Want to Write a Harder Hitting Lead? Here’s What You Should Do!

Recently, I read a turmeric VSL (video sales letter) lead that was off to a great start. The approach the writer took was to highlight the difference between what made a turmeric supplement junk and what made one good. This was a great approach and direction, but if you were looking to make your lead a little harder-hitting, here’s a tried and true method:

Amplify Your Customer’s Curiosity Factor

The goal here is piquing your customer’s curiosity and snowballing it into fever pitch — giving the viewer no choice but to continue watching your VSL or reading your sales letter in order to satisfy that curiosity. But what methods can copywriters use in order amplify and build curiosity in our viewers and customers?

Digging Deeper and Getting Specific

A little specificity goes a long way. Dig deeper and get specific about major points and fascinations. The goal here is to give your audience more meat to chew on. To illustrate my point, here’s a segment from the original turmeric VSL lead:

“But the fact is, most turmeric supplements aren’t as effective as they should be and there are hundreds of turmeric supplements to choose from.

So how can you tell which ones work, which ones don’t, and more importantly…

What’s the best turmeric supplement for you?”

Isolating the Major Points

This is an important point because nobody wants to waste their money.

People want to buy something that will work for them. They want to buy something that gives them results they can see or feel.

The problem with the statement above is simple — it’s pretty vanilla and not compelling enough.

Make it More Compelling by Focusing on Fascination

Here’s a hypothetical example of how the statement above could be better:

“A shocking new study from Columbia University has just revealed up to 70% of turmeric supplements may be worthless garbage.

In fact, you may be better off taking that new bottle and dumping it down the toilet.

But fear not, in just a moment, we’re going to reveal 3 red flags that instantly give away when a supplement is nothing but a cheap money grab.

Most people would never think of these things but once you’re in the know, you’ll be able to look at any supplement label and within 10 seconds, know if it’s a stud or a dud.”

Why This Works

This statement gets very specific by providing statistics, mentioning credible institutions, and amplifying emotional impact. The mention of an institution like Columbia University instantly gave this statement credibility. By doing so, your customers and prospects are more inclined to continue watching because you’ve established credibility and trust.

Additionally, this statement is more compelling because of word choices that amplify emotional impact and livens up the copy.

Getting specific will help you make a more compelling argument, hooking your prospects in and piquing their interest.

Disclaimer

This hypothetical fix could be better and less wordy, but I encourage copywriters to dive deeper with emotion and specifics into the major points and fascinations of your health supplement copy.

If you are able to dig in and get more specific, you’ll be able to write more compelling copy by piquing interest and curiosity, turning a good lead into a great one that converts on cold traffic.

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How to Add Instant Credibility to Your Health Supplement Copy

There is one thing every health supplement or info product needs to close more sales, and that is credibility. If you’re new in the market, you may not have much in the way of testimonials and reviews. Additionally, if you don’t have a doctor or medical guru as the face of your company, you may feel stuck. If you need a little help with positioning your product, here is a simple but powerful tip that will instantly boost your product’s credibility.

Establishing Credibility from the Get-Go

Establishing your product’s credibility and building trust early on is very important. One simple way to do that is by finding a connection to a Nobel prize winner in medicine, or to an Ivy League university, like Harvard. This connection can be research that has been conducted, or to a doctor.

Making those connections to your product will provide very strong proof elements.

If possible, making a connection to a Nobel prize recipient will be the strongest form of credibility. This is because the award is only presented once a year and to (normally) one person at a time.

Making the Connection in Your Copy

To do this, first look for a connection between an ingredient in your health supplement to research done by either a Nobel prize winner or research conducted at an Ivy League institute.

But if you can’t find a direct connection, don’t give up!

Applying this Strategy

I ran into this problem while writing sales copy for a new health supplement. Although I wasn’t able to find a direct link between credible research and an ingredient found in the supplement, I was able to make a connection between a Nobel prize recipient and the mechanism behind the problem this supplement solves.

No Direct Connection? No Problem!

The connection doesn’t need to be direct in order to establish credibility. In my case, the scientist who discovered the mechanism behind the problem worked at a lab ran by another scientist who won a Nobel prize.

It’s completely unrelated but because the scientist who discovered the mechanism was working on the team in the lab of that former Nobel prize winner, that connection gives the supplement an instant credibility boost.

Get Creative!

If you can’t find a direct connection between research and your product, find it with the mechanism behind the problem or the mechanism of the solution.

Expand your field and get creative. Do a little digging and allow yourself to go down a few Google rabbit holes.

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5 Ways to Use Urgency to Close the Sale

Last week, we looked at a sales email I received from the Healthy Back Institute. While the article focused on why the “Bait and Switch” technique is a no-go in a sales email, I want to talk about something that they did really well and could do even better, and that is getting creative with a story and ramping up the urgency to close the sale.

Recap

If you didn’t read last week’s article, I received a sales email from the Healthy Back Institute about their Infrared Heating Pad. They attributed chronic back pain to the lack of oxygen and stagnant blood circulation and included an MRI image of what the before and after results were after using their product.

