Want to craft high-converting offers?
Below I’ll tell you how I failed multiple times over several years until I finally learned how to cap off my marketing funnels with can’t-miss deals my customers were eager to pay for.
But before we dive into persuasion strategies and tactics, let’s address your own fears and hesitations. Because here’s a truth I learned the hard way:
An offer is only as effective as your enthusiasm for pitching it.
Think back to your worst marketing campaigns, your biggest flops. Was it customer objections or your own apprehension that sank your conversion rates?
Some time ago, I sent Sonia Simone a desperate question on a Q&A call: “Why did my marketing campaign fail? I have a great product and an engaged audience. So why are my sales so low?”
Sonia’s advice hit me like a sledgehammer.
“I haven’t seen your campaign, but I know you, Hashim. And if I were to guess, you probably didn’t present your offer strong enough or long enough for it to be successful.” – Sonia Simone
She was absolutely right.
- I was pulling in a cold audience through cornerstone content that ranked in Google for a competitive term.
- I was converting visitors to subscribers using an interview series I made with top names in my industry.
- I was warming up my prospects by delivering my best advice over time using email automation.
- And lastly, I was creating interest and excitement for my product through extremely helpful webinars.
But my offers and pitches were weak.
In dating terms, I was good at flirting, attraction, and commitment. But when it came time for a proposal — an offer — I had no mojo.
The sales portions of my campaigns were watered down; my copy was mush-mouthed and unsure. I swear, I think my readers could see me flinching and sweating through their laptop screens as they read my pitch emails.
A year later, I shuttered that business
I was selling career courses for entertainment professionals. But when my first child was born, I left the TV industry and moved out of New York; it made sense to close the website and focus on a new career.
However, settling in to a new city was more expensive than I planned, so I revived my business for a week to run a panicked, last-minute, going-out-of-business sale.
To my shock, it was my most successful offer ever! Someone who didn’t buy even sent me a note apologizing for not being able to purchase my course.
The results rocked my worldview in two ways:
- It turned out my audience wasn’t broke, or skeptical, or disengaged. Instead, they were just waiting for the right offer.
- My non-buyer audience wasn’t annoyed by offers. Instead, it seemed that pitching a relevant, fair offer positioned my product as a great deal, even though they didn’t buy it.
But that episode didn’t cure my fear of making offers
My successful sale became a one-time win. I only changed my attitude because I was closing that business.
I was bold like a boy on the last day of class who finally confesses a crush to the most beautiful girl in school. The moment is exciting but not sustainable.
That’s the problem with most marketing advice about making offers. You’re advised to conjure the same feeling of desperation I had. You’re supposed to have a “gun to the head” attitude while writing sales copy or a “get the money” mentality…
