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You’ve wondered how to inject a little personality into your copy… And we’ve talked about writing with tone before (right here).

Now you can learn from one of the masters of voice and tone, Kate Kiefer Lee of MailChimp fame. Cuz I sat her down and picked her brain for 25 minutes! The result is a power-packed discussion you should listen to while you workout, while you’re drafting copy or, well, how ’bout right now?

Here’s what you’ll find in this short audio-only chat:

1:40 – The distinction between voice and tone

3:04 – How Kate describes the MailChimp tone that people love

4:05 – One technique to instantly get in a conversational frame of mind

6:01 – The business case for working on your copy’s tone

7:55 – Can you simply ‘add’ tone to your copy?

8:12 – Excellent rule of thumb for EXACTLY when to get friendly with your tone

8:27 – Kate gives an example of where the MailChimp tone can be especially lighthearted

8:37 – Where you should never, ever get heavy-handed with your personality

9:18 – I offer an example of how I’ve seen heavy-handed tone get in the way of UX

10:36 – Kate tells us how tone at MailChimp can sometimes offend – and what she does when that happens

13:05 – What if writing with personality doesn’t come naturally to you? How can startups write with tone?

14:16 – The best place to start when you’re determining your tone

14:52 – What happens when you’re unsure of what your reader is feeling or thinking? What about the grey areas in user experiences – like writing Help text?

15:23 – The 1 area where you can almost ALWAYS get friendlier with your tone

15:39 – Questions to ask yourself before you write copy

16:07 – A quick way to break down your messages to know when to get tonal… and when to ease off

16:56 – Does it help to have a mascot, like Freddie the Chimp, if you want to get really playful in your copy?

18:24 – What Freddie is never allowed to say

19:08 – Why do people love Freddie so much?

19:29 – READER QUESTION: “Should I even bother trying to develop a tone of voice?”

21:34 – Where your voice should REALLY come from!

22:26 - The #1 thing startups can learn to do better by paying attention to MailChimp’s copy

23:30 – What Kate loves most about working for MailChimp

 Listen to the FREE Interview (25:01)

Follow Kate on Twitter and tweet your followers to check this out

Get the MailChimp voice-and-tone guide

~

The post Writing with Tone at MailChimp: An Interview appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

PPC ads need ‘em. Blog posts need ‘em. Email subject lines need ‘em. Landing page headlines need ‘em.

Qu’est-ce que c’est?

ATTENTION GRABBERS! Uber-prominent messages that grab your prospects’ attention!

If you want people to notice your message and stick around long enough to take in the details of what you’re offering, you need to grab their attention.

How?

Usually with a fantastic headline. Watch this short Copy Hackers video tutorial on moving from ho-hum to attention-grabbing copy:

In that video, I walked you through 2 ways to grab your visitor or prospect’s attention. Here, quickly, are a grand total of 9 ways to grab attention – without having to put your offering on sale or resort to skeazy tactics.

1. Use Word Pictures (as in video) – Use a metaphor or personification to bring your copy from vague to tangible.

2. “I never thought it would happen, but” (as in video) – Your copy is the completion of this statement. If you have the space, you may want to use the introductory text, too.

3. Cram 2 High-Value Points into 1 Small Space – For example, I just received an email with this subject line, which I quickly acted on: Webcast with Steve Krug on 5/22: Space is Limited!

4. Be Paradoxical or Juxtapose 2 Ideas – In a sea of “find your perfect match” PPC ads, wouldn’t you notice “Ugly Dude Dating Guide”?

5. Embarrass Your Mother – If yo’ mama wouldn’t want you to say it, it’ll probably get our attention… Within reason!!!

You don’t have to go crazy with 1000s of different ways to capture your prospect’s attention.

You just have to find the right one for your particular audience… and go for it! Obviously, testing these attention-grabbers – on your site or in tweets – can go a looong way…

Agree? Disagree? Still think AIDA makes copywriting sound easier than it is? Post your thoughts below, and let’s chat…

The post MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS! …Or 5 Ways to Grab Attention in Your Copy appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

“Free Beer!”

I quickly opened the email, which was from Matt Harris of SendWithUs.com, to find this:

With a catch!

Hey Joanna,

Brad and I are knee deep in some important sales documents, and would love your opinion.

If you’re free tomorrow and enjoy complimentary beverages, let’s meetup!

Cheers,
Matt

(I later learned from Matt that this particular subject line has about a 100% response rate. Is it any surprise? I don’t even drink beer and I opened it!)

Not only did Lance and I meet Matt and Brad the next day, but we soon used a very similar subject line to introduce Matt and Brad to a friend of ours, Mark Fischer of InspireCommerce. Our subject line to Mark:

“Free beer? A request”

Not only did Mark agree to meet with Matt and Brad to talk startups, but he’s also interested in using their service for his app, InspirePay…

Generosity, it seems, pays. Matt and Brad didn’t just get some copywriting advice when they took us for drinks; they also made a connection that led to another connection and will hopefully lead to more. And we didn’t just get a couple of tasty pale ales; the sendwithus founders have been awesome about helping us hone our Kyvio idea. In agreeing to give his time to meet with the guys, Mark will surely get something fantastic out of the experience.

Giving brings abundance.

You don’t have to be “New Age”-y to believe that.

You just have to look around.

Lululemon Athletica credited their rise from a $1M to $1B company in just 10 years to a culture of generosity. Check out the TEDx talk here >

And The New York Times recently wrote about Adam Grant, the youngest tenured and highest rated prof at Wharton, author of “Give and Take” and massive giver in his community. Check out his very cool story and this snippet of how Office Hours work for the unusually generous Dr. Grant:

“A second student came in. Then a third. Someone dropped off a bottle of wine to say thank you; another asked for a contact (Grant pledges to introduce his students to anyone he knows or has met, and they shop his LinkedIn profile for just that purpose).

For every one of them, Grant seemed to have not only relevant but also scientifically tested, peer-reviewed advice: Studies show you shouldn’t move for location, since what you do is more important than where you do it. Studies show that people who take jobs with too rosy a picture get dissatisfied and quit. If you truly can’t make a decision, consider delegating it to someone who knows you well and cares about you. Is there anything else I can help you with? How else can I help? He was like some kind of robo-rabbi.” (5 ways to give here)

For examples that are likely to hit closer to home, I was at Microconf last week, and I saw countless examples of startups generously – without flinching, without expectations of reciprocity – giving to one another: 

Hiten Shah of KISSmetrics sat down with tons of micropreneurs and gave specific advice on customer development + more… for free.

I overheard Patrick McKenzie (patio11) end at least 1 convo with a handshake and this swipable line: “If I can do anything to help you, email me.” And he was 100% sincere about it. I know how sincere he is because he has been insanely generous with Copy Hackers, recommending us repeatedly. Amaaaaazeballs!

