I have to admit that I am very skeptical anytime someone tells me that they have built a squeeze page where they are seeing a 90% sign-up rate.

However, Mike Morgan is a world class copywriter, and he just told me at JV Alert Live that one of his squeeze pages actually converts at 90%.

What is even better is that he was willing to show me the page that actually delivers this for him.

Once you look at his page, you will notice a couple of things:

a) It is UGLY – which once again proofs that it is copy and not design that sells
b) It is not conventional – instead of being very short, the squeeze page is almost 5 pages long
c) The squeeze page loads audio on default – and there is no easy way to turn the audio off (you have to scroll all the way down the bottom of the page to find the mute button)

Most importantly, you will notice that the copy is dead on! Obviously, the traffic that arrives to this page is pre-qualified… it got here from SEO, from articles that Mike had submitted, etc.

However, having a 90% conversion rate is something truly remarkable, so take a look at the image below and go and check out Mike’s web site at:

One of my favorite sessions of the day was an open Q&A panel with 10 professional online copywriters… many of them are some of the leading online copywriters that money can buy.

One specific tip that was brought up during the session was the sequence that your online sales letter should follow as you are preparing for the close.

The question that was asked was:

“What comes first, the offer, bonuses, or the guarantee? Is there a specific sequence that we should always follow?”

The answer is YES! And the winning sequence is:

1) Present the offer:

• Describe the offer, including the price

NOTE: In their mind, the customer should already be saying… to take my pain away and solve this problem… the price is not too bad.

2) Remove the risk:

• Offer a risk reversal, the guarantee

NOTE: In their mind, the customer should now say… wow, there is nothing I could lose by taking action.

3) Pile on the bonuses:

• Over deliver with additional bonuses that will further help the customer relieve their pain and take them to the next level

4) Recap – final summary

• Of course you want to have a neat summary towards the end and also never ever forget to finish with powerful PS lines

According to extensive testing, the above sequence was consistently performing better than any other sequence. So, go back to your sales letters right now and check if your sequence is the same. If not, I suggest that you setup a test to see if you can further optimize your conversion rate by doing what the experts do.

Set up a form on a web page asking specific questions related to your product. Let’s say you offer a pop-up software product. You might ask:

1) How has your conversion rate increased since using our software? (Please be as specific as comfortably possible)

This will get specific case-study like data that is much more powerful than a generic endorsement. “Sign-ups increased 75%!” is much better and more convincing in sales copy than “I got more signups!”

2) Would you recommend -Software Name- to someone else?

This leads your customers to giving you a direct endorsement

3) What do you think about -Software Name- and other YourCompany software products?

This is more open ended so that your customers can share anything on their mind.

4) Is there anything you don’t like or that we can improve for our next update?

This question will help you cover objections you hadn’t yet thought of or missed out in previous marketing efforts. You will also know exactly what needs to be improved.

Now, how to get customers to your form? Simple; just ask them and offer a gift to those who fill it out. The gift could be a free private webinar, exclusive access to your latest ideas, or whatever – just make it something worth their time. If your product has really helped them, they’ll be happy to help you.

Easy.

First off, let me get this off my chest: there’s more to social proof that just testimonials!

Ok, now, here’s a little illumination before we get down and dirty.

The most powerful force in marketing is buzz (which is why should consider a prelaunch process for every product you release). How exactly is buzz built? I’ve broadly defined buzz as the emergence of a common topic among the collective conversations humans are having with each other at a given point in time.

When you and I learn that Harry and Sally are talking about the same product launch as us, and then hear about another pair, and another… we become a part of the Buzz.

Almost all buzz is good buzz.

Now ask yourself, when you are about to make a decision (literally at the brink of it), what question is in your head? What are you thinking about?

What can seal the decision for you?

I would suggest that one of the most powerful influences would be hearing from someone else very similar to you that has already made the purchase and can thus share the same good results hopefully that you are looking for.

That’s social proof.

That’s seeing someone else making (or already made) the same decision you’re about to make.

That’s something to be a part of.

Social proof appeals to our natural, very basic instinct to be a part of something; a pack, a group, or a larger social unit. We’re hard wired to desire this – it’s pure, beautiful human nature.

Don’t believe me? What do you do before you buy something? Look for reviews or others’ opinions. Bam. Social Proof.

And you can use this nugget to help people find their justification for buying your product.

Kinds of Social Proof

Implied celebrity endorsement

This one should be handled with care, but can help when done right. Let’s say you’re marketing skating shoes, and you sell the same kind Tony Hawk (celebrity skate boarder) uses. Somewhere in your scheme you could mention "the same shoes used by Tony Hawk."

