How to Avoid Sounding and Behaving Like a Sleazy Marketer - DailyBlogTips

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How to Avoid Sounding and Behaving Like a Sleazy Marketer Posted: 20 Mar 2014 01:35 PM PDT One of the best online courses I’ve taken is one that I’m always hesitant to refer friends to. Why? Because the sales page looks kinda … scammy. It’s full of yellow highlighter, hyped-up language and long long testimonials. I’m sure it works for some customers, but it’s almost certainly putting off many more. While some hard-sell tactics worked well a few years ago, customers are getting more and more web savvy. Certain techniques (like that yellow highlighter) just look cheap. And the last thing you want is potential customers turning away from your products or services because the way you’re selling them is off-putting. Here’s what you should do: #1: Don’t Use Cheap Tricks If you’ve been around the blogging world for a while, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Cheap tricks are things like: Having a ticking clock showing that today is the very last day to get your product at an amazingly low price … except it resets every day. Popping up “Are you sure you want to leave?” or “Wait, here’s a special discount for you” or similar when a customer tries to close the page. Proclaiming that a product is normally $199 and you can get it for just $47 … but you've never actually sold it at the higher price. Maybe you’ve come across others. These tricks destroy the trust that you’ve build up with your readers. They make you look like a scum-bag used car salesman. #2: Use Your Target Audience’s Language At Email Summit last month, Flint McGlaughlin (Managing Director of MECLABS) gave a great illustration of “marketese”: Looking for (BLANK)? Your search is over! I bet you’ve read plenty of headlines or subject lines like that. But Flint pointed out that this isn’t anything like the way people talk in real life. As he said, you wouldn’t go up to someone at a party and say, “Looking for the most eligible bachelor in the room? Your search is over!” (And if you would? You might want to rethink your pick-up lines…) It’s easy to fall into the trap of talking in this “marketese” because you’ve probably seen it done by other bloggers in your niche. But to really connect with your audience, you want to avoid it. Instead of speaking some strange marketing language, use the language that they are comfortable with. When your clients talk about their problems, what do they say? When readers ask questions in comments, how do they express their struggles? When you get a heartfelt email from someone you’ve helped, what’s the exact phrase they use to describe their newfound success? Use these words and phrases in your sales copy, and you’ll be making a much more genuine connection with your prospective customers. #3: Be Straightforward, not Crafty Finally (and this is another tip I got from Email Summit), be as straightforward as possible. In your emails, landing pages, and other sales copy, simply presenting your product and what it can do for people is more powerful than trying to be really clever and crafty. If you have a good product (or service) and you’re targeting the right audience for it, you don’t need a bag of clever tricks or a set of persuasive words to convince them. You simply need to explain, clearly, what you’re offering. Often, trying to be too clever can backfire: readers may be confused or suspicious. When you’re clear and straightforward, it’s much easier to keep and build trust. Note: this doesn’t mean simply laying out the features of your product – you need to set out the benefits (what it can do) as well. Have you ever been put off buying a product (or even continuing to read a blog) by marketing gone wrong? Share your experiences in the comments…   Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!

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