At least a dozen people came up to me and said others in the room had recommended Copy Hackers ebooks. No one had to recommend me. They didn’t earn affiliate income for it. Yet recommend they did, oh so generously.

Christoph Engelhardt live-blogged the entire event, which he then discussed here – and I quote: “I can not just go to a conference, lurk around and not give something back to my fellow attendees or the hosts.”

That’s just scratching the surface of acts of open, selfless generosity I witnessed at Microconf.

But this sort of thing doesn’t just happen at startup conferences…

I’m surrounded by givers. Copy Hackers was born after Shereef Bishay publicly and generously thanked me for a tiny bit of work I’d done for him. As mentioned above, Patrick McKenzie has been an uber-giver for this li’l co. And every single reader who fires me an email, shares my shizzle on Twitter and leaves a comment here is totally giving…

Question is: am I a giver? Are you a giver? You can evaluate yourself here, get others to evaluate you, and quickly share your thoughts right now:

The post Free Beer: Could your generosity be your biggest driver of success? appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

If you don’t know about Microconf, you should totally check it out here. We’ve still got another day to go, and we’ve already learned:

• How to validate your startup idea (Josh Kauffman, author of The Personal MBA and The First 20 Hours)
• The best startups to bootstrap (Jason Cohen, WP Engine)
• What to look for – and what not to bother with – in your analytics (Ben Yoskovitz)
• Exactly how Rob Walling has grown HitTail from $2500/mo to $25000/mo in a year (Rob Walling)

PLUS, smart ways to market your startup… how to make $$ with your app… the process of getting from 1 to 989 customers… and – a personal fave – how to manage your emotional well-being and relationships when running a startup.

I presented Monday afternoon – check out my presentation below. If you like it, tweet it! If you have Qs, leave ‘em in the comments here or on Slideshare.net – and I’ll send ONE commenter a FREE copy of Josh’s book, The First 20 Hours. (Thanks to Josh for giving us 2 copies. We’re keeping one for ourselves. )

Just be sure to comment here or on Slideshare – then check back on Friday to see who’s gettin’ it (so you can send me yer deets).

UPDATE: For those looking for my Unbounce unwebinar on a similar topic, here’s the presentation for that!

The post How to Sell… Without Selling Your Soul appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

At least, that’s their reputation.

Even though long-form sales pages consistently outperform shorter pages – for a broad range of brands, products, services and events – most marketers don’t want to consider long-form because, well, it’s ugly.

But it doesn’t have to be.

And you don’t have to give up the chance to increase your conversions with long-style copy simply because the look of those old-school sales pages makes you cringe and your designer quit.

If you’re willing to open your mind to the idea of 1) letting people scroll and 2) writing copy that reads like a narrative / story, allow me to introduce you to your new non-fugly BFF: hybrid sales pages…

• Here’s one by Neil Patel
• Here’s a winning hybrid page by 37signals
• Here’s one more
• Here’s another hybrid that’s a split-test winner

Now, I could TELL you alllllllll about hybrid sales pages. In fact, I started to write a post that did just that…

But I’ve got a whole book on essentially that. So I opted for something slightly more visual. Something you can print and use as a checklist. Something you can post to your blog. Hey, something you can share ’round. And that something is a brand new “instructo-graphic”… a.k.a. a poster:

How to Create Hybrid Sales Pages: An Instructo-Graphic

Keep scrolling to get the full Copy Hackers “hybrid sales pages” poster…

Here are 3 things you should do with the instructo-graphic you’re about to see:

1. Print It & Keep It on Your Desk
Because when you’re ready to create a hybrid sales page, you’ll wanna know what long copy elements to keep – and what to scrap.

2. Tweet It Out – click here for the tweetable
Infographics get – on average – 832% more retweets than tweets with just an image or an article. So give your followers something to retweet!

3. Email It to a Conversion-Focused Colleague
Do you know a designer who’s a new CRO addict? Are you a copywriter with a client who’s adamantly fixated on short copy? Email this to them!

Click to view full size in new window >

Tweet This to My Followers

And when you’re ready to take a crack at a hybrid or long-form sales page, you’re ready to check out this ebook

~joanna

WTF is an instructo-graphic?
It’s like an infographic… ‘cept, instead of visualizing data, it’s instructing you!

The post Long Copy + Short Copy = “Hybrid Pages” (With Instructo-Graphic) appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

That’s because, when you’re a new business, visitors to your site need to be told what’s unique or different about you that they’d really like.

Why? Because they don’t know you yet.

Because they don’t know how to make sense of you yet.

And because they don’t know how to stack you against who & what they already know.

You have to help them – by clearly stating your USP on the page. For best results, ensure your USP covers these 5 points:

1. It states what’s unique or different about you
2. The thing that’s unique or different is DESIRABLE to your prospect
3. It is specific, not a watered-down summary
4. It is succinct (again, without losing specifics – yikes, right?!)
5. It is more likely to be remembered than forgotten

Jaimie W at the soon-to-launch ZapFlash wrote to me with six – count ‘em, 6! – ideas for the ZapFlash USP that she’d like to use as her home page headline. Here’s what she said ZapFlash is about:

“ZapFlash is a mass market product that makes smartphone photos beautiful. My target audience is people who upload their photos to Facebook.”

Got it? Cool. Here’s your Copy Hackers mission, should you choose to accept it..:

Help Jaimie Narrow Her USP Options

So She Can Split-Test the Winners

This exercise is a tad rough, but it’s a great way to narrow options. So…

Let’s pretend that, after seeing a great photo with “ZapFlash” on it on Facebook, you’ve gone to the ZapFlash site to learn more. Read the following and tell Jaimie whether she’s hittin’ the bullseye or missin’ the mark for you…

READ & VOTE ON OPTION A:

READ & VOTE ON OPTION B:

READ & VOTE ON OPTION C:

READ & VOTE ON OPTION D:

READ & VOTE ON OPTION E:

READ & VOTE ON OPTION F:

How Jaimie’s Target Audience Has Been Responding to the Options

The college kids are digging Option B, which promises “no more washed out photos of your friends in dark bars”.

Older women prefer Option E, which is the only option that messages ease. It’s also a very active, energetic headline – which feels stickier than the options that don’t lead with a verb (e.g., Option D).

Older men prefer Option F, which uses language that, although somewhat vague, speaks to a benefit and sounds a little like sportscaster and sports-drink lingo, if I do say so m’self.

Does that surprise you? Is it as you expected?

Tell me your take on it in the comments…

The post Vote on a USP (Value Proposition) for “ZapFlash” appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

“What do I do once I’m done writing my headline?”

It’s funny. See, on the rare occasions when we’re NOT talking about headlines in this crazy copy hacking world, we’re talking about buttons or testimonials.

But what about the rest of the page?

What about all that stuff that actually makes up the whole page?