This shows the buyer that the product is good enough for Tony Hawk. If it’s good enough for the stars in your niche, it’s probably good enough for the hobbyist.

Testimonial case study

Do your testimonials explain specific results? Instead of using a 3-sentence endorsement, what if you studied a client and then showed exactly what they employed from your product, why it worked, and how they could build on it?

This becomes much more than the "Product X rocks and you should buy it!" or "I used Product Z and saw a 10% boost!" The 2nd option isn’t bad, but the specificity and thoroughness of a case study may be just what the doctor ordered.

A 2nd form of this is the before/after/after model. Ask a client how they were doing before your product, how things improved immediately after, and then long term benefits. For example:

I was making 10 sales a week before buying Magic Marketing. Two weeks after purchasing I was already up to 18 sales a week and now, 8 weeks after purchasing my average week sees 23 sales! My sales more than doubled from Magic Marketing and I’m still learning more!

This highlights immediate and long term improvements, which will speak to a wider audience.

Normal testimonial

(Might as well mention it.) You should pepper all sales materials with the positive feedback your customers have given you.

Quantity-related social proof

Not many people think of this one, but it can take your life from Good to Super Sweet.

The idea is to have a visual representation of the quantity being sold, or to have a limit in the quantity available. As a side note, be sure to justify a limited quantity, especially if it is a digital product.

A few ways to do this:

• Show an image of the physical products or a screenshot of a report showing unit number (something like that)
• Tell your audience the site will go down once you’ve sold out
• Decrease the number available at the last minute (figure out a reason why)
• Use a countdown for products available
• Limited quantity bonuses

These items, especially the limited quantity bonus, give you a reason to email your list:

Just so you know, the first 100 that included the bonus have already sold out, so you better get moving and purchase!

All these quantity displays show that others are buying, proving to the lead that other people are making the plunge and they are not alone.

Blog Comments

If you run a blog around your product or blog, make comments easy to find. You could even highlight some of them or use them as testimonials. If you run a blog, remember that people almost always scroll down right away to see comments – immediately looking for social proof that the post is worthwhile.

Different ways to collect and show social proof

Host a call and let users message in questions that you then answer on the call

1. Ask your customers for stories of extremely awesome conquest (really great outcomes), then send them out and challenge others to send in their own reports. This not only gives social proof, but also encourages consumption.
2. If you send out an email blast to your list and get questions, you can use those questions as social proof in future emails ("so and so asked this great question… here’s the answer")
3. Casually show the number of times something was downloaded, or a post was viewed, number of people watching, etc

For the record…

Yes, you can overdo it. Once it becomes unbelievable you are then only hurting yourself. Finding the balance is key.

How To Place Testimonials & Other Forms of Social Proof

Key point: when someone looks through testimonials (or whatever social proof) they are trying to find a testimonial by "themselves" or someone like them.  They’re looking for the easiest touch point to relate to, so the most influential social proof are the ones from their same peer group.

Or, they may be looking for proof that something works. To help give your benefit or feature list more IMPACT, follow it with a testimonial attesting to the result. If I’ve got a tool with a key automation feature, right after listing it I’d throw down a testimonial from someone who saved a boat load of time.

Another example would be putting a testimonial in your sign-up form from someone who loved your free lessons.

Place your testimonials so they are directly related to the minute context of that part of your sales message.

What if you don’t currently have a community?

If you’re launching a new product, don’t have yet have a community, or have weak testimonials, how do you collect & show social proof?

CREATE IT.

Use the number of opt-ins, number of times people Google a key niche-related search term, or something else to create a peer group on the fly.

Your audience’s common interest in your niche is enough to mold a community out of it. You just have to get a little creative (gasp!).

Highlighting the existence of this peer group will act as social proof and build further buzz around your product.

Let’s Wrap it up Here

When you’re crafting your social proof remember these key points:

• Social proof is most effective when given by someone similar to the reader; similar "situation," similar interests, and reaching a similar desired outcome.
• Social proof is more than testimonials
• People want to be a part of a group and that group/community is inherent social proof that other people are doing or purchasing something the target wants

Not even me.

That’s why you have to rally when you discover a 200% boost in conversions with one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Take a look:

What was the trick? It isn’t as black and white as we’d like, but the winning ad uses capitalization and specificity more astutely than the losing ad.

The result?

Nearly 200% increase in conversions.