It was convincing.

They added an angle to their sales email about how the heating pad works so well, customers would write in about how their friends would steal it and not give it back.

The story may or may not be made up, but it’s a creative way to position and segue into the urgency of purchasing the product.

The Close

While the Healthy Back Institute did provide a sense of urgency in their sales email, they were not specific about it.

Here are 5 ways it could be better:

1) Time Sensitive Phrases

Giving specific time frames will really ramp up the feeling of urgency and drive readers to purchase the product you’re selling.

Examples include:

“Discount expires in X days/hours”

“X more hours to save big”

“Act fast and receive X% off. Limited time only”

“Free shipping if order is placed within the next X hours”

2) Ramp up the Sense of Scarcity

An emphasis on scarcity gives you readers a sense of missing out, or even better, FOMO (fear of missing out).

Using phrases like:

“Only # left in stock”

“# units available worldwide”

“While supplies last”

will help you strengthen the close.

3) Include a specific deadline

Similar to time sensitive phrases, including a specific deadline will encourage your prospects to place their orders as soon as possible because time is running out.

Some specific deadline phrases to include in your email:

“Sale ends Saturday, 10 PM (PST)”

“Now until May 30th”

4) Help to solve a problem

If there’s a holiday coming up, this is tool to utilize at the end of your sales email.

Try these phrases out:

“Order in the next X days to receive before Christmas Eve”

“Last minute shopping for mom? Order today and we’ll deliver it right on Mother’s Day”

5) Leverage your hot products

Do you have products that sell out quickly? Use this to your advantage!

Phrases like:

“Don’t miss out again! Order now!”

“Back in stock! Order now before it sells out again!”

“They’re back! Get them while supplies last”

will be sure to grab your prospects attention and to place their orders immediately.

A little specificity goes a long way

A little specificity in your sales email will help you create a sense of urgency and necessity. These are just 5 ways in which you can create urgency around your product to strengthen your close.

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Why You Should Avoid the “Bait and Switch” Technique in Your Sales Email

Open rates are an important metric for every sales email you send, but they shouldn’t be the main focus. The main goal of a sales email is to sell a product, program, or whatever it is the email is promoting. This is a common mistake that I see a lot of major brands and businesses make. The “Bait and Switch” technique may increase your open rates, but it might actually hurt your sales. Let me demonstrate with an example.

Wait, Who’s This From?

I received a sales email from the Healthy Back Institute — a hugely successful company in the pain relief market. They have a whole suite of products from supplements, information products, to physical products that target people who suffer from different types of chronic pain.

Immediately, I noticed something was off. The “From” name portion of the email didn’t identify the sender… Instead, it said “Photo of Adam”, followed by a subject line that read “Your MRI Results”.

Pretty alarming, right? Naturally, I clicked it.

Not REALLY My MRI Results…

Of course I knew it wasn’t my MRI results, but I needed to see what the body of the email was all about.

The sales email itself was well-written. The purpose of the email was to sell an infrared heating pad for your back. This is backed up a case they presented of how stagnant blood flow could be the cause of your back pain.

And to drive the point further, they included a before and after MRI scan of how using an infrared heating pad could improve your chronic pain.

A strong angle (stagnant blood flow causing chronic pain), coupled with strong imagery (MRI scans with before and after using an infrared heating pad examples), became a great segue into the product they want to sell.

However…

While the body of the email was strong, I couldn’t get over the “Bait and Switch” or click-bait nature of the email.

When writing a sales email, it’s important to understand your demographics.

I’d imagine that the demographics of Healthy Back Institute tend to be on the older side. Some of their customers and prospects may suffer from multiple health issues and may actually be waiting for MRI results.

Although the initial panic and anxiety caused by the “From” name and subject line lasts a couple of seconds, the reader is going to feel a little annoyed that these “results” is really just a means to get you to buy. It’s a sales email in disguise.

Here’s What to do Instead

The “From” name portion should either be from the company itself, or the company’s founder. An honest, straightforward approach where the subscriber knows who the email is from keeps the communication clear.

As for the subject line, instead of saying “your MRI results”, which could be severely misleading, say “Do your MRI results look like this?”

A slight tweak can make a huge difference.

It still has an element of curiosity, but it isn’t bait and switch. You won’t be fooling anyone into opening that email.

In the End

The body of this specific email is so strong that it doesn’t really need to use this technique. The “bait and switch” technique comes off as dishonest, and that’s the last thing you want to have your audience think when you’re trying to sell to them.

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How to Activate the “Buying” Chemical in Your Customer’s Brain

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some switch in your prospect’s brain that would make them more inclined to buy your product?

Unfortunately, things aren’t that simple. But lucky for you and me, there’s a certain chemical responsible for all our buying and purchasing decisions.

The “Buying” Chemical

Meet Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body. For copywriters, marketers, and entrepreneurs, this is the “buying” chemical that is in charge of your customer’s purchasing habits.

We all know dopamine as the feel-good chemical. This good feeling, in turn, motivates people to repeat whatever behavior that causes it.