Nobody ever talks about writing body copy. But that doesn’t mean startups aren’t sitting in front of their screens – their fingertips hovering over their keyboards, and their eyes staring blankly at 700 or so pixels of empty space under the headline – wishing Copy Hackers would post about this already!

So why don’t we talk about body copy? Simple: It’s a freakin’ huge topic. Basically, whenever we’re not talking about headlines or buttons, we’re talking about writing better body copy. Which means that all of the following Copy Hackers posts are actually about writing better body copy:

• The “Show vs Tell” showdown
• How to create tone in your copy
• Make your copy sticky
• An ode to differentiation

As huge as the topic of body copy is, I want to share with you 2 sticky note-worthy phrases that will help you immediately answer one of the most common Qs startups have about body copy:

“How much is too much?”

Inspired by this question – which unwebinar attendees Janet K, Miha M, Chris O and Donna K asked (verbatim or nearly) – Lance spoke to how long your copy should go in this awesome “Automatic” post last week. Now I’m swooping in to tell you HOW to know when you’ve reached the point that you can finally stop writing and move onto either the next section of copy or the next page. And, as mentioned, the way to do this is to employ…:

The 2 Phrases to Tape to Your Monitor Today

The best body copy addresses features, benefits, claims and facts in an engaging way. But how do we make those believable? It’s your message’s believability that contributes most to your ability to convert your visitors. To increase the believability of your message – and write sexy-a$$ body copy that is more likely to convert – write these 2 phrases on a sticky note and post them to your monitor:

1. So what?
2. Prove it!

That’s it.

Addressing those 2 phrases alone in your body copy will help you:

There is a world of people marching through your site with the firmly held belief that your ENTIRE reason for being is to part fools from their money. Your visitors are not interested in being fools; they’d rather be rich skeptics than poor fools. …And that’s why these 2 phrases – which your visitors will never actually see on the screen – are so powerful.

Here’s how you use them when you’re writing. Start by writing down a feature, benefit, claim or fact. Then, ask yourself, “So what?” (Note that, for benefits, the so-what is baked into the statement itself. At least, it should be… if it’s a good benefit.) Why should anyone care about the filter on your photo-sharing app? What’s the big deal with the biodegradable packaging your product is shipped in? Whatever the “so what” reason is, write it down on the page as support for the feature, claim or fact. Stop writing once you’ve answered the question.

THEN, prove what you’ve just stated by using a demo, a screenshot, a testimonial or a data point to bolster it. The bigger the claim, the more proof you’re going to need. (This is why long form sales pages for expensive products get so freakin’ long. Because you need 30 testimonials to get people to pony up $97/mo on a “how to get an interview” course.)

Real World Examples (‘Cos You’ll Only Believe Me If I Prove It)

Michael Aagaard at ContentVerve.com always posts wicked examples of tests he’s run. Here – although he’s referencing a call to action – we can see the “so what?” principle at work in the winning treatment:

The control tells you what you’ll get (a claim), which is cool. But the treatment tells you why you should care – as in, it answers the “so what?” question. It will then be the job of the ContentVerve.com newsletter to prove it. (Perhaps a well-placed testimonial or embedded tweet could work as proof here, too.)

PayTango.com does an awesome job of proving the benefit / claim they make in the body copy below the subhead:The so what of “incredibly fast transactions” is clearly and succinctly messaged: “No more fumbling with the cards in your wallet.” Then they prove the claim by adding a recording (which unfortunately requires you have Vine) to let visitors see with their own eyes. (Bonus points for adding “Don’t believe it?” as a message on the page. Why imply when you can directly address? Nice.)

Unless you’re supporting a major claim, you generally only need to state 1 reason people should care and show 1 proof point. That’s it. Your copy doesn’t have to go any longer than that. You can test longer – or shorter – copy. But if you’re really concerned about keeping things crisp without cutting out important messages, do this right now:

Get a black marker.

Get 2 sticky notes.

Write “So What?” on one.

Write “Prove It” on the other.

Stick them to your monitor frame.

And always reference the sticky notes when writing body copy.

If the good peeps at YCombinator’s BitNami were to pop some sticky notes on their monitors, perhaps their copy would address either So What or Prove It. The only hint of so-what is under “Or in the cloud”, and the closest we get to proof of what they’re claiming (i.e., run any app on any platform) is a lineup of 8 icons. No screenshots, no demos, no explainer videos, and just one small testimonial that isn’t positioned to support any messages. Too bad.

You don’t have to be “wordy” with your messages to be believable. But ask yourself: Am I compromising the believability of my copy just to appease some nagging voice in my head that says I have to squeeze all my messages into 3 short blocks of copy on a page? I mean, why do you even HAVE any words on the page if you’re not going to let them convince and convert???

…And, finally, if more words are required to convince your visitors to click that button, then those are words well-used, aren’t they?

The right amount of copy is the amount it takes to turn your visitors into customers.

Yours in succinct, believable copy that converts,
j-dawg

“70% of the time if the facts aren’t there, they’ll hurt you. It’s exactly as if you don’t have a piece of concrete in your building, and it collapses.”
- Gene Schwartz (in a 1993 speech)

The post Dang Grrl, How’d U Get That Sexy Body [Copy]? appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

In advance of the session, the folks at Unbounce gave all registrants the opportunity to ask Joanna a specific question about her topic… and 460 people decided to chime in. That’s a lot of questions.

Joanna shared some of the questions and comments from registrants with me, and together we noticed a recurring theme.

People wanted Joanna to answer the question, “What is the right amount of copy for my landing page?”

To an experienced copywriter, that’s like asking, “How long is a piece of string?” – however, since most of the unwebinar attendees are not trained copywriters, the question is perfectly reasonable. It’s a perfectly reasonable question to which we would respond:

You’ll need to provide sufficient copy to tap into the visitors’ motivation for coming, and amplify that motivation so they take your desired action. If you provide too little copy, you may not adequately answer the visitors’ questions; too much and you risk turning them off.

It may not be as specific a response as you might like, but that’s because there are tons of successful landing page designs, and so making broad statements about drawing people down the page wouldn’t account for that fact.

Something we can do here on the Copy Hackers blog – to get more specific about the “right amount” of copy – is point out a great example of a landing page. And that’s what we have for you today…

The landing page I’ll walk through below is written for a soon-to-be-launched automotive product called “Automatic”, an app and companion hardware device that plugs into your vehicle. It’s such a simple product name — with an equally simple domain name that likely came with a substantial price tag!

Here’s a full view of the home page:

As you can see, the team at Automatic have chosen to use a long-form landing page, but without the long-form copy (something we’re seeing more and more).

There is a single call to action, placed at the top of the page in a fixed-position header (i.e., a header that remains visible as you scroll down the page).

We suspect (we can’t know for sure, as we haven’t chatted with the Web site team) the page was written to highlight the most compelling aspects of the product, while still answering common visitor questions and overcoming their potential objections. Hopefully this was all accomplished using the [smart] copywriter’s best friend, user research.

