.
Second Opinion is a doctor-edited health newsletter from Soundview Publications.
Their 24-page magalog highlights a few important news stories on alternative
health
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therapies, the credentials of the author and the 17 premiums the prospect can get Kit
with her
Digi Draw Buy One, Get 1 FREE!
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There are a total of more than three pages of testimonials from Second Opinion readers,
but otherwise very little about the newsletter itself. But the value of the premiums alone
Core Sculp
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3/5/2007
In http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/topsy_tail.html
this case, the copywriter actually built almost the entire promotion around
the
strength of the incentives.
Page 12
Second Opinion uses a flood of premiums to create demand for their newsletter.
The content of the premiums is the focus of most of the promo copy.
Page 13
The piling on of incentives can create huge perceived value for offers. Inventor and
marketer Ron Popeil perfected this technique with such classic products as the Ginsu
knife, using his famous tag line, “But wait! There’s more!”
By the time Popeil finished listing all the free items you’d receive for buying his knives,
it felt like you were robbing him.
Another company that has successfully used this approach for years is Omaha Steaks.
How can you say “No” to $155.01 in free products? That’s nearly triple the price of the whole offer!
If you went to a nice restaurant, you could easily pay $59.99 for two filet mignon dinners. But Omaha Steaks offers you four filet mignon, plus four sirloins, four pork chops,
two portions of stuffed sole, eight “gourmet franks,” four burgers and 10 servings of au
Gratin potatoes for that price.
And to sweeten the deal, they throw in a six-piece knife set and six more burgers…
plus a free cutting board for ordering within 21 days. It’s hard to resist an offer like this.
They’ve just piled on the value – that’s about eight pounds of meat, plus the potatoes and
cutlery.
The incentives make this offer almost irresistible.
And incentives can be used to boost an offer in other ways. One of the most common
is to encourage a quick response.
Page 14
Marketers understand that their best chance of getting action from their prospects
is when they are reading the promo… while it’s right there in their hands. So they often
throw in an incentive to get the prospect to act quickly.
The prospect’s emotional
state is typically at its highest
while he’s reading the promotion. If he puts the promotion
down to “think about it,” the
chances are that you’ve lost him.
But the chance that he’ll miss
out on something valuable if he
doesn’t take quick action is often
enough to get the prospect to
act right away. A quick-action
bonus sews the seeds of potential regret… potential loss. If he
doesn’t act quickly, the prospect
will miss out. And this is a powerful incentive.
Conquering Resistance
With Your Guarantee
The third element of your offer – the guarantee – is unique.
Price has an obvious affect on
the bottom line. Set it too low,
and your profits suffer. Set it too
high, and orders drop off... and
profits suffer.
Premiums also affect the bottom
line. While they can increase sales,
every premium you add to an offer
increases your cost.
True Health has a fairly expensive product – $39.95 for
one month’s supply of vitamins. They use premiums to
encourage prospects to order the higher-volume options. Then they add another premium – an additional
report valued at $19.95 – to encourage prospects to
order quickly.
Page 15
But guarantees are different. Guarantees are free. And, contrary to what you might
think, the more generous your guarantee, the less it costs.
This principal is so important that it bears repeating: The more generous your guarantee, the less it costs.
In How to Write a Good Advertisement, Victor Schwab
points out that – except when the product is shoddy
– only a tiny fraction of buyers will take advantage of the
guarantee and that you should make as “liberal” a guarantee as possible.
Ted Nicholas echoes this in even clearer terms in
Magic Words That Bring You Riches. Regarding the
length of the guarantee, Nicholas writes, “… generally the
longer the period, the less returns.”
What’s going on here? How can it be that extending
a guarantee would reduce returns? The answer is in the
psychology.
Imagine that you’ve just purchased a new $200 raincoat via mail order. The company promises that the
raincoat is 100% waterproof and 100% breathable. And
they’ve backed it up with a 30-day guarantee.
You have 30 days to decide if your $200 investment
was a wise one. But it’s the dry season. Two weeks go by,
and no rain. You’re getting a little nervous. You only have
two weeks left to see if that $200 raincoat is really worth
the money.
