My friend Michelle is standing at the cosmetic counter super excited to be dropping $50 on a bottle of foundation – even though she could get something similar for $12 at Walgreens.
Why? Because she’s getting a free gift of cosmetic goodies valued at $130. These free gifts with purchases are special events and they always include samples of the newest colors and types of makeup.
This kind of gift with purchase is a common tactic that high-end cosmetic companies use to get you to try and then buy their stuff. They know that it’s all about the offer.
A compelling offer can make or break your business. It’s the core to everything else you do, and without a compelling offer, nothing else you do will work well.
If you run a business, a compelling offer can be the difference between making a killing or launching a complete dud. It really is that dramatic.
So how do you craft a compelling offer? How do you figure out what the offer is that will make people line up at your door to get it – like they do with new iPhones?
I have a few tips for you that can really help you figure out what the best offer is for YOUR business.
Here are five steps to creating a compelling offer that will move product off the shelves and money into your bank account.
5 Steps to Creating a Compelling Offer That Will Put Money Into Your Bank Account
1. Talk to Real People
Whether you are starting a business, or have been established for a while – there is no substitute for talking to real people. When you discuss things with your customers (or potential customers), and find out what their needs and their hopes and dreams are, then you can craft an offer that is specific to that.
This will give you an edge over the competition who doesn’t bother with this research. And it can also give you many ideas to test quickly (more on testing in a minute).
Even if you don’t want to talk to your customers on a regular basis, doing this initial market research can do wonders as far as guiding your marketing materials and how you message your offer.
2. Be a Fly on the Wall
The internet is the treasure trove of information for crafting a compelling offer. Whatever your niche or service or product there is a forum for that. Go hang out in the forums or Reddit and read the threads where they are discussing issues related to what you do.
Find out what people are chatting about, what they’re talking about, and make lots of notes.
You want to go for the emotion here. So when people are complaining loudly, or praising something, that’s what you want to take note of, and then use that information in your marketing.
3. Start with a Minimum Viable Product
The biggest validation of any offer is “will people buy it”. If that is not the case, and they aren’t buying your product then you would we want to offer something else or find a new way to frame your current offer.
By creating a kind of skeleton product, you can get a feel for what the market actually wants before you invest tons of time and money and energy into something they don’t want and won’t buy.
I explain “Minimum Viable” concepts in more detail here.
4. Test, Test, and Test Again (Then Test Again)
As much as I like to say that there’s a crystal ball or secret formula for creating offers that are guaranteed to sell every single time, the reality is it’s just not the case. You have to take your minimum viable products and put them in front of audiences at low budgets. That way you can see what people actually want.
It may take 10, 20 or 30+ tests find a really hot product or compelling offer, but when you do it is well worth it – because now you have a proven offer that works and you can scale big. The reason why most people fail is that they give up after the first, second, or third try.
See this article where I talk about how to fail quickly and fail forward to online business success.
5. Include Recurring Revenue
This isn’t exactly about the compelling offer, but it is directly related. Because when you do find a compelling offer, you want to make sure that you add in a recurring revenue piece to it.
It could be a high-end recurring revenue piece — like a consulting gig, or could be a lower end recurring revenue piece like a club, group, or membership site. Many businesses offer their recurring revenue product as a order page bump or upsell.
A high converting and compelling offer is the lifeblood of your business. It is important to keep testing new things until you find what works for your audience.