We don’t LOVE everything about the page design though. Before I launch into the Automatic copy love-fest, I suggest they re-think their decision to use a hero section slider. Sliders move at their own pace – but scrolling is completely within a user’s control. I prefer relying on the latter every time.

Instead of a typical, less user-friendly slider for the hero section, I’d love to see a high-level value proposition for Automatic positioned alongside the existing video.

The spokesperson in the video says this in the first 10 seconds:

“Unlock your car’s potential and redefine your relationship to driving”

That’s a great starting place for some new hero section copy!

Each section of the home page follows a similar format, which is nice because it sets an expectation with the reader. In most cases, knowing what to expect is a good thing.

The cross-head (“Your Car and Smartphone, Connected”) is clear… and it’s not trying to be clever. The sub-head is packed with vital information about how the product works. The supporting image reveals Automatic’s appealing design and its size, and the supporting copy mentions iPhone and Android platforms.

And finally, the call to action gives visitors a chance to engage and receive a positive response, as almost all cars 1996 and later are supported.

With the large typeface and adequate whitespace, the volume of copy seems about right. The copy is very easy to consume, and it might even be enough to get some visitors to click the pre-order button.

This section is certainly meant to address potential concerns about the product. And it does a fine job with just 3 sentences.

With any new automotive product, people will want to know what’s involved for correct installation. And while not everyone may wonder about Automatic’s impact on phone battery usage, the copywriter is being proactive at addressing the question. Further to that, I would suggest a sentence about how Automatic will avoid running your car battery down!

This section is the most copy heavy on the page.

The cross-head (“Drive Smarter, Save Big”) is specific and the sub-head is magnificent. It tells visitors what the product will DO for THEM. These guys understand how to write value proposition messages.

The 3 supporting sections are fairly concise, but the “Rough Braking”, “Speeding”, and “Rapid Acceleration” sub-sections would ideally be expandable (via DIV tags or something similar) to keep the word-to-meaning ratio high.

If everything else to this point wasn’t enough, the copywriter now chooses to focus our attention on a major safety feature, turning it into a powerful benefit statement.

Personally, I think the “… Calls for Help in a Crash” and “… looks out for you…” phrases include some carefully chosen words. Those words are short and easy to understand – they’re words we use everyday.

Does the imagery support the copy? I think it’s brilliant.

In case any visitors are skeptical, the supporting copy briefly expands on how this feature works. And the Automatic Web team finishes it off with an emotion-based statement about texting your loved ones.

Do you see the pattern here? We’re seeing concisely worded benefit statements and supporting copy. The section headline (cross-head) and sub-head provide a ton of useful information. The supporting copy builds on the lead copy. It’s all connected, and everything has room to breathe. Nicely done.

It feels to me like this section is meant to be a real “delighter”. We all hate the idea of losing our car in a busy parking lot. And the copy here addresses that common fear of embarrassment.

That cross-head is very reassuring… “Never” is a long time. The sub-head makes it sound like Automatic is your intelligent friend, always looking out for you.

So there you have it. Automatic has created a landing page that I believe will be highly effective at driving people toward that pre-order button. Their copy works so well within the page design.

Automatic leadership team, you’d better hang on to that copywriter. Your team member probably deserves a raise, too, because s/he has managed to convey a ton of value about your new product with relatively few words – not a simple task.

Let’s take a second look at my response to the question about “how much copy” from above:

You’ll need to provide sufficient copy to tap into the visitors’ motivation for coming, and amplify that motivation so they take your desired action. If you provide too little copy, you may not adequately answer the visitors’ questions; too much and you risk turning them off.

Does Automatic’s home page accomplish this in your opinion? Please share your thoughts below in the comments!

The post How Much Copy Should You Use On Your Landing Page? appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

“We saw in several split-tests that short subject lines work better than long ones for us, so that’s why we’re using short.”

My jaw dropped.

Because, for as long as I’ve been in dis biz – and with as many email subject lines as I’ve split-test for myself, past employers and a world of clients – I’d forgotten that some people actually try to learn from their subject line tests. Let me explain…

See, we learn from A/B landing page tests. Headline tests. Button color tests (hew boy). In-app messaging tests.

But don’t most of us just split-test our subject lines so we can be sure we’re sending the best possible candidate to the remainder of our list for that one campaign? The idea of learning from these tests brought back vague memories of trying to do exactly that early in my career but butting heads with an email marketing control-freak (who hoarded email data like this lady hoards puppets).

Thus, I’ve decided it is high time I get serious about DOING SOMETHING REAL with the results of my email subject line tests. Which brings me to…:

The Winners + Losers for 7 Recently Split-Test Email Subject Lines

With ‘open rate’ being my go-to success metric for email subject lines – which is not to say that subject lines don’t impact metrics like clicks or that subject lines are the only things that influence open rates – here’s how 7 recent email subject line tests for Copy Hackers panned out.

Note that these emails were sent in January and February of 2013 and, as mentioned, are for my weekly newsletter (i.e., not direct sales pitches). I’ve ordered them from ‘biggest winner’ to ‘smallest winner’.

In another world, I would have formatted the above table so you could see the math. As in, winner’s open rate minus loser’s open rate. But… **grimace and change topic**

Takeaways for Future Email Subject Lines

Judging by the above breakdown of winner vs loser, I would be wise – in the future – to do the following. And you would be wise, dear copy hacker, to assess your own subject line tests accordingly, too.

Phrasing subject lines as questions doesn’t seem to pull one way or the other for my list.

It also seems that I can worry less about including my brand name in the subject line. (At least, that seems to be the case when subject lines are >50 characters with spaces.) Given that my From line is “Joanna at Copy Hackers”, you’d think this would go without saying. But SO MANY TIMES I’ve seen branded subject lines outperform unbranded – as I discuss here – so I had to see it with my own eyes, for my own list, to believe it.

With that in mind, my subject line test for this week’s Tuesday morning newsletter will be designed around my hypothesis that removing my brand name from my subject lines will not negatively impact open rates. The test itself will use short subject lines – as in, not >50 characters – because short lines simply allow more room for the branding to appear in an inbox. Depending on how this pans out, perhaps a test of subject line lengths is also in order.

I’ll be posting the results of my test here on Tuesday (after my Unbounce webinar, which you’d best be attending, yo!).

In the meantime, here’s a quick ‘n’ easy tweet for your followers… and be sure to tell me your take on subject line testing in the comments below…

As in, do you test your emails? Do you learn from each split-test before writing your next subject line? …If not, take 20 minutes today to make a list like I did above… and sort out what seems to be working – and what doesn’t – for your particular subscriber list.

