Here's more on the benefits of asking your prospect to take action as a result of your marketing campaign.
Bob Bly follows up on his first piece of advice with more on making your prospect take some kind of physical action in response to your sales lead generation campaign:
"My all time favorite "take action" marketing campaign is a magazine ad for a fireproofing compound. The headline of the ad boldly stated: "TRY BURNING THIS COUPON." The copy tells the reader: "Hold a match to this ad. It will start to burn. Now take the match away. It will stop burning, because it is treated with our special fireproofing chemical." (The ad was an insert sheet coated with the chemical, not a regular page of the magazine.)
Now here's the thing: These marketers had no idea how many people, if any, were giving themselves a urine test. Or an eye test. Or peeling off the sticker and placing it on the cover of their old PDR. Or lighting the ad on fire.
But it doesn't matter. Whether or not people took the recommended action, these promotions were extremely successful.
The conclusion: Telling your prospect to take a specific physical action - whether to demonstrate or test the product, request a refund, or for any other purpose - can increase your response rates.
Why is this so?
The fact that such an action is given - and that you are inviting him to take it - lifts your credibility enormously... even if your prospect doesn't do it.
It also gives him confidence to go ahead and order, because he knows he can test the product with your instructions (though he is unlikely to actually do so).
Finally, we know that exercise - even mild exercise - releases endorphins that improve one's mood. Perhaps a small amount of endorphins is released by even a little physical activity... or even the idea of it... energizing the prospect and rousing him from the stupor in which he receives and reads most of his advertising mail.
Think about an action you can encourage your prospects to take - either to demonstrate how your product works (or that it works) or to boost their confidence in you in some other way, such as by dramatizing your guarantee.
Example: You promise customers that if they try your stress-reduction program, their blood pressure will be reduced. Give them a simple log where they can record their daily BP for a month. Tell them they will see a definite improvement or you will give them their money back.
By the way, if they say their BP has not improved, take their word for it and issue the refund. Do not ask or require them to send you their completed log. Consumers dislike and distrust conditional guarantees that require them to jump through hoops before getting their refund."
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