[F&F] Direct Response Has Changed. You Should Too...

In the olden days of Direct Response Marketing…

It used to be all about the front-facing asset.

Usually this was an ad, sales letter, or a free report/offer that led customers to take out their wallets.

This meant that businesses who invested in D.R. advertising were looking for that grand slam, delivered in various formats.

It also meant that if copywriters wanted to knock it out for a client - and earn major royalties on a letter - it was all focused around that asset.

The sales letter that pulled millions in product sales.

The free report offer which generated thousands of hungry leads.

Or, an advertorial in a newspaper that attracted attention and made prospects want to take action.

Now, it’s a little bit different…

To have the same type of grand slam, knock out results, you need more moving pieces.

You need a killer offer.

You need a messaging structure that pledges allegiance to your brand.

You need hooks, angles, and follow-up to fully utilize your customer’s purchasing power.

This mean’s you’ve got to narrow down a few things, to get an irresistible offer that really converts.

Here’s the Formula:

1) Narrow Down on a Niche & Go All In

It’s up to you to:

Discover their biggest needs,
Uncover their roadblocks, struggles, and pain points,
Message them in a way that lets them know you “get it”…
And can provide a killer solution

This requires ignoring all other markets for now, to really hone in and fix ONE person’s problem.

2) Come Up With Something Unique & Different

Offers are a dime a dozen.

But the ones that really pull in results, are the ones that focus on one person, alleviate a pressing pain point, and are different from the rest.

You can figure out how to be different, that’s on you - but some quick tips are:

What is your delivery process, how is it better?
Do you have a background process you go through (that either nobody else is doing, or no one else is advertising)?
Are you so zeroed in on one niche, that you can become king or queen of that zone?

3) Find Your Mechanism That Does the Heavy Lifting

What is the unique mechanism, or procedure, that really solves that one person’s pain points?

Is it a faster service delivery, a unique contracting team that tackles every angle, or a wider audience your advertising process helps them reach?

Detail it here.

Help them understand what makes the difference in your offer, and frame it as a turnkey solution.

The more effort and heavy lifting done on your part, the easier it is to sell.

4) Reverse the Risk

Give them a reason to feel STUPID for not buying from you.

Make it more painful for them to decline you, than to engage in your offer.

Pull out all the stops, line up the benefits/outcome, and relieve the friction.

5) Call Them to Action

Make it extremely clear what you want them to do next.

Stack every reason in your favor to engage, and every reason against resistance.

Show proof, testimonials, case studies, process, and more from a similar avatar.

Avoid These Mistakes:

Don’t try to sell to everyone.

Matter of fact…

Make it DIFFICULT for the wrong leads to get to you.

Put up screeners, qualification processes, and small hurdles to jump over - that your most qualified prospects will happily do, to get to the prize.

Avoid building a “Top of Funnel” that’s too wide, with no qualification process.
Really zero in on who you want to serve, and who would get the most value from your offer.

Tying It All Together:

This is what makes your offer unique in the new era of Direct Response.

Instead of looking for that home-run, adapt to the new way of marketing, and stack the deck in your favor.

In summary:

Narrow Down on a Niche & Go All In
Come Up With Something Unique & Different
Find Your Mechanism That Does the Heavy Lifting
Reverse the Risk
Call Them to Action

Your One-Minute Takeaway:

It’s your job to craft an irresistible offer…

For one specific person, with one specific problem…

That YOU alone are the most equipped to solve…

Which is different from the competition (in method, mechanism, delivery, path to the goal, whatever)…

Then reverse the risk, call them to action, and make bank serving this audience better than anyone in your niche can.

Now, go implement!