Happy copy hacking,
joanna

UPDATE – TEST RESULTS:
As promised, I split-test my subject line for my newsletter on Tuesday. The 2 subject lines and their open rates are:

startup Qs about landing pages + emails [Copy Hackers] – 36.4% open

startup Qs about landing pages + emails – 32% open

So I was WRONG about “[Copy Hackers]” not mattering. It appears that the presence of my brand name may increase opens. What does that mean for my original question? I’d love to hear what you think it means – so share your thoughts, y’all!

The post Email Subject Lines: A Quick Assessment of 7 Split-Tests appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

So you wouldn’t write:

“The tall man felt bad when he saw the blonde woman crying on a bench. She reminded him of his mother, who’d abandoned him as a child because she wanted to pursue acting.”

That’s telling. That’s bad in the world of fiction – particularly in short stories.

Instead, you’d want to show, like so:

“It had been years since he’d thought of his mother, ages since he’d let her into his mind. But as he passed a bench on which a weeping woman sat, her long pale hair falling like stage curtains around her face – curtains that might shield her from an unwelcome audience – a familiar knot began to tie in his chest.”

Okay, not exactly Faulkner-esque writing – but you get the point.

In the Tell example, everything was laid on the table, and you couldn’t dig in or engage your imagination.

In the Show example, events unfolded in a less linear manner – and you could better experience the emotions (rather than just being told what the characters were feeling) while imagining more of the scene.

The rule is, “Show, don’t tell.”

And it’s great for the world of writing stories…

…But it’s absolute crap in the world of copywriting. In fact, I’m surprised I hear it as often as I do – and I’ve heard it a LOT lately. From peeps who will remain unnamed.

This rule doesn’t apply because a short story is TOTALLY different from landing page copy:

In copywriting, we’re not weaving narratives for a captive audience; we’re selling useful, high-value products to busy, skeptical site visitors.

Further, it takes longer to show than it does to tell. Did you notice how the Show version of the story at the top of this post was longer than the Tell version? Yeah. That’s always the case.

When your visitors are already pressed for time – and, let’s not kid ourselves, most of them are – get to their point faster.

How?

Tell. Then show. Which leads me to the first of 2 big reasons why “show don’t tell” is a BS copywriting rule…:

If You Don’t Tell, You Risk Leaving the Best Messages Implied

Implying is BAD in conversion copywriting. Implied benefits. Hinted at promises. Cleverly summarized value propositions.

Bad. Bad. Bad.

Implying is BAD! Why? Because there is too much room for error / interpretation when you imply. Way too much.

Of course not.

One, they’ll be gone by the time you’re done; two, at this point, they’re totally not invested in reading into your actions or trying to decipher your signals. This is not the time to show. This is the time to TELL them you love them, TELL them how much wonderfulness they bring to your life, etc.

Now let’s switch from your beloved partner to your beloved site visitor. They don’t have anything resembling allegiance to you yet – not like your partner does – so they are even LESS invested in trying to decipher your signals than your partner would be.

Will implying – instead of stating – your benefits, promises, differentiators and value props keep them from bouncing? Will showing them what’s awesome about you – and crossing your fingers in the hopes that they figure out what you’re trying to say – keep them around?

Let’s compare the primary messaging on a few landing pages – in the video hosting world – to see which messages a busy visitor could quickly comprehend…

WISTIA

~

BRIGHTCOVE

~

OOYALA

Here are the headlines for those 3 pages, printed for your comparing pleasure:

I don’t know about you, but I’m sort of lost with the Ooyala one. Not sort of. Totally. Why is that? Because rather than telling their visitors what they do and what value they offer – explicitly, in real words that actually mean something – they are implying some sort of benefit. Like, I guess it’s good that you can personalize video, personalize experiences and do both across “all screens” (??)… but they need to tell me why I should care. Make it meaningful for me. My job as your visitor is not to interpret your messages.

Based on the copy on the page, I don’t even know what Ooyala does. Do they host the videos? How do they “power” them? Wha—–?

Confusion ensues.

Visitor leaves.

Here’s the other big reason “show don’t tell” is one of many BS copywriting rules destroying the earth…:

You Should Both Show AND Tell

The idea is to SHOW then TELL. First show them what’s different or awesome about you. Imply all you’d like. BUT follow that up by explaining – in clear, meaningful words – what you’ve shown them, what you’ve implied.

Alternatively, you can TELL then SHOW. If your visitor needs to know something – like that you offer smart and simple video hosting – TELL them. Then follow that up by showing them evidence of that point, whether you do so in an explainer video, in a screenshot or in a powerful testimonial.

It’s not one or the other. It’s not “always tell, never show” or “show, don’t tell”. It’s BOTH.

As a very simple way to help you get this right in your web copy, SHOW in your videos, testimonials and photos… and TELL in the copy you write.

MailChimp does an amazing job of showing in video and telling in text on their current home page, which I encourage you to click to view here:

Good copywriting is NOT rocket surgery. It is a healthy collection of principles and tactics – and one of the biggest principles is that you should “put it on the page”. That’s telling. And, trust me, telling will help your visitors – but don’t leave it at just telling. Make sure to show, too. Again, do both.

Now it’s your turn to do some telling – in a comment below, yo.
Don’t just read and run! Let’s talk….

~joanna

PS: In Book 1: Where Stellar Messages Come From, I talk a bit about show vs tell. There are indeed times when “showing” can do a better job than “telling”, as in the case of Mint, where they show their great design rather than explicitly talking about it. For more about this, check out Book 1 >>

The post Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

Part of outperforming your competition involves telling your site visitors exactly why they should choose you over any other available options. This is the essence of a value proposition – a clear statement that explains why your solution is better than all the rest.

And what better place on your home page to promote your competitive advantage than in your headline and supporting copy…

Your headline is typically the first opportunity to tell people what you have to offer (remember the F-shaped reading pattern). It’s not your ONLY opportunity to communicate your value, but if you don’t grab a visitor’s attention with your home page headline, your chances for success (i.e., reducing bounce) drop dramatically.

Why did we choose to focus on SEO firms this time?

The SEO business is extremely competitive, and there has always been an interesting tension between SEO and CRO, with subject matter experts in the former category historically writing for search engines, and SMEs in the latter category focusing on user-centric copy. It’s clear, based on my recent experience reviewing 50+ SEO agency sites, that copy is still being written primarily with Google in mind, and at the expense of creating meaning for visitors.

Please don’t send me hate mail on that last point – I am well aware of the “enlightened SEO” and their prioritization of humans over bots. The Copy Hackers team is a BIG fan of SEO.

You Can Learn From These Sites

First, let’s take a look at some SEO agencies that are getting it [mostly] right. These are examples of sites that I believe are making a strong case for getting visitors to engage and read more… using their most prominent home page copy (sadly, I had to wade through more than 30 Web sites before I found 5 worth highlighting on the positive side).

Of course, first impressions come from more than just headline copy — the visual design of the home page plays a massive role — but I am focusing on the messaging, and its ability to convince a visitor of a distinct competitive advantage.

