I thought I’d pass along this little tidbit of marketing wisdom that I’ve suspected for a while, but that was reinforced and proven a few times recently.
You need to know this, too.
I’ve recently been watching the webinars that Marketing Experiments conducts. Wow, they sure do put a lot of effort into figuring out what works and what doesn’t work in online marketing.
My only gripe (and it’s not really a gripe) with them is that they are more focused on the larger, corporate marketer than they are with the online entrepreneurs — marketers like you and I.
In any case, they shared a little nugget the other day that I thought was important enough to share with you, too. And here it is:
Clarity Trumps Persuasion.
Now, this came up in the results of a test they did on effective emails. It turns out that emails written in such a way that…
* The intended audience is obvious, and
* The reason for the email is real, and
* The message in the email is clear
…is a much more effective email than when any one of those factors is missing.
And what they usually see are emails that are either poorly written with confusing technical terms, lists of features, and the merchant’s perspective on the world…or they are emails that are so obviously written by a copywriter, using all the best persuasion techniques.
I don’t mean to scoff at copywriting (Not at all!), but it turns out that the short emails with the clearer message — even when written by amateur copywriters — beat out the professionally written ones almost all the time.
So, in the event that you were worried about writing “persuasive” emails, or a perfect sales page, do yourself one favor right now.
Resolve to write meaningfully, honestly, simply and clearly.
That, my friend, is real copywriting.
Your readers will appreciate the difference…and you may even make more sales in the process.
I’ve got a little more to say about this, so stay tuned for the next few days. I think it will help you tremendously.
To Your Success,
–Mark Widawer
P.S. My friend Tellman Knudson gave me some list-building wisdom the other day, which frankly is all about Trust. What he told me sparked me to immediate action.
I’ll give you my take on what Tellman told me real soon, but if you want to get it directly from Tellman, then go check out his list building system that takes you from beginner to expert list builder faster than anything I’ve seen.
Click to watch Tellman’s Free List Building Video
If you haven’t ever heard this before, then let me be the first to tell you…”The Money is in the List”. Tellman proves it.