This Beat The Control by 60%!
Tuesday, 11:29 AM
Dear Friend,
I just finished an online split test in one of my niche businesses.
The new control beat the old one by 60%.
Not bad, huh?
I also recently implemented some innovative online and offline techniques that have SIGNIFICANTLY bumped up initial purchases AND lifetime customer value… so this 60% boost in people "coming in the front door" is going to add up to a much bigger back end.
And I LOVE a nice, big back end… don't you? 
OK, what you probably want to know is… what exactly did I do that completely SPANKED my existing control… which has been the control for three years now.
Well, I'll be happy to spill the beans…
Online Video!
And a big shout out to "kick gluteus booty-maximus" copywriter, Caleb Osborne, for making it all happen.
Here's the deal…
Caleb took the existing control and made a PowerPoint-type presentation out of it. Then he narrated as the words appeared on the screen… and did a screen capture video of the whole deal.
Now I personally hate to get product info this way. I prefer to read it in hard copy. And if it's online and not in hard copy, I print it out.
The very second I arrive at a website and video is the only presentation… I'm gone. Sale lost… and I'm looking for another vendor.
But apparently my market thinks otherwise.
Actually, I have a theory about why this online video did so well.
Based on customer service e-mails I've seen handled by my fulfillment center, I believe a large portion of the customers in this market are functionally illiterate. Especially the ones under 40.
I KNOW they can't write a coherent sentence… so I also have to assume they're not very good at comprehending what they read.
As a brief side rant, this was deliberately engineered over a period of decades. Just check into the history of the public school system, initially started in Massachusetts. Creating good little soldiers, completely unable to think rationally and only able to follow orders from their superiors was the stated goal.
Seriously! Check it out. The goal was never hidden.
Anyhoo… now that I've pissed off all the teachers, let's get back to biz.
So yeah, this simple little video is kicking big ole butt… and is going to pay BIG dividends on the back end.
(What's with all the butt references today? Geez, I'm a pervert!)
Now stay tuned… because I'm going to save you a lot of money, time and possible heartache.
Here's what always happens in the incestuous, monkey-see-monkey-do Internet Marketing community after a report like this.
People will accept what I just said as "the marketing gospel according to Doberman Dan", take down their perfectly good sales pages, and replace them with a video sales letter.
Dumb… dumb… dumb.
First of all, don't get stuck in ANYBODY'S dogma… including mine.
Second of all, you've forgotten one of the most important direct response principles…
Test, test, test!
Yes, this simple little sales letter video kicked boo-tay (geez, more butt references) in MY niche… with MY product… at MY price point… for MY business…
… But that doesn't mean it will do well in YOUR niche… with YOUR product… at YOUR price point… for YOUR business.
Ya dig?
You gotta test.
Don't kill a perfectly good promotion to implement something that SUPPOSEDLY worked well for somebody else.
After all, the guru could be lying. (I assure you, I am not. I have no reason to… and I've ALWAYS been honest with you… even when being less than honest would make me a LOT of money.)
So you need to split test this stuff yourself. You can't be lazy and rely on other marketers' results.
Hey, I've got an idea…
Why not start a new split test… today.
I can guarantee you one thing… you'll get results.
All the best,
Hi Dan,
I'd love to see the video…. would you be willing to share the link? Please
Thank you,
Christina
I second this:
"And I LOVE a nice, big back end… don’t you?"
Yeah, not sure why I'm so butt-obsessed today.
If enough people want to see it, I'll be glad to.
I just don't want to be accused of using DD.com to pitch my other business.
Hi Dan,
I hate watching video sales letters too, can't understand why they are so popular now, but I'll give it I a try and add a video on top of my sales letter.
I've got a question: was the video on autoplay, or did the visitor need to manually start it? Have you tested doing one and the other?
It was on auto-play.
We never tested making the visitor hit the play button.
I have a feeling testing auto-play vs. making the visitor start it is something that "whispers". I usually stick with testing the stuff that "screams".
60%???? Wow! Now I see why everyone's doing it.
As to why people prefer video, I'd guess you hit in on the head (not butt) Dan, with the literacy thing. Or maybe other people are like me and are sick and tired of the long 10-pages-on-one-page online sales letters. Which sometimes are written by those lacking in literacy skills, making them seem even longer. Reading them is too much like work, along with being time-consuming.
I've never played around with Power Point or Camtasia but I've got them. Guess I should give it a shot.
Owen
A copywriter for Agora e-mailed me and said 60% is small change. Agora has seen as much as a 600% increase for financial stuff.
You hit the nail on the head for the reason why they all like video so much.
It's simply an ADD MTV world now. Nobody has any "time" to read anymore! Sad really.
re: schooling history- It sounds like DD has been reading some John Taylor Gatto?
Hi Dan
Split testing? What's thaaaat?
Most "entrepreneur marketers" don't even have pre-sex tests.