Boostability:

Boostability is one of the few SEO agencies I examined that takes a visitor-centric view in their primary message.

Increased visibility and profits are desirable outcomes for most businesses, so I think visitors will continue to read. They also highlight the fact that they’re focused on local search, which narrows the field, but also acts as a quick filter for anyone not looking for help with local search (your home page should act as a filter, too!).

The value proposition is very simple — getting your business noticed by local prospects — supported by a believable data point. The copy could be improved by providing a concise statement about what makes Boostability particularly skilled in their domain area. Overall, nice work.

eBrandz:

eBrandz has taken the approach of squeezing a lot of information into the home page hero by rotating the content across 6 key areas. I think it’s a step up from the all-too-common “slider” technique, for no reason other than the fact that the sections are clearly labeled. “What We Do” is the first section visitors see (and perhaps the only thing they see), so I’ll focus there.

Their copy choices are solid… “largest SEO company in the world” plus 3 specific ways eBrandz will help your business. The use of phrases like “proprietary white hat SEO”, “ROI (between 10 to 1800%)” and “beat your competition” are compelling.

It’s just too bad the messages are presented in such a dull manner. There is no need to repeat “WHAT WE DO”, and if they’re really the largest SEO company, shouldn’t they treat the copy to hit home on that point? Seems like something to consider…

Qualified Impressions:

I was on the fence about including Qualified Impressions in this group — mainly because it doesn’t follow the “desirable + unique” approach to developing value propositions — but I think its “Your Are NOT Alone” statement is interesting and likely effective. So many of its competitors focus on “we” versus “you”, so they’re already at an advantage.

With their supporting copy, they strongly suggest that they know the path to the top of the search engine rankings — and they’ve succeeded at doing so in a way that appears repeatable (i.e., for 300+ clients). Their use of “unbeatable rates” will appeal to the budget conscious (and possibly companies with bigger budgets, too), and highlighting a 90-day trial, specifically using the “make you a believer” statement, serves to eliminate risk and build confidence in first-time visitors.

Unfortunately their thoughtful copy does not extend to their CTA. “REQUEST NOW!” is not only vague, but it offers no value to the visitor.

ThinkBIGsites:

I’m presenting the sites for each category (i.e., good and bad) in alphabetical order, but if I’d sorted by effective value proposition messaging, ThinkBIGsites would have risen to the top. It’s not a perfect value proposition, but it’s a front-runner compared to the others.

The primary copy on their home page appears to be selected with purpose. The targeted business size again serves as a nice filter. The statement about affordability makes their solution more desirable. And the sub-head has a nice ring to it… who doesn’t want a “flood of new customers”? Even their choice of “Let us” makes the company feel more approachable.

And where does the copy lead? To the option of acquiring 21 free tips. In that regard, the site feels unique relative to its competition, who typically try to take visitors directly to a lead generation form. ThinkBIGsites first wants to prove itself through some [hopefully] useful free content. Well done, guys!

Zemanta:

Zemanta is focused on a particular segment of SEO: content marketing. And even with its somewhat sparse presentation of home page copy, I think it accomplishes more than many sites that use considerably more copy.

The site makes a point of targeting a set of ideal customers in its headline. While a targeted message like this doesn’t necessarily convey uniqueness or desirability, it still connects with the visitors who fall into any of the categories. The visually more substantial message, “Amplify your content’s reach and impact” is both unique and desirable… as it’s not a message you’ll find on competing sites (unique) and the act of amplifying content sounds very desirable, perhaps even generating some excitement in readers.

You Can Learn From These Sites’ Mistakes

Now let’s examine some SEO agency sites that have more work to do. One of the most disturbing themes I noticed in going through dozens of similar sites was the volume of copy used in the headline, sub-head, and supporting points. I’ve tried to provide a range of examples here, so not all of the sites below overload the visitor with too many words.

But I wonder… are SEO companies in general too focused on how well the search engines respond to their home page copy? I understand that they’re trying to ensure they rank well in such a competitive field, but what happens when the traffic — actual people — arrive at their sites? People don’t want to hunt for a reason to stay; they want to be given a reason to read on. And burying a statement of competitive advantage (i.e., value proposition) is counter to the ultimate goal of getting leads and conversions.

HigherVisibility:

These examples aren’t meant to criticize… they’re meant to be constructive. Higher Visibility misses the mark with copy that is too soft and vague. The question posed has an obvious answer, and so I don’t believe it needs to be asked, and the answer provided comes across as blatantly self-serving.

The fact that the company is “nationally recognized” helps build a case against its competitors, but unfortunately it stops there. The paragraph continues with a mission statement (something that is focused on the company rather than the visitor), a non-specific targeting statement (i.e., “companies of all sizes”), and a request for contact.

The banner teases the visitor with a value statement, but will people stick around long enough to read what follows?

Hop Online:

If it weren’t for the SEOmoz logo in the header, I wouldn’t know if I’d landed on the right site or not. There are no other mentions of SEO to reinforce the click I just made. But that’s another set of issues…

Where is Hop Online’s value proposition? Being able to “speak your language” (literally and figuratively) is a good thing, but it does nothing to separate this company from any other SEO firm. Getting the job done is also table stakes. Surely there is more to this company that what’s presented at the top of its home page.

Increasing your site’s profitability is desirable, but how is that achieved? Is it the people, process, tools… what exactly? And I’d recommend against positioning the only benefit statement within the CTA copy — CTAs should include benefit statements, but not ONLY there. I’m sure this is a great company to be recommended by SEOmoz, but there is no compelling evidence offered beyond a short list of clients.

KeyRelevance:

In terms of supporting imagery, Key Relevance brought a smile to my face. Though that’s probably just the geek in me talking.

So what’s happening here? The company appears to be relying more on the image than on the copy — strange for an SEO agency. I’ll bet they’ve been doing much more than just helping their clients “understand Google”, but you wouldn’t know it. What have they been able to achieve for clients that is repeatable for prospects?

And then there’s “How can we help you?”, which is a question better answered by Key Relevance than by the first-time visitor, no? It might be just me, but I’d like to know exactly how you (Key Relevance) can help me. Yes, I want to understand Google, but I want results, too.

Slingshot SEO

In case you’re wondering, I think it’s just fine to lead with a compelling offer on a home page — in this case, a free download about marketing channel attribution — and then move into why someone should choose your company above all others. Just be sure that the copy that follows is at least as strong as the compelling offer.

Unfortunately for Slingshot SEO, the copy is not as strong as the offer. Doesn’t it read like a jargon-filled mission statement? There are a lot of buzzwords used, but these words will never create buzz. People want specifics, not generalities, and this is the home page’s biggest sin.

Virante:

Even if you craft the best value proposition ever created and skillfully reveal it in your headline, it won’t mean anything to your business if it can’t be easily read (by humans). Virante has a readability issue with its hero copy — something that could be easily addressed at the same time the copy is optimized.

