Title - 3 fundamental Rules Of Selling Tags - sales
You know, scientific evidence is really important for nutritional supplement promotions. It helps you make your claims believable and legal (which keeps the FTC of your case). But… If you use science in the wrong place or in the wrong way, it can kill your response and turn an otherwise great promotion into a complete flop.
Why? Because of the three fundamental rules of selling:
- People don’t like the idea of being sold
- People buy things for emotional, not rational, reasons
- Once sold, people need to satisfy their emotional decisions with logic.
Using scientific evidence is about as rational as you can be. And rule number two states that people buy for emotional, not rational reasons. So, if you use science too early—before the reader has made an emotional decision to buy—then you’ll lose them.
The solution to this is simple: your lead should ALWAYS be emotional, followed by scientific evidence and other logic to prove your claims later on. And…
This Lesson Is Even More Important If You Are A Man!
You see, men can only identify a handful of emotional states (and often confuse “being hungry” and “being tired” as emotions). So, they tend to write feature-heavy copy that talks about the size, performance and expense of the thing.
Research has found, though, that women have something like 200 identifiable emotions. Feeling “appreciated” carries different emotional weight than feeling “loved” or “adored”.
Therefore, women tend to naturally write about the benefits and the “quality” of whatever they are selling… about how it feels to experience the thing. Women, therefore, are usually better at writing emotional copy. It can take some extra work for us blokes to write an ad that resonates with women!
Okay, so what if you are writing to a predominantly male market? Well, most health markets are female-dominated. Not all, but most. And, it’s really irrelevant, because…
Women Control 90% Of All Buying Decisions!
“A man has two reasons for buying anything. The reason he tells his wife… and the real reason.” — Mark Twain
Yep, even if you are writing to a bloke a woman often makes the ultimate buying decision. In fact, your prospect may even hand your sales letter (physical or digital) to his partner… so… your letter has to persuade her too. Anyway, the point is…
Always Lead With Emotional Copy In Nutritional Supplement Ads.
Okay, onward.
What emotions should you appeal to in your copy?
Here are seven to start you off:
- Fear
- Greed
- Vanity
- Lust
- Pride
- Envy
- Laziness
Of course, the more emotions you appeal to in your promotion, the more people you will reach… and the deeper you will reach them.
In supplement controls, though, the most common emotion is fear. Health consumers are afraid of suffering pain, disease, illness, and death. They might be afraid of wasting their money or time on another supplement. And they may be afraid of going to a nursing home or being dependent on their children or grandchildren.
The second most common emotion in supplement copy is greed; the desire to have it all in life. Health consumers want more energy for new adventures. They might want their mobility back so they can continue going on holiday.
And the third most powerful emotion in supplement advertising is hope; the promise of a better life.
In fact, the best supplement controls start by appealing to fear and greed, then quickly transition to hope. Here’s an example from the Health Sciences Institute which gives the reader hope of a better life: “You may no longer have to fear these dreaded diseases. And neither do your loved ones. You can give the life-saving information we uncover to your children and grandchildren—and ensure that your loved ones prosper in the years to come!”
You know, emotion is so pivotal to the success of supplement advertising that, if your copy is generally good… but not selling… it is usually for one of three reasons:
- The copy is not emotional enough
- The copy is emotional but insincere
- The copy plays on the wrong emotion.
So, if you have an ad or sales letter that isn’t performing and you can’t work out why, this is a good place to start. Try to identify the emotions you are targeting. Is the lead emotional enough? Does it sound sincere? WHAT emotions does the lead appeal to? Are they emotions your market can resonate with?
If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then it usually helps to go back to your research. Best way to determine the emotions your market experience? Talk to people one-on-one, ask lots of questions, and listen. The moment you can sense the emotion in their voice, dig deeper, and ask more questions on that subject.
Finally, here’s a good test you can apply to your copy immediately, courtesy of the great Clayton Makepeace. He calls it “the forehead slap” test, and it’s simple to apply:
Review your copy and ask, “would my prospect wake up in the middle of the night, slap their forehead, and think ‘oh no!’”?
Example: “Flush Deadly Toxins Out Of Your Body”.
Now, nobody would wake up and say, “Oh no, I forgot to flush the deadly toxins out of my colon!”
If the message behind your copy is not something that would make your prospect wake up in the middle of the night and slap their forehead, then it’s probably not relatable and emotional enough.