C' mon Dan, have a heart.
Its easier to rip some else's headline, method or copy off, even if they don't know why it worked, which market it went to and why.
And they have no clue whether they got A, B or C split. But copy it they will!
Then they use "bait and switch marketing "( actually I call it "bitch marketing"), because they have no idea how to apply that which they think they see, so they plug it into their market and off to the closest race they go.
And when they do eventually get someone to their site, they have added up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells (all the bitch pitches) to such a degree that your index finger gets fatigued just clicking out of curiosity to see what the next bright idea is to get you suckered into the checkout line.
We live in a "just add water" world. And ain;t it grand?
And yet, horror of horrors, you expect some work to test two or three alternate headlines, colors etc. and to calculate what worked and why.
They should try some offline stuff at their own expense and see how close they can get to bankruptcy.
Butt that is the back end to my comment.
Love to see the video, Dan! I'm with you…when I see a vid, I'm usually gone.
Also glad to see that someone else has read John Taylor Gatto's book on "goverment schools."
If enough people want to see it, I'll post it here in the comments.
In the meantime I'll send it to you via e-mail.
Oh my gosh, I was literally laughing out loud.
So true, Thomas. So true.
Good old Gary Halbert turned me on to Mr. Gatto several years ago. Eye opening and shocking, to say the least.
I'd be glad to see it also Dan. I'm also curious: did you have the video autoplay, or did users have to click the play button?
Here's a video sales letter at OHP on a golf product.
Has some of Carlton's touches on it.
http://docsgolftips.com/flash/powerpunch
Like others here, I'd rather read through the sales letter rather than be forced to listen through the video… mostly because I can read/skim faster to decide if I want to buy.
But, I can understand why a video sales letter would out-convert a written long-form letter.
Dan, I would like to see the video. Dan
"And I LOVE a nice, big back end… don’t you?"
~~~Well yes, but personally speaking when I am on the hunt for whitetail doe, a big rack is really NICE!…imho
Agora sees a 600% increase? Is this due to incorporating Power Point based videos?
I wouldn't mind seeing the video myself, Dan, even if it is a shameless plug for DD..com
When I read your results my second thought* was, "I should send this link to a couple of clients who are considering video. "
My third thought was, "No, 'cause then they'll know my secret source of good info."
I'll explain it to them instead.
Thanx Dan
Glad to read you read Gatto too. Dr Gary North turned me onto him… and he's always on about the power of video too.
*My first thought was, "holy shit!"
Dan,
I think Gatto hit it on the head about education (was just looking at a few of his books that I have earlier tonight).
And, I suspect, you may have hit it on the head about the video. Chris Tomasulo was blogging about this very thing the other day: http://covertcommunications.com/bill-bonners-dail… . And, after re-reading my comment on his post, it looks like I'm not in bad company in my opinions on that.
- John
Hate to bum all of the Gatto fans here, but he's controlled opposition…
… Controlled opposition gives us amazing nuggets of information, get us follow them like heroes, then ultimately spin us off into la la land.
Controlled opposition work for the same criminal elite that rule over us behind the scenes.
All schools (including home schooling associations) are run by UNESCO (The United Nations). Notice how Gatto doesn't talk about that.
Gatto is the Alex Jones of education… screams about how bad public education is… we pump our fists in agreement, then go back to watching MTV's Jersey Shore or debate whether or not Donavan McNab will get booed upon playing his old team. Mission accomplished. The sheeple continue to get ready for slaughter.
Think about this… why do we need education for anything except for reading, writing and math? It's because the other crap is to brainwash us with nonsense like too many people on the earth (a whopper of a lie… every man, woman and child could get a third of an acre of land in Australia the rest of the planet would be empty)… global warming (does anyone with half a brain still believe that hoax)… save the planet (more BS)… organized sports (more groupthink for the masses), etc.
I could go on and on.
By the way, UNESCO is an acronym for:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Link: http://www.unesco.org/en/education
If you think the United Nations is a good organization, I have some swampland rice to sell you (via a video sales letter).
Rant over.
Go Dan, go.
I've been working on a post for a while now about my public school experience. It will probably REALLY piss some people off.
Good point about the school system Dan-o.
I'd like to see the video as well…. or maybe I'll just buy one of your products to get all your good promotions!
Oh dear … so the rumours seem to be true. Personally I hate video – I am a reader. So I suppose I will have to test this too …
Thanks for the tip – although it is annoying, to say the least.
Please cheer me up by posting your experience with the school system … and please add your video …
I started watching those Agora video sales letters Chris Tomaslo mentioned and hated them. BUT thye must be doing the business for Agora…
[...] tell you that after posting about the Bill Bonner Text Videos. dozens of emails from insiders and a blog have unanimously told me that the new video/text format not only works – it's working [...]
I'd like to see it as an example also. Plus, I'm curious about what market is that illiterate
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