Another week goes by, and still no rain. Do you take a
chance? Do you maybe throw away $200? Or do you send
the coat back, since the 200 bucks in your pocket is a sure
thing?
Page 16
Lands’ End has the strongest
guarantee in the business:
“Guaranteed. Period.” They
are legendary for accepting
any of their products back
– at any time, for any reason.
The result: Lands’ End customers are among the most
loyal in the apparel market.
With only 30 days to make up your mind, the deadline is always in front of you.
Thirty days is not a long time. It’s easy to keep track of 30 days. And you send the coat
back.
Now imagine you’ve purchased the same $200 raincoat. But this time, the company
gives you a one-year guarantee. So what if it doesn’t rain for two weeks? You still have
more than 96% of the warranty period to go.
The chances of it not raining sometime in the next year are virtually zero. You’ve got
no worries. You’re comfortable and confident… and you’re not counting the days.
And that’s what happens when you offer a longer guarantee period. You appear more
confident to the prospect, so she has more confidence in your product. You’ve just increased your response rate at no extra cost.
Plus, the longer the guarantee period, the less reason – and greater difficulty – for your
prospect to keep track of the day the guarantee expires. And the fewer returns you’ll get.
Now let’s look at a slightly different situation.
The length of the guarantee period isn’t your only consideration. Sometimes a guarantee isn’t much of a guarantee at all. And that’s the case with this NetZero promotion on
the next page.
NetZero sent prospects a postcard titled “We’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse.”
Most of the copy in this promotion was in the fine print. But it’s the “guarantee” that really capped it.
Their “Connection Guarantee!” is actually this: If you can’t manage to get on the
Internet at least once during your first month of service, they’ll refund your first month’s
fee. Provided you ask for the refund before the month is up.
Think about that for a minute. You can’t know if you qualify for the refund until after it’s too late to ask for it. And then NetZero will keep your money – even though they
failed to provide the service you paid for!
Page 17
What’s NetZero guaranteeing here? If you zoom in and read the fine print, it’s just that you’ll
get online at least once during your first month of service. And you have to request the refund
before the month is over!
Now contrast NetZero’s meaningless “guarantee” with the one from AWAI on the
next page:
Page 18
Notice how AWAI has made this guarantee personal. Plus, there are no strings, no questions.
And the prospect has a full 90 days to decide. This is a guarantee that makes the prospect feel
secure placing the order.
This is not only a great guarantee, but the entire order device is textbook. The agreement statement is strong – and personal. It restates the main benefits. The instructions
are clear and simple. And with four ordering options, it couldn’t be easier to place an
order.
And that brings us to one other consideration about offers: the order device.
The Order Device – Your Offer in a Nutshell
The best offer in the world can be killed by a poorly designed order device. In fact,
multi-millionaire marketer and copywriter Ted Nicholas says that the biggest mistake
that most copywriters make is to write the order device last.
Page 19
Nicholas places so much importance on the order device that he writes the copy for his
order cards immediately after the envelope… and he writes the envelope first.
Nicholas says that saving the order device for last means you’ll be writing when you’re
“out of gas” – even though it’s one of the most important components of any direct mail
package. It presents your entire sales message in a nutshell, and it’s your last opportunity
to make the sale.
Imagine you’re madly in love with someone. You’re spending what may be your last
evening together. You’ve had a wonderful romantic dinner… candlelight, soft music,
champagne… the whole nine yards.
You’re about to say good night, and this is your last opportunity to convince the love
of your life that they should agree to spend the rest of your lives together. If you don’t seal
the deal tonight, you’ll lose your ideal mate forever.
How important would what you say in your last few minutes together be? Would you
perhaps put all your effort into one final, emotional, persuasive pitch?
You bet you would!
And that’s your order device. While not all your prospects will stick with you to that
point, a percentage will. And many of those will still be just a bit unsure about the sale.
But if they’ve stuck with you as far as the order device, they’re at least 90% convinced.