Similar to Slingshot SEO, Virante also suffers from a lot of copy that says very little. The words they chose don’t paint a picture of superiority over the competition, nor do they stir any emotion in the people who come to the site wanting to find an SEO solution. Headings are an issue… “Organic SEO” and “Welcome To Virante” aggressively challenge this copywriter’s diplomacy. And the copy that follows the welcome message makes absolutely no connection between Virante’s services and the “stream of potential new clients and visitors”.

Virante has perhaps the biggest opportunity to improve its bounce rate and set itself apart from its competitors.

So What’s YOUR Take?

And now it’s your turn to have some fun. Please take what you’ve learned in this post and in the past couple of posts about value propositions and differentiation — and share your opinion about the effectiveness of the following 5 SEO agencies’ home page messaging. You’ll instantly be able to see how others have voted.

[Votes are anonymous, but be sure to leave a comment at the end of this post if you'd like to expand on any of your choices.]

Ayima:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

BlueGlass:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Distilled:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Keyphraseology:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

SEO Gadget:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

You made it! If you took the time to vote on 1 or more of the 5 sites, thank you! If not, it’s not too late to share your opinion!

I hope you had as much fun reading this post as I had writing it, and I encourage you to dedicate some time in the coming weeks to hone your Ultimate Value Proposition — and make it clear to visitors why they should do business with you. It’s one of the easiest elements of your home page copy to test, and when you get it right, you can apply it to much more than just your H1 and H2… get it right and you can make your site visitors want to do business with you!

And let us know what you think about any of the 15 sites in the comments below… agree or disagree!

~lance

The post SEO Agency Case Study: Why Should Prospects Choose You? appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

Naturally, the value + benefits associated with using the rating site were very different for realtors than for home buyers / sellers. But we knew we needed to speak to both groups because, well, we were a startup, and we were trying hard to grow both sides at the same time.

My second startup was Page 99 Test, a site where fiction readers rate one page of a book submitted by a novelist.

Once again, we had 2 groups to attract… and 2 groups to keep on the site. All with a single home page as an entry point. And with a single headline on that page.

Is it easy to speak to both groups? Um, no. When you’re actually faced with sitting down and writing the copy, you can only pray that someone walks in and gives you something else to do.

But even then – eventually – you have to get back to the task at hand.

Sometimes, you choose one audience and subordinate the other. That’s the easiest approach, from a copywriter’s perspective, and it’s what TutorSpree has opted to do. Even though they’re connecting 2 groups, the goal is clearly to focus on attracting students first, tutors second (see the tiny button in the top right corner):

Other times, you don’t have the luxury of choosing 1 group over the other, which then begs the question…:

What Happens When You Need to Attract 2 Groups Equally… on the Same Page?

Here’s what I do. When I’m helping my startup clients with this issue, I ask them to create a Venn diagram in which the values X, Y and Z audience derive from your product are listed, and the similarities overlap.

Simple, right? Well it’s amazing how rarely people actually sit down and do this exercise, given the simplicity of doing it + the heartache it can eliminate.

Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you were to write the home page for Appbackr, which is a marketplace-style site offering a solution designed for both app developers and app sellers / retailers. You want to speak to both groups in the same headline… so here’s what your Venn diagram might look like:

With that Venn diagram complete – and you know it wouldn’t take you long to do – you can then craft a single home page headline that speaks to both audiences:

Where App Developers & App Sellers Make More Money & Generate More App Installs

Once your headline has brought both groups into the page, you have a few choices for displaying content to each group separately:

1. Choose one group to target on the rest of your home page, and use a call to action to quickly drive the other group to a targeted landing page
2. Write for both groups on the same page, but use section headers to help people identify the right message for their needs
3. Write for both groups on the same page, but keep the page very short, driving each group to its own targeted landing page

Let’s check out what direction Appbackr takes. As you’ll see in the screenshot here, Appbackr first addresses both audiences in the headline… and then, below the PR mentions, employs the UX + messaging strategy from the third point above: they keep the page short and quickly drive each group to its own targeted landing page.

That’s it. Writing 1 page for 2 audiences is that simple. I mean, sure, there are always exceptions…

But if you look deep enough – or even high enough – you’ll see that there IS overlap between what your 2 audiences are looking for when they land on your site. And that overlap can be used to help you craft the right headline to reduce bounce… and increase the likelihood that your 2 audiences will actually read the more targeted messages you’ve got for ‘em elsewhere on your site.

So, have you written copy targeted at more than 1 audience before? In a comment below, tell me what strategy you used.

~joanna

The post A Quick Trick for Writing 1 Page for 2 Audiences appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

And none of the sites or the businesses you look up to are converting 100% of their traffic. Not even one-fifth of that.

Nobody is doing it 100% right.

So if you go out and copy what the other guys are doing with their websites… what exactly might you be copying?

If you mimic the messages that your competitors put on their pages… what exactly might you be mimicking? Could it be that you’re actually swiping crummy messages that are at the root of a conversion rate that’s lower than yours… or that’s much lower than yours could be?

Now, don’t get me wrong. At Copy Hackers, we’re all for being aware of your competitor’s content. Big time. (Check out this free worksheet and this one as examples.) But we don’t advocate that you audit their content or messaging so you can copy it; rather, you should track what the other guys are doing so you can blow their stuff out of the water.

To illustrate why you shouldn’t blindly copy your competition, check out the screenshots below.

They’re all from the home pages of project management tools that were top SERP results when I googled “online project management”. Pay attention to each headline (outlined), which, as any good copy hacker knows, is the most critical element on your home page:

Allow me to repeat those insanely similar headlines in plain text:

Online project management that just works

Online project management made simple

Project management made easy

Project management software that makes your life easier

These are the home page headlines of 4 companies that are ranking high for the same keyword phrase, surely getting decent traffic and competing against each other.

And they’re all saying EXACTLY the same thing. (And the thing that they’re saying just so happens to be about as bland and purpose-less as a message can be. So that doesn’t help.) It’s as if one of them heard that people like easy software and made that their headline… and everyone else saw the change and thought, “Brilliant! We’ve got to say that too!”

When, after visiting the above home pages, I headed over to Basecamp to find an example of a project management tool that’s actually making the most of their headline, I fully expected to be wowed. I love everything 37signals does. And I know they test like mofos. So I was hopeful. And then I saw this:

Basecamp is differentiating itself not based on something their software or company does better than anyone else… but based on the number of people using it. Really. That’s the best, most persuasive thing they can say on their home page – that loads of people sign up to use it. That’s their headline. Admittedly, it’s a powerful message – great social proof. (At least if the number of people that keep using it doesn’t matter to you.) But is the project management software game so lacking that no one has anything unique to offer that users will care to hear about? My options, when I’m cross-shopping these solutions, are either a) to choose 1 of 4 “easy” but seemingly identical solutions or b) to choose the guys that are getting the population of small towns to sign up for their software each week? Those are my options? I’m supposed to make a decision with just that info to ground me?

