I don’t know your business but I can make some pretty accurate guesses about first-time buyers on your site. Ready?

– They aren’t committed to you, yet. Most are actively looking at competing options.
– They are multitasking and/or distracted.
– They wish your prices were slightly lower.
– They aren’t sure you understand their pain.
They don’t fully appreciate how knowledgeable you are about your niche. You have a page dedicated to this but less than 5% of site visitors even discover this content.
– They don’t understand your product anywhere near as well as you or your business does, and they don’t understand product details that are obvious to you.
– They aren’t even sure if what they’re looking for is the right solution to their problem.
– They don’t want to invest 15 minutes understanding your unique approach but they’ve also never bought anything within 15 minutes of discovering it online.
– They are skeptical of your marketing claims.

The job of the sales pitch is to address these questions.

After running 100s of A/B tests we’ve been able to identify nine fundamental truths about shoppers. These are:

1: Shoppers are skeptical of too good to be true
2: They find expertise sexy
3: Root for people who beat the odds
4: Are fascinated by surprising details
5: Are visual animals
6: Need motivation to break habits
7: Love personalized experiences
8: Like knowing they’ve stumbled onto something rare
9: Must overcome their negative thoughts

Ready to dig into these nine items? We have videos and examples to share, stick around.

1: Shoppers Are Skeptical of Too Good to Be True

Marketing works by making claims. Claims like “removes 99% of allergens.”

Trouble is, shoppers have been fooled so many times, they take everything we say with a grain of salt, as they should.

So the marketer needs to scan the sales pitch, sniff out anything that sounds too good to be true, and add extra explanation around it so it addresses the skepticism the reader may be feeling.

And this doesn’t just apply to our headline claims, even the casual claims can derail the sale.

Here’s how to think about it: look at your sales pitch as a chain of connecting blocks of trust. To close the sale you need to create a long chain. When the shopper encounters a casual but unbelievable statement it creates a gap in the trust chain. That gap is a conversion killer.

Looking to dig deeper into too good to be true strategy?

2: We Find Expertise Sexy

We are living in a highly specialized world where shoppers are looking to buy from uber experts.

It helps to think of our relationship with doctors. When I visit mine I pay close attention to everything the doctor says. You may not be selling a medical product but this is the feeling we want to evoke in readers.

3: People Root for People Who Beat the Odds

Meeting people who have overcome incredible odds is very exciting. Here the term overcome is key. Encountering a challenge isn’t enough, you have to overcome it. Overcoming is what demonstrates expertise.

That’s because difficult challenges increase perceived value. The harder it is to do something, the more enjoyable it is for the consumer. This is a psychological principle called Labor Illusion and there’s tons of academic research on the subject. Next, we’ll talk about the two flavors of struggle.

Internal Struggle

This is where the creator is overcoming their own internal challenges. Classic Rocky movie story arc. Think back to all the product prototypes you worked through before discovering the one. That’s your Rocky story. Talk about it.

The Casper example shows a struggle (testing 60 different pillows) but it also demonstrates expertise (who else other than a sleep geek/expert would test 60 pillows?)

External Struggle

This is the classic David versus Goliath story arc. Why did you start your company? Was there an existing brand that wasn’t doing a good job? Talk to your site visitors about this struggle.

Skiplagged.com helps you find cheap flights. To drive home that point they used this copy: “Our flights are so cheap, United sued us… but we won.” Screenshot (click image to see zoomed view):

4: People Are Fascinated by Surprising Details

When you teach shoppers something they didn’t know it does a few valuable things:

1: Creates a halo effect where they look at you as an expert on that subject.

2: Makes them feel good knowing they have gained knowledge for free.

3: Generates a burst of energy. Learning something new is exciting. A clever marketer is able to channel this excitement by getting the reader to continue reading the sales pitch (here’s why that’s important.)

So here’s what we do– at strategic locations along the length of the sales pitch we insert interesting details related to the problem our product solves.

To better understand this, let’s look at an example. Say I’m working for a brand that improves indoor air quality. So the problem this purifier solves is: improving indoor air quality.

To unearth surprising details related to this problem I’d Google things like:

— “Interesting facts about indoor air quality”
— “Surprising details about indoor air quality”
— “What do most buyers not know about home air quality?”
— “Is indoor air quality getting worse?”

Google will link to a bunch of articles and I’ll make a shortlist of favorite facts. I’m looking for things that the reader isn’t likely to know and will find surprising. When I’m applying my sales pitch I’ll strategically place these interesting facts along the length of my sales pitch.

Free Gift

Looking to dig deeper into People are fascinated by surprising details strategy?

5: People Are Visual Animals

Human beings are designed to absorb visual input. In fact, more than 50% of the cortex—the surface of the brain—is devoted to processing visual information (source).

Therefore, to maximize conversions use your sales pitch to evoke mental images.

Card found in a hotel bathroom:

MGM Resorts has saved 794 million gallons of water in the past 5 years, which is the equivalent of 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Did the swimming pool flash in your mind?

Another example: $6 billion dollars is an abstract figure. Most humans can’t relate to it. So, I’ll make it visual by saying:

“At $50,000 a year, it would take 120,000 years to pay off $6 billion. That’s the lifetime earnings of 3,000 people. (source: Netflix’s show Space Force).”

Looking to dig deeper into People are visual animals strategy?