So pitch them as if they were the love of your life and this was your last chance to win
their heart.
That doesn’t mean you should get all soppy in your order device… but consider the
AWAI example we looked at earlier. Notice how it starts with a clear – personal – statement of what the prospect wants. How it puts the benefits in personal terms. How it
reiterates what the prospect will receive when she orders. How it removes any risk with a
clear and strong guarantee.
All of the ordering requirements are clear and simple. And there are four ordering
options. It couldn’t be any easier to place an order. The copywriter has left nothing out
– and nothing to chance.
Page 20
A Powerful Offer That Sells
Many direct marketers do a good job of building a powerful offer. But it’s the rare company that can top self-improvement giant Nightingale-Conant. To see how a spectacularly successful company consistently outsells the competition, let’s analyze the offer as
presented on a typical Nightingale-Conant order device.
Nightingale-Conant is a master of the powerful offer. This order device is a classic
example from beginning to end.
First, notice how the order device doesn’t say “Order Form” – or anything like it – at
the top. No, this is “Your 30-Day Free-Trial Certificate.” Even the name of the order device conveys a benefit.
The name is followed immediately by a promise: “Your key for wealth, success and
happiness.” Doesn’t everyone want those things?
The agreement statement recaps the main benefits in a personal way, reminds the prospect of how he’ll receive these benefits and then restates the absence of risk.
Page 21
The order device then reiterates exactly what the prospect will receive – and reminds
him of the fast-response incentive.
At the top of the second column, the order device reminds the prospect that this is a
soft offer. What better way to tell a prospect that you trust them than to let them preview
your product for a full month?
For most companies, the 30-day free trial would be enough. But not for NightingaleConant. They take “no risk” to a new level by offering a one-year money-back satisfaction
policy. And it’s “no questions asked.” You just can’t make ordering any less risky. Even the
“iffiest” prospects will order now. They simply can’t lose.
Below the satisfaction policy are two additional ways to take advantage of the free trial
offer – faster. They’ve made ordering about as convenient as it can get.
At the bottom of the form is a reiteration of the call to action. Almost no one repeats
the call to action on their order device… but Nightingale-Conant does. This may help explain why they’re at the top of their industry.
Finally, take the time to read the vivid picture on the tear-off stub on the right. This
is what the prospect holds onto when she sends in her order card. It’s filled with powerful promises. And it’s the last thing the prospect reads. It’s almost like a new lead, and it
builds excitement and anticipation for the product.
Page 22
Three Tricks to Make
Your Offers Tantalizing
There are several tricks that pros use to make their offers almost irresistible. I’m going
to share three of the best with you here. When you master these three techniques, you’ll
be able to create offers that draw prospects like flies to honey.
Technique #1 - Minimize the Cost
This trick involves reducing your price to its smallest reasonable component. Here’s
what I mean:
Imagine you want to sell a financial newsletter. The newsletter costs $249.00 a year – a
fairly steep price.
You could simply state the cost: “And it’s only $249.00 for a year’s subscription.” But
many prospects would see $249.00 as a big investment. That’s a tough hurdle for a copywriter to get over with the average investor.
So, you minimize the price since $249.00 per year sounds expensive. But “less than
$63.00 per quarter” sounds less daunting, doesn’t it?
But why stop there? “Less than $21.00 a month” seems like an even smaller investment. And “less than five bucks a week” sounds even more reasonable.
Finally, we come to the smallest logical division – by day. “And you get a full year of
Super Financial Newsletter for just 68 cents a day!” Sixty-eight cents a day is dirt cheap to
pretty much everyone. It successfully makes the price of your newsletter seem very small
indeed.
To really hit home with how cheap your price is, add a comparison to something inexpensive. For example, the Starbucks chain raised the price of their coffee drinks to $3.05
in October 2006. So, using the classic “cup of coffee” comparison…
“That’s just 68 cents a day. Your morning latte at Starbucks costs almost five times as
much!”
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An example of a sales letter that minimizes the cost.