Though we can’t tell the exact result of it here, try testing specificity in your ads. Instead of saying "over 15,000 people served," use the EXACT number – "15,611 People Served To Date."

Specific numbers attract more attention and are more unique, i.e. they’ll attract attention. It creates a more powerful message that may just stick in your visitors’ minds longer and more clearly.

Give it a try and let us know what happens.

If you’re looking for further AdWords ideas, check out our AdWords Guide, and for additional copywriting wizardry we believe in Yanik’s course pretty whole-heartedly.

Not even me.

That’s why you have to rally when you discover a 200% boost in conversions with one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Take a look:

What was the trick? It isn’t as black and white as we’d like, but the winning ad uses capitalization and specificity more astutely than the losing ad.

The result?

Nearly 200% increase in conversions.

Though we can’t tell the exact result of it here, try testing specificity in your ads. Instead of saying "over 15,000 people served," use the EXACT number – "15,611 People Served To Date."

Specific numbers attract more attention and are more unique, i.e. they’ll attract attention. It creates a more powerful message that may just stick in your visitors’ minds longer and more clearly.

Give it a try and let us know what happens.

If you’re looking for further AdWords ideas, check out our AdWords Guide, and for additional copywriting wizardry we believe in Yanik’s course pretty whole-heartedly.

A lot of people still don’t understand that long copy tends to usually outperform short copy. They reason that long copy usually turns people off.

This is true. In the study quoted in Yanik’s course, the majority of people on a site will drop off after the first 300 words.

So short copy wins?

Not true. The people who do continue past 300 words will usually stay on. There is no more significant drop off again until 3000 words!

But here’s the important thing. The most interested buyers are the ones that will stay. That majority that dropped off after 300 words, well you were not going to sell to them anyway. Let them bounce off.

The minority that stayed on past 300 are the hot buyers. And these guys want as much info as you can dish out. So give them the long copy they need.

Long copy trumps short copy.

PS: Yanik Silver’s Course is described here.

A lot of people still don’t understand that long copy tends to usually outperform short copy. They reason that long copy usually turns people off.

This is true. In the study quoted in Yanik’s course, the majority of people on a site will drop off after the first 300 words.

So short copy wins?

Not true. The people who do continue past 300 words will usually stay on. There is no more significant drop off again until 3000 words!

But here’s the important thing. The most interested buyers are the ones that will stay. That majority that dropped off after 300 words, well you were not going to sell to them anyway. Let them bounce off.

The minority that stayed on past 300 are the hot buyers. And these guys want as much info as you can dish out. So give them the long copy they need.

Long copy trumps short copy.

PS: Yanik Silver’s Course is described here.

But it’s not often easy to get a snapshot of the average visitor. Unlike a physical store, on the web, your visitors are represented by bar charts and click counts on analytics software.

And so, I was quite delighted to find this free service called Quantcast

Go to http://www.quantcast.com and type in your site name and the service will give you a clearer idea of your visitors in terms of age group, ethnicity, income level, education, family type and more.

Very very useful for anyone writing copy and trying to get into the mind of the visitor.

I found out some interesting things about our own site.

Our audience is 73% Male 41% of our audience is in the Over 65 age bracket. We tend to have a higher than normal appeal to college educated people. We tend to have a higher than normal appeal to Asian people.

Interesting stuff. Check out Quantcast. It bills itself as:

“Quantcast is the only open internet ratings service. We provide advertisers with audience profiles for millions of websites and services. We invite publishers to participate and demonstrate the unique value of their audiences. The service is free to everyone.”

What insights on your blog or site will you get from it?

Screenshot of their Main Page:

Screenshot of the their Graphs showing Site Stats:

Visit Quantcast Here >>>

So what do you do? Iterate eternally or just finish strong?

A combination of both might be your best bet. The beauty of your copy shall always lie in the eyes of beholder, and, hopefully, there’s a lot of beholders (traffic) out there reading your copy.

So, sitting at your desk debating yourself or your partner will never do you any good, because ultimately the market must decide. So stop wasting your time.

Write to a point that adequately covers your customers’ concerns, properly describes the benefits and features of your product, gives credibility, etc, and then put it out there asap.

With a strong letter, you’ll hopefully get a respectable response, and this should be your starting point. From there, begin tweaking the critical elements (like headlines) until you get to a response rate you deem successful.

This combination of "good enough" copy writing and persistent tweaking should greatly decrease your development time and should also get you better results (not to mention less pre-launch stress). Your opinion matters little when compared to that of the market, so make it easy for them to decide… by getting your copy out there and testing it.