As a known leader in project management software, Basecamp at least has a viable excuse for their value-free headline. They’re well-known. They don’t have any real competition to distinguish themselves from (yet). People who arrive on their site have often heard of them, used their solution or been recommended in.

But what excuse do the other guys have? Why aren’t they differentiating themselves?

Here’s the thing: Your site visitors need you to help them understand what is unique and highly desirable about your solution. That’s the foundation of your value prop, which you should read more about here and here. If your site is missing a clear value prop, it’s time to add one – and to make it your home page headline. By messaging what’s unique + desirable, you are, in fact, messaging your key point of differentiation.

Not sure how to differentiate your business?

I’m sure the 4 startups referenced above are having a bit of trouble figuring out how they might be different – so perhaps you’re also having trouble. If so, here’s a list of a few ways to differentiate yourself, complete with example headlines that would showcase these points of difference:

In Week 6 of my seconds-from-launching conversion copywriting course, I describe these and more ways to differentiate and how to use them in your home page copy. So get on the list to learn when it’s launched

In the meantime, here’s what you should do.

You should download a home page audit worksheet, and audit the copy on the home pages of, say, 3 of your competitors.

Then, using that audit, you should figure out how to distinguish yourself from the competition – and make yourself look much better (because, let’s face it, you need to be better). Come up with a handful of ideas. Then, draft some home page headlines that speak to those differences. Don’t overthink it! Don’t wordsmith. Just put it clearly on the page.What is different about you? What can you tell people – in your headline alone – that can clearly separate you from the competition, should they be cross-shopping?

Start by “knowing your enemy”. Then, differentiate yourself clearly on the page.

Be sure to test variations of your “different” headline to see which differentiator visitors respond to best.

Oh, and if you’re in the online project management space, you’re in luck! No one else is even sort of trying here… so there’s room for you to swoop in and set yourself far apart from the rest of the pack.

~joanna

The post Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys? appeared first on Copywriting by Copy Hackers.

NOTE:

(Oh, and in case there’s any confusion about who’s writing this – and making disparaging comments about Intuit – I’m Joanna’s other half, Lance Jones, former Intuit Web optimization lead.)

UVP. USP. Value props.

Whatever you wish to call ‘em, yours needs to be communicated early and often. (Of course, I’m making the assumption that you’re here because you have a product or service to sell on your Web site or mobile site.)

UVP = Unique Value Proposition (aka Unique Selling Proposition)

To save words, I’ll simply refer to it as your value proposition.

What is a value proposition? Let’s start with what it is not. It is not a tagline. Think McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It!”… or Apple’s former “Think different.”… or Avis’ “We try harder.” While they’re all catchy phrases and have helped us associate a feeling with each respective company, taglines do not sufficiently convey the elements of a great value proposition.

A value proposition is also not a feature of your product called out prominently. No, it’s bigger picture than that.

What makes a great value proposition?

A great value proposition is specific. It’s an explicit promise of value to the reader about whatever you’re selling – a promise of something amazing, hopefully. It should quickly separate you from your competition. It should also communicate something highly desirable to your target audience. And it needs to do a lot of heavy lifting (without feeling heavy), and so a great value proposition typically requires more than a few words.

Unfortunately, a great value proposition is also a rare sight on the Web. There is a massive opportunity for those who spend time on it, test it and get it right.

Why all the fuss?

Humans don’t want to think too hard. Decision-making is nasty business for most of us, so when faced with a number of options, we look for shortcuts to aid us in making a decision.

A shortcut we use with fervor on the Web is scanning headlines.

People want to know immediately if they should spend more time on your site or bail. They’ve come to expect that you’ll say something meaningful in the first few seconds, and because westerners read top-down and left-to-right, the headline is your first real opportunity to make a splash with your value proposition.

The smart folks over at Marketing Experiments have studied this stuff for ages, and they’ve even managed to express the importance of value proposition on your conversion rate:

Their “conversion heuristic” states that of the 5 primary factors in a visitor’s decision to convert, your value proposition (represented as “v”) is second only in importance to the person’s motivation (represented by “m”) for visiting your site in the first place.

A person’s motivation is tough to influence in a few seconds, but a value proposition? You’re in complete control there… but the visitor needs to “get it” immediately. (Caveat: Unless you already have huge brand recognition – and if you do, please read our other post on testing button colors. )

Let’s look at some examples.

I’ve selected 7 Web sites – listed below alphabetically – from the first and second page of results for a Google search of “small business accounting software”. If you’re a small business owner, you’ll likely have performed this same search at one time.

Competition is stiff in this space. These companies want people who aren’t yet using software. (I know because I spent 6 years at Intuit.) It’s a huge market, and there are still people who use paper or spreadsheets to manage their books.

You’ll see some patterns emerge in how these companies think about and communicate their value proposition. With so many things to think about, sometimes it’s easier to copy the big guys (recall what I wrote above about decision making?). But at least one of the players in this space has been reading Joanna’s Book 3.

Let’s go!

ClearBooks:

Recommendation to ClearBooks: Take another look at how you stand out against your competition.

FreshBooks:

Recommendation to FreshBooks: You’re a smart company with a great product, so I assume you’ve made a conscious decision to move away from specificity, uniqueness, and desirability in your headline/hero copy.

inDinero:

Recommendation to inDinero: At these price points ($349/mth and up), you should say something unique (and back it up) about your product to justify the monthly investment.

LessAccounting:

Recommendation to LessAccounting: Go forth and multiply that value proposition in all your marketing campaigns! You take a real position on your product space… it’s a unique and fun approach that nobody else appears to have the courage to try (I’m just sayin’!).

QuickBooks:

Recommendation to QuickBooks: To my friendly former employer… your best messages are getting beaten down by too many HiPPOs in the room. You know who you are! BTW, Joanna may be taking on new clients this summer.

Xero:

Recommendation to Xero: You’ve got to give us something to go on, guys. Anything.

ZOHO Books:

Recommendation to ZOHO Books: Don’t copy the messages of a company who also struggles with uniqueness.

What’s next? Here’s your homework:

1. Leave a comment! What do you think of these organizations’ value proposition messaging? Employees of these companies get bonus karma.

2. Apply the very same 5 criteria to your own home page and see how you do. I recommend self-rating your home page messages, followed by asking co-workers, family, and strangers to do the same. I promise you’ll have fun with it!

3. Click to be notified of Joanna’s first Copy Hackers video course, where she’ll teach you exactly how she drove a 51% lift in paid conversion for her client with a single well-researched test. Value proposition is featured in Week 6 of the self-paced, 10-week course, which launches in 10, 9, 8…

~lance

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