| You can't beat the web for low-cost and no-cost | | | | to start from scratch every time you want to |
| advertising... and yet there are thousands of solo | | | | address a sub-group of your market. The beauty |
| entrepreneurs who have yet to create a sales | | | | of having a sales letter on the web, is that you |
| page and start aggressively marketing their | | | | can easily create as many versions of the same |
| information product. Which brings us to the | | | | copy as you'd like to appeal to multiple market |
| obvious question: WHY create a product if you | | | | segments. |
| aren't going to market it? | | | | For example, let's say you're marketing the |
| One of the most delightful and economical | | | | handy-dandy "Soap Chip Recycling Machine" (I |
| features of the Web is the ability to split-test | | | | can't take credit for this idea - saw something like |
| your sales letter to multiple markets at nearly | | | | it on an infomercial back in the '80s). The Soap |
| ZERO extra cost. You can do this yourself, and | | | | Chip Recycling Machine lets you take those |
| leverage your sales potential exponentially while | | | | annoyingly small, slippery soap chips that collect in |
| keeping a tight clutch on your purse strings. Or, | | | | the bathrooms and kitchen of your home, and |
| you can farm it out to a professional, and even | | | | mash them all together in a special soap-bar |
| still for thousands less than it would take to | | | | compactor to form a new, fresh bar of soap. As |
| create two fresh ads from scratch, ask for | | | | the creator, you think this is a breakthrough |
| multiple sales letter versions at a bulk rate that | | | | product that will change the lives of millions and |
| have you hitting potential target markets faster | | | | save the world a ton of money on soap... and you |
| than your grandpa can win at the county fair | | | | want to pitch it to the right people/make yourself |
| Whack-a-Mole game. | | | | a nice fortune. |
| In the world of corporate print advertising, split | | | | Who do you think you'd market this thing to? |
| testing is performed via ad versioning. Millions of | | | | Consumers of course... so, you write a sales letter |
| companies put ad versioning to work so they can | | | | that covers the myriad benefits of this miraculous |
| squeeze every drop of profit potential out of | | | | soap maker, and in it you speak to Mom, because |
| their paid ad campaigns. Ad versioning involves | | | | she's the one who's in control of the weekly |
| taking a single ad (which could be anything from a | | | | grocery shopping and you know she'd like to save |
| sales letter, catalog, newsletter, print ad, etc.) and | | | | money on soap, not to mention avoid dealing with |
| creating multiple versions of it that speak to | | | | those pesky little soap slivers. |
| subgroups of the primary market. | | | | But then you think, well, old folks might like this |
| An example: U.S. fashion retailers run versioned | | | | nifty gizmo too, because seniors are often frugal |
| catalogs to their hot and cold weather market | | | | and more likely to stick with the traditional bar |
| segments. The "Cold Zone" version of the piece | | | | soaps that they grew up with. So now you take |
| might feature winter coats and accessories, | | | | the same sales letter, replace the photos of Mom |
| where the "Warm Zone" would replace the winter | | | | with some old geezers, change a few of the |
| items with lightweight outerwear. The remaining | | | | headlines and some of the copy, and you've got a |
| "neutral" items and the jist of the ad promotions | | | | variation on the soap bar theme that you can |
| stay the same. So, the versioned catalog would | | | | pitch to a new audience and it didn't cost you a |
| look *almost* identical to the original, with the | | | | RED CENT to make the change and potentially |
| exception of those select items and/or headlines. | | | | DOUBLE your profits. |
| How is this important? Well.. why would you try | | | | Split-testing works particularly well if you're |
| to sell ski jackets to folks in Florida when you | | | | grappling over who you should be marketing to in |
| know they'd be far more likely to pay for a | | | | your ads. Why choose one audience over the |
| windbreaker? Laser-targeting to specific | | | | other, when for dollars per ad (or for nothing, if |
| sub-groups makes sense for ANY marketing and | | | | you write your own copy), you can hit two |
| brings increased revenue to companies large AND | | | | marketing birds with one stone? Of course, if |
| small. | | | | you're going to split-test your sales letter on the |
| For large corporations, ad versioning incurs | | | | internet, you'll want to fork the marketing road |
| additional blackplate change fees by the printing | | | | and follow both paths. Take the letter you wrote |
| company. The split testing comes in after the | | | | to Mom, and market it via articles and press |
| season is finished and sales are analyzed. If the | | | | releases that you submit to home and family |
| versioned ads don't yield enough profit to cover | | | | websites. Take the other sales letter and do the |
| the additional printing expenses, then they're | | | | same, but for senior sites instead. |
| dropped the next year. That is, assuming the | | | | I hope that this lesson in split-testing with sales |
| marketing people are "on the ball." ;) | | | | letters has whet your web marketing appetite |
| What does this have to do with YOUR web | | | | and helped you realize that the only thing that's |
| marketing? It's clear that ad versioning works, or | | | | stopping you from selling to a planet full of |
| the world's top corporations wouldn't use it. | | | | prospects is your lack of action. The time has |
| Testing makes sense. It's a critical part of your | | | | come to take action and start selling. So let's get |
| success strategy and should be implemented | | | | with the marketing program, get that sales letter |
| wherever and whenever possible. | | | | written, and put your marketing materials to the |
| It's MUCH less labor-intensive, and far more | | | | test. |
| cost-effective, to create ONE advertisement and | | | | Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved. |
| then modify parts of it to suit the audience, than | | | | |