With that being said, it’s no wonder that if we can trigger this chemical in our customer’s brain, we’ll see better conversions in our sales copy.

Trigger this “Buying” Chemical Throughout Your Copy

If you’re writing a long-form sales letter, you want to give your reader repeated hits of dopamine. While there are many ways in which you can achieve this, my favorite and go-to method is to educate and share something NEW.

Our brain releases dopamine whenever we discover something we’ve never encountered before. In your sales copy, this can be in the form of a…

• unique mechanism
• new perspective
• new benefit your prospect will receive
• new concept
• new story or piece of news

In Conclusion

If your sales copy is educating, providing value, and entertaining with some type of new piece of information or content, it will trigger the “buying” chemical in your reader’s brain.

Pro-tip, do this throughout your sales message to get your prospect in that feel-good mindset. This will help prime them to get excited to hit “purchase” by the time they get to your offer.

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Don’t Let a Good Story Ruin Your Sales Copy (A Hard Lesson in Story Seduction)

There’s power in a good story. Every copywriter knows that. Even marketers and business owners know just how convincing a good story can be.

When done correctly, a good story is an incredibly powerful engagement tool. It will push all the right emotional buttons and get your prospect to buy your product. When done correctly.

But be warned…if you aren’t careful, this powerful tool could work against you and hurt the response rate of your sales copy. The key to making a story work for you and boost sales is all in the “bridge” as you’ll see in a moment.

First, what should you do when you’re equipped with a really cool story and want to maximize it’s potential?

Pin it & Read it Later

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3 Rules For Incorporating a Good Story in Your Sales Copy

So you think you have a good story, but is it a powerful engagement tool for the sales copy you’re writing? Here are 3 rules to run your story through to make sure it’s working to get your prospects to buy your product.

1 ) Your Story is Relevant

This goes without saying. In order for your story to work for your sales copy, it has to be relevant to your ideal customer, the problem you’re helping them solve, and to the solution (aka your product).

2) Your Story Has to be Interesting and Compelling

The best stories are always emotionally charged. Does your story spark an emotional response with your reader? Is it a positive or negative response? Both can work well when used in the right context.

3) Your Story Should Build a Strong Bridge Between the Problem and the Solution

This is the most important point! If your story passes both point 1 and 2, think about how you can utilize it to bridge the problem to the solution. This was something I had to learn the hard way.

How a Good Story Should (and Shouldn’t) Bridge the Problem and the Solution

I had a client who wanted me to write a newspaper advertorial for their new brain health supplement. The target market for this supplement were elderly men and women who were worried about getting older and the health complications that come with age, such as the decline of cognitive brain function.

During my research, I found a cool story about these 5 Tribes of Super Agers, which are 5 different ethnic groups from different parts of the world who are living active, healthy lives well into their 90s and beyond. The story is relevant to my target audience, and it’s interesting and compelling enough to rope in any reader.

Unfortunately, the advertorial completely bombed (you can read all about it in this article) for a number of reasons. After some time reflecting and analyzing the copy, I’ve pinned down the exact reason why this advertorial flopped. The transition from the 5 Tribes of Super Agers story to my client’s product was weak.

What Bridge?

After diving into my super cool story about these 5 Tribes of Super Agers, it finally came time for me to introduce the solution (my client’s product). I had hooked my readers in with this cool story and they were expecting a secret as big as the map to the fountain of youth to be revealed.

When the big reveal came, the solution I offered their problem (how to live a healthy, active life well into their 90s) was to have “better brain health”.

Better. Brain. Health.

Pardon my French, but no shit.

Instead of bridging the problem to a solution, I practically threw my readers off the edge of a cliff without a parachute.

The Solution

I wasn’t willing to change my strategy and let go of the 5 Tribes of Super Agers story. It’s a good story. So how do I work with it?

What if I was able to tell my readers that one of the main ingredients found in my client’s brain supplement is the most common thread they found amongst these 5 Tribes of Super Agers who seemingly have nothing else in common?

The answer: it changes the whole presentation of the supplement.

If I said that the ONE thing researchers discovered these 5 Tribes of Super Agers have in common is that they consume way more *insert special nutrient* than the average person, it sets the stage. This IS the secret to HOW they are living such long and healthy lives with no memory issues.

This also sets me up for a smooth transition into my client’s supplement, saying this new formula that was just released not only contains this nutrient, but it contains a higher concentration of this nutrient than any of its competitors or any other formula on the market. And it was even formulated in a way that allows for faster and complete absorption when it’s ingested.

This forms a strong, direct link transitioning from the problem my audience is facing to the solution found in my client’s product, by using the 5 Tribes of Super Agers story as a solid bridge.

In Conclusion

If you’re reading this now, you may be thinking “well… yeah isn’t that obvious?”

But while I was cranking out this copy, I got too enamored with the coolness of the story itself. I relied too much on the story to do most of the heavy lifting that I overlooked the weak connection between the story, problem, and solution.

Having a good story can help catapult your sales copy to success. Getting too carried away with it may blind you to the importance of having a good story, which is to use it to bridge the gap between problem and solution…and boost your sales as a result.