A Prescription in Marketing

In my last article, I offered some tips on adding more proof to your sales copy.

Because nothing’s worse than your prospects leaving your site immediately because your claims sound “too good to be true.” Even if they really are true.

Today I’m going to take it a step further and talk about a more advanced technique (but often missed by many copywriters).

In fact, I made an interesting observation just now. Sometimes our product really does do something spectacular. Or solve a problem that your prospects think is unsolvable. In those cases, our product claims may very well be true, but to them it sounds impossible. Or embellished.

So how do we deal with those situations?

Perhaps a real-life example would help here to illustrate what I mean.

I was asked to critique a sales letter some time ago, and the headline of that piece read as follows:

“If you Have 5 Minutes Available I will Show You How to Gain an Unlimited Amount of Wisdom and Success.”

My initial reaction? An unlimited amount of wisdom and success??

Even if it’s true, you’re going to have a problem with that statement right there. It’s just not believable at its face value.

But what if it is true? And what if that benefit is so powerful, you would be remiss in leaving it out? Well, here are two ways you could handle it.

First, you could address the credibility of the claim right then and there. And then elaborate to hint at how it could be possible. Here’s an example:

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New Research Reveals…

“How You Can Solve Any Problem and Get What You Want From an Unlikely Source:
Your Dreams.”

Sound far-fetched? Not when you realize 90% of what you know is tucked away in your subconscious mind! All you need to do is learn how to tap it.
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This technique works best when you give them a “teaser” of what’s to come, and if that teaser involves your hook, or central selling theme, of your sales letter. In this case, the hook did indeed ultimately revolve around the subconscious mind, and the fact that we are only aware of about 10% of what we really know.

The teaser should also be something that’s compelling, that they’ll want to read more about.

What you’re doing here is being upfront about the “strain” in credibility, and why it’s in their best interest to keep reading. You’re offering “reason why” copy to tell them why they should believe your claim, or at least give it a chance by reading more.

See, maybe in their mind, they’re having this instantaneous conversation with themselves, thinking “C’mon! Solve any problem and get whatever I want? Gimme a break. But wait, what’s this? Hmmm. Ok, now I can see how that might be possible. Let’s see what he’s talking about…”

That’s the first method.

The second one involves “warming them up” for what you’re about to reveal. That is, if you know you’re about reveal a claim they may find far-fetched, you “step up” to that claim by getting them to agree to certain criteria beforehand. Then when the claim is revealed, they’ve already accepted your reasoning leading up to that claim. And now the claim doesn’t seem so outlandish anymore. It’s just a logical extension of the hand-holding you’ve already done to lead them up to that big claim.

Here’s an outline of what I mean:

1. You present a fact they would have a hard time arguing with.
2. You reveal an implication of that fact. Something that they might have some trouble accepting if you didn’t already present that first fact. You’re now getting them to accept that implication.
3. You “step them up” to the next implication and get them to buy into that.
4. You reveal your big claim, which by now (if you’ve stepped them up properly) shouldn’t be so hard for them to accept.

And depending on your big claim, how implausible it sounds on its own, and what you need to do to “grease the skids”, so to speak, you may need to repeat #3 one or more times before the final claim is made.

I know that sounds pretty cumbersome, but the number of “steps” you’ll give them before revealing the big claim doesn’t have to be 2, 3, 4, or more. In fact, perhaps one step is all you need.

And it doesn’t have to be a “fact” either. It can merely be a piece of information that’ll cast your big claim in a different, more favorable light.

Look at the example below from the late great Gary Halbert to see what I mean:

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It’s “cheating”… but… it works!

New Cosmetic Product Makes
Wrinkles Almost Invisible To The
Naked Eye!

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Gary very cleverly gives them a reason to believe the central claim, because he precedes it by stating “It’s cheating.”

That’s enough right there to make them want to keep reading to find out how it cheats. Then, Gary follows through by explaining just how the cheating is done. It’s actually central to his hook. (See the full ad here).

The two methods I just showed you aren’t the only ways to deal with questionable claims. Nor are they mutually exclusive. Take a look at this Agora headline and deck copy for an example of mixing and matching:

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Right now, booming, oil-hungry China’s making deals that will cut U.S. crude supplies off at the knees - contracting for billions of barrels of oil from the same sources Uncle Sam’s counting on as alternatives to the Middle East…

Including a mammoth hidden oil
reserve that’s right next door - IN
“FRIENDLY” CANADA.

And on or about March 15, 2005, a contract will be signed between China and Canada that’ll change America’s oil outlook forever. Get in NOW, and you’ll be able to afford the $5-a-gallon gas that’s coming - along with a Benz or two to burn it in…
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Oil? In CANADA? Yeah, right! What investor is going to buy that? Unless…yes, look at this!

Ok, I hope you get the idea.

Presenting proof and adding credibility to your claims takes more than just posting screen shots to prove an online claim. It takes more than just including testimonials or case studies. And it takes much more than you simply saying it is so.

You need to look at your claims line-by-line and question everything. You have to “play the prospect” in order to put yourself in his shoes.

What kinds of things will he find hard to believe? Not backed up by evidence? Or just plain outlandish?

You really do need a preponderance of proof!

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