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An example of minimizing the cost continued.
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Technique #2 - Compare Apples to Oranges
Another way you can minimize your product’s price is to use the “apples-to-oranges”
technique.
Let’s stick with the newsletter example.
Again, you’re trying to make $249.00 a year sound like a bargain. A price comparison
could be strong – but not one involving products just like yours.
What I mean is this: Don’t try to make your $249.00 financial newsletter seem like a
bargain by comparing it to a $500.00 financial newsletter. Chances are, this strategy will
backfire. And that’s because your prospect will probably know about the $99.00 financial
newsletters also available.
But your comparison is safe when you compare your newsletter to something other
than another newsletter. For example:
“Jones Financial Consultants is rated as a top-five Wall Street firm. They keep their
fingers on the pulse of the financial market and update their clients every month with
their latest findings and recommendations.
“But Jones charges their clients more than $3,500.00 a year for theses services!
“At Super Financial Newsletter, we monitor the same sources that Jones does. We consult the same authorities. We subscribe to the same data feeds. But with Super Financial
Newsletter, you get your monthly updates for just $249.00 a year. That’s a savings of
more than $3,251.00 a year!”
Now, is subscribing to your financial newsletter the same thing as using Jones’ services?
Not really. But every point you’ve made is true. And it makes your newsletter look like a
steal.
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An example of an “apples-to-oranges” comparison.
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Technique #3 - Add It All Up
If your product comes with a bundle of premiums, you have an opportunity to increase
the perceived value of the offer by adding the value of the premiums to the price of the
product. Here’s how it’s done:
“You get a full year of Super Financial Newsletter at our lowest subscription price…
Plus the special report – Buying Gold: 6 Ways to Triple Your Investment in 6 Months
– valued at $39.95… Plus the two bond calculators, valued at $29.95 each… Plus 3 white
papers – Oil Opportunities, Platinum Bargains, and Leveraging Your Way to Wealth – valued at $24.95 each… Plus you get our Investment University CD set, valued at $199.00…
all for just $249.00.
“That’s a total value of over $622.00… for only $249.00.”
Do you see how easy that was? You’re sending the premiums anyway, so just add their
(reasonable) retail values to the price of the product. This makes the value of what the
prospect receives seem huge in comparison to what they’re paying.
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An example of adding up values
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Build Your Own Irresistible Offers
The power of the offer is cumulative. It’s the culmination of everything that goes before it. Every word of your copy should build towards making the offer seem like a “nobrainer” to the prospect. It should make not ordering seem foolish.
To do this, you make the copy all about the prospect and fulfilling his desires. You sell
the benefits, not the product. You offer the product at a price that seems like an irresistible value. You often use incentives (premiums) to increase the perceived value of the offer. And you offer a guarantee that’s as strong as it can possibly be.
Together, these elements create the power of your offer. Done well – as in the AWAI
and Nightingale-Conant offers we reviewed – your offer will draw a tremendous
response.
We’ve covered a lot of ground in this report. Probably a lot more than you expected.
But now you understand how important the offer is – and how closely connected it is to
everything else in your copy.
Now you understand how the great masters of copy view the offer. How it is perhaps
the single most important element of your promotions. With this knowledge, you’re now
prepared to craft offers that out-pull the competition… and establish you as a master
closer.
Exercise
You’ve seen how price, incentives and guarantee work together as components of the
offer. In this exercise, you’ll analyze these components in three promotions.
First, select three promos – either from your mail or from your swipe file. But choose
promos for a variety of dissimilar products, so that you’ll get a better idea of how different
copywriters/marketers craft offers for different types of products.
Answer the following questions for each of the promos you’ve selected:
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Promotion #1
1. What is the product? 2. What is its price? 3. Does this seem reasonable, based on the value the copywriter has given the product in
the copy? Why or why not? 4. What incentives are being offered? 5. Do the incentives make sense for this product? Why or why not? 6. What is the guarantee?