6: People Need Motivation to Break Habits

Consumers might flirt with the idea of change but it’s always easier (and less risky) to continue doing what they were doing.

Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it. Conversion copywriting is that external force 🙂

Scientists have a term for this: status quo bias and it’s defined as a person’s innate preference for not doing something different from what they’re doing today. Over the years, a number of psychological studies have shown that when faced with a decision, the majority of people tend to stick with their status quo. So while you may think you are losing sales to an annoying competitor, in reality, you’re losing out to the shopper not taking any action at all.

Shoppers use creative tricks so they don’t have to buy your breakthrough product. Two creative tricks:

— Pretend this isn’t a problem strategy
— Use workarounds

Having a killer sale pitch is pointless if you can’t create a path for the shopper from her current situation to the plan you’ve made for her.

Pretend This Isn’t a Problem Strategy:

Imagine you sell long-term food storage (this is freeze-dried food with a 25-year shelf life).

Here is an example (taken from 4Patriots.com not a client):

People buy your product because they are concerned about one day being in an emergency situation without access to food.

Basically, you are selling an insurance policy for an unknown future event.

A potential buyer may look at the offer above, feel compelled, but ultimately conclude, “What are the odds I’ll be in an emergency situation? Seems unlikely.”

To counteract that thought the retailer should consider using a line like this:

Note: the shopper is already on your site so at some level they realize they need your product. If they were 100% sure they didn’t need it they wouldn’t be here. They are just looking to you to give them a few compelling reasons to pull the trigger.

Workarounds:

Imagine you sell a hybrid exercise bike:

It’s smart to assume many people looking into buying a hybrid bike already use other methods to workout— like running on a treadmill or running outside.

So if you want to convince them to buy your bike it’s a good idea to talk about how running adds a lot of pressure on the joints. You need to attack their current workaround solution.

7: People Love Personalized Experiences

Your shopping habits are different from mine. What motivates you is different from what motivates me.

Yet, when you are I visit the same product page we are both shown the same product description. So let’s contrast that with what happens at a retail store.

At Retail Store

When a customer walks in the sales associate strikes up a conversation. As the buyer and the sales associate chat, the sales associate is getting a good idea of what product would be ideal for this buyer. In the end, a personalized recommendation is made.

Your digital product page plays the role of your sales associate. But it doesn’t personalize the sales pitch. Instead, it shows the same sales pitch to all visitors.

Imagine how much higher conversion rates would be if the reader felt the description was written just for them? We call this process of personalizing the sales pitch based on the preferences of the shopper Active Participation.

An Example of This Technique:

If you have a technical product, your product page description is probably long. But your page is receiving 2 types of visitors:

— People who want all the details (also called Diggers)
— People who just need the quick story (also called Skimmers)

(Details about these two shopper types can be found in this skimmers and diggers article.)

The long-form content is great for Diggers but could be overwhelming for Skimmers. Luckily, there is a simple solution for this. Near the top of the description, add a menu like this:

Now, for shoppers who select {I have time}, show the full pitch. And for people who select {I have 2 minutes}, show the condensed version.

You might think: “Does this technique really work?” Here is the evidence: Oransi case study.

Interested in learning more about Personalized Experiences?

8: People Like Knowing They’ve Stumbled Onto Something Rare

We like the feeling of discovering something others have yet to discover.

As a conversion copywriter, I need to evoke this feeling in my visitor.

A few examples:

— Most people hunting for the perfect emergency medical kit give up in frustration. They never make it to this page.

— In the past week, only 37% of our site visitors discovered this page. That’s a shame because this is our bestseller.

— Over 63 million households own a dog in the U.S. Only 1% of those households buy raw pet food for their best friend.

Try adding something like this to the opening of your bestseller product description.

9: We Must Resolve Shoppers’ Negative Thoughts

As buyers are going through our sales pitch their brains throw up negative thoughts to counter our marketing claims. This is a protective mechanism.

If by the time they reach the bottom of the pitch, a large number of negative thoughts remain, it could derail the sale.

Therefore, as marketers, we need to anticipate and address their main negative thoughts.

Here are four things that trigger negative thoughts:

— Missing features
— Inferior features
— Costs
— Confusing elements

Go through your product page sales pitch and ask yourself:

— “Could the reader perceive something as a missing feature?”
— “Could the reader interpret something as an inferior feature?”
— “Is it possible they might have concerns about my pricing or shipping fees?”
— “Is there anything on this page that might confuse my visitor?”

In the list above, for any item where the answer is yes add an explanation to stop the negative thought the moment it arises.

Example

Let’s say the shopper has concerns with the shipping fees listed on the checkout. To address this, right next to the shipping price, add a link that says shipping price explanation. On click show this popup message:

No one likes paying for shipping. We get it. These days most retailers give free shipping. But how do they do it? Have carriers stopped charging for shipping? Of course not. The only way to give free shipping is to either increase the price of the item or underinvest in post-sale customer service. One way or another you will pay for it. We just prefer to be transparent about it.

Think of similar explanations to address any missing or inferior features or details that might be confusing.

Next Steps

We’ve overcome one the biggest mountains– we now understand the 9 core levers of the decision-making process our first-time buyers are using. You are already ahead because none of your competitors know this secret. Now you need to buckle up so we can reveal how you can start constructing a sales pitch that vibrates at the same frequency as your shopper. That’s covered in Chapter 3: Conversion Copywriting.