Multiple offers per tactic
Regarding offers, I've always thought it best to keep to one per tactic, otherwise you'll lower your offer's responses because someone will inevitably click on the other offer. But from a 'lead lifecycle/nurturing' perspective, it doesn't really matter whether they respond to your webinar offer or whitepaper offer, as long as they respond. Yes?
Good Answers (4)
Howard S.
B2B marketing veteran with 20+ years in direct marketing and demand generation
Best Answers in: Lead Generation (7), Direct Marketing (3), Event Marketing and Promotions (1), Advertising (1), Internet Marketing (1), Sales Techniques (1)
Hi Jason,
The reason to restrict your message to one offer is not because people will respond to the alternative, but because they won't respond at all. If you stick to one message, one offer, and one clear call to action - you'll drive a higher response than if you offer a choice.
In direct marketing, anything that causes the reader to hesitate - even if it's choosing between a webinar or a white paper - can be deadly. The principle is to drive immediate, instinctual response. If readers have to choose between offers, there's a strong chance you'll lose them.
Ironically, in the example you give - i.e. a lead nurturing program - this is less of a concern, because you have the luxury of serving up different offers in sequence. In a lead acquisition program, you'd need to make the choice between the white paper or the webinar (or test them head-to-head). In a lead nurturing program, you can offer up the white paper in Step 1, and then the Webinar in Step 2. Plus to the extent you spread out your offers in this fashion, you have more reasons to engage the prospect in multiple touches. (In other words, if you were to serve up both offers at once, you'd have nothing new to offer in Step 2.)
Good luck!
Howard
Links:
You've heard of KISS, eh? Keep It Simple, Stupid. That means one offer in your case - in any case. Every time I've tested multiple offers, they fail against individual offers. Create 2 separate offers and you'll have greater success.
Links:
Flyn P.
TeleSales Skills Webinar – Last chance to register for Unique Selling Propositions webinar on 5/22►bitly.com/usp_webinar
Best Answers in: Sales Techniques (44), Using LinkedIn (32), Business Development (19), Internet Marketing (15), Lead Generation (14), Search Marketing (12), Customer Relationship Management (10), Professional Networking (6), Small Business (4), Career Management (3), Regulation and Compliance (2), Economics (2), Compensation and Benefits (2), Staffing and Recruiting (2), Advertising (2), Writing and Editing (2), Web Development (2), Car and Train Travel (1), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Job Search (1), Mentoring (1), Government Policy (1), Personnel Policies (1), Exporting/Importing (1), Direct Marketing (1), Public Relations (1), Corporate Governance (1), Change Management (1), Planning (1), Bond Markets (1), Manufacturing (1), Quality Management and Standards (1), Personal Real Estate (1), Wealth Management (1), Branding (1), Product Design (1), Positioning (1), Communication and Public Speaking (1), Professional Organizations (1), Ethics (1), Business Plans (1), Energy and Development (1), E-Commerce (1), Information Security (1)
Howard is very correct in his point that multiple choices causes problems for the prospect an may cause them to balk completely.
But I see even a bigger problem. Most people have enough trouble coming up with a "unique selling proposition" (USP) in the first place, much less a powerful one that will get the prospect to take action. With a multiple offer you will have a hard time developing a powerful USP.
The headline to your offer now becomes blurred and thus weakened. Especially on a website where the visitor is only going to pay attention for a couple of seconds, you MUST get their attention immediately and engage them. This is very hard to do if you have two different objectives.
Clarification added January 17, 2009:
Just a secondary thought here. If you offer the lowest risk item as the first offer and then send them to a new page upon acceptance which makes the second offer this is workable.
This allows the second offer to have its own USP and focuses the attention of the prospect directly on the offer at hand without distraction.
Chuck S.
Founder, Partner, + Client Strategy at Digital C4
Best Answers in: Direct Marketing (4), Advertising (1), Business Development (1)
I tend to agree with the responses thus far, though I will say you can be somewhat creative in providing a dual offer strategy. Example: offer something that is informational (white paper, webinar) etc.. Then you can tack on something to the effect "First 30 people to respond and download the whitepaper (or enroll in the webinar) will receive a subscription to Fast Company Magazine"
I've used this type of dual offer strategy with success. Where the confusion comes in is when you are offering 2 similar offers whereby people are having to decide on one or the other.
Good luck Jason!
