November 1, 2009
If I was to tell you, in a genuine and believable way, that I knew a secret technique I could share with you that would allow you to increase your advertising response and profits by 200%, 500% or even as much as 3000% overnight – you'd no doubt be very interested in discovering what it was.
Well I do know a technique that I've seen do just that many times – only it's not a secret.
And if you've been a student of direct-response advertising for any length of time then chances are you've probably heard all about it before.
While that may be so, it bares pointing out continually because it's just that important.
I still meet far too many business owners and entrepreneurs who just don't apply this technique anywhere near the degree they should be – and are throwing away boatloads of profit as a result.
Above all else…
It is the single most powerful way to make more money with less effort than any other I know.
And it's E-A-S-Y!
All the way back to the classic direct response advertising texts of Ogilvy, Caples, Schwartz and others you can read about it.
It worked then and it continues to work amazingly well through to today.
Yes, it's the simple strategy of…
Testing & Measuring
While market research is important and makes an incredible difference to response of any marketing campaign or ad, it's near impossible to know for sure the exact appeal or statement that will trigger the most prospects to take action on any offer you make.The same appeal, expressed in different ways, can change response dramatically.
So even if you've spent many hours learning about your market, crafting a potent marketing strategy and writing amazing benefit-driven, emotion-rich copy, you can still miss out on the lion's share of profits… if you fail to use this strategy.
For example…
I once sat at my desk looking over 4 fantastic pieces of advertising designed to sell carpet cleaning services.
Each was a great ad with all the elements of powerful, response-grabbing copy. There was no question each would succeed, I was sure of that.
And they did!
But here's the kicker…
One of those ads outpulled the other 3 by over 10 times!
So while it would have cost the business owner the same to send out any of the other 3 versions, he would have been making 10 times less if he hadn't tested and measured each.
Can you believe that? A 1000% difference in profits just from a different version of a similar ad.
How much more do you think he made over the space of a year that he would've missed out on otherwise?
Right – a LOT.
And just so you know it was the last of the 4 versions to be crafted.
But the moral of this story is not the last version is best… it's to test and measure – and never stop!
Because while that's a great example to show the power of testing and measuring in a very short amount of time…
I've seen cases where response has been increased up to well over 5000% by testing and measuring elements until the best result possible is achieved!
Everything can be tested!
The sky really is the limit.
Headlines, offers, price and layout are the biggest I've noticed so try them first.
Then from there you can tweak smaller elements until your campaign or ad is a well-oiled machine – churning out maximum profits on a consistent basis.
The thing is to never forget that…
Just by tweaking your marketing funnel or advertising you can easily give yourself a pay rise with very little extra work.
If you're clever and do it in small increments you can do this with very little risk and continually increasing profits.
So why wouldn't you?
Stephen
Filed under Copywriting Basics, Direct Response Advertising, Direct Response Marketing