7. Is the guarantee effective? Why or why not? 8. Which elements would you change… how would you change them… and why?
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Promotion #2
1. What is the product? 2. What is its price? 3. Does this seem reasonable, based on the value the copywriter has given the product in
the copy? Why or why not? 4. What incentives are being offered? 5. Do the incentives make sense for this product? Why or why not? 6. What is the guarantee?
7. Is the guarantee effective? Why or why not? 8. Which elements would you change… how would you change them… and why?
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Promotion #3
1. What is the product? 2. What is its price? 3. Does this seem reasonable, based on the value the copywriter has given the product in
the copy? Why or why not? 4. What incentives are being offered? 5. Do the incentives make sense for this product? Why or why not? 6. What is the guarantee?
7. Is the guarantee effective? Why or why not? 8. Which elements would you change… how would you change them… and why?
As you add new promotions to your swipe file, pay attention to the offers. Which ones
seem like irresistible deals – and which ones don’t? Try to determine why some make you
want to buy, while others leave you cold. Take notes on what works. As you do, your own
offers will become more and more powerful.
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BONUS ARTICLE
Don’t Let a Poorly Designed Response Device Ruin Your Sale
By Kristin Schwarz
After the headline and lead, the most important component of your sales package is the response device (a.k.a. the order form). If your prospect runs into a poorly done response device,
he’ll often get frustrated and give up.
That’s why it’s a mistake to throw the response device together at the last minute, spending
most of your time on the sales letter itself.
In her book Direct Mail that Sells, Sandra Blum suggests designing the order device first,
even before the sales letter. Not easy – but an excellent starting point to build the rest of the
package around. The other pieces in the package should be designed to get people to take action on the order device, so lead them to it visually and psychologically.
When designing the response device, consider the following two factors…
First: The response device has to get attention. While it’s necessary to include a lot of information, the look and feel of the order form must convey “look at me” and “I’m easy to read.”
Effective response devices often have distinguishing graphics like certificate borders, dotted
lines with scissors, or other visual cues. It may seem to you that they are over-used in the industry... but they work. Don’t disregard their power to attract your prospect’s attention.
Second: Your response device has to sum up the offer and ultimately close the sale. In fact,
it should be capable of closing the sale on its own. The reader should not have to look at anything else in the mailing to know (1) that this is a great offer and (2) how to respond.
The copywriter should have supplied you with appropriate copy to do this. But as the designer, it’s your responsibility to see that it is visually appealing, while not detracting from the
sales message.
If the copywriter hasn’t written response device copy that closes the sale, get in touch with
him and encourage him to do so.
To compare good versus poor order devices, go to your swipe file and pull a few pieces.
Without looking at the envelope teaser or the letter, study each order form.
Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for in a successful response device:
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 Is it cluttered or easy to read?
 Can you tell just by looking at it what service or product is being sold?
 Is it easy to understand? The design should make it easy enough for a 10-year-old child.
 Is it easy to find in the package… or does it get lost among other components? The
response device is the pivotal point in getting a prospect to move from consideration to
decision. It must stand out.
 Is the offer clearly stated?
 Does it give clear instructions on how to respond by telling the prospect exactly what
to do?
 Does it highlight the guarantee? The guarantee is a very important component of the
package. It has to look attractive.
 Are all the prices and terms easy to understand?
 Are shipping and handling costs clearly stated?
 Are time limits clearly stated?
 Is the return address on the order device (even if a response envelope is included in the
package)?
 Is it easy to fill out, with enough space for all the information? (This is especially
important for older responders.)
 Are boxes provided for credit cards? This not only makes it easier to respond, it also
helps to keep the response device organized.
 Does the response device fit easily into the envelope used to mail the promotion?
(When you’re designing an order device, fold and insert it into the envelope. Make
sure the headline faces out and the fold line doesn’t interrupt it.)
 If the package is a window envelope and the prospect’s address from the order device
is supposed to show through the window, is there enough room for it? (For the order
devices that you design, do a “tap test.” Tap your reply envelope on the right side, left
side, and bottom to make sure it does not shift and that the address shows though
properly with the appropriate clearances.)
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