I would love to hear your views on this:
I’ve undergone a debate in my own head of late, on the subject of “Sliperiness Vs Quality Content”
The debate was stoked again after the chat I mentioned I had with Robert from the 30 day challenge.
What I’m talking about is this:
Say you’re promoting product XYZ as an affiliate.
You have two options, as per this debate.
1. You can put up any old content. The point of your page is to get a visitor there, whether from the search engines or wherever, and get them OFF the page and to your affiliate link as quickly as possible. Hence the term “Slippery”.
The theory is that the more relevant people you pass on to your merchants page with your affiliate link, the more sales you’re going to make.
2. You can develop quality content. The point of your page is to “presell” your customer on the product, so that they get a positive outlook from your review THEN click through to the affiliate link.
The theory here is that by building a little trust, presenting the product in a positive light, and giving some added information, your CTR may not be as high, but you’ll convert a higher number of the visitors that you DO push through to the merchant’s page.
Now, there’s no right or wrong answer here.
Both of these strategies will make you money. But before we continue this discussion, I’d love to know what your thoughts are on this subject at present.
Let’s hear it…
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Andrew, that is a good debate.
I’d say it depends what your goal is. If it is just to make cash from a product as an affiliate and you have no plan to stay in touch with the buyers I’d say go for slipperyness.
If the idea is to build a long-trust-relationship, good quality content is always best.
I often aim at a combination of the two.
Martin,
That’s exactly what Robert said
But it raises another question: Doesn’t a relationship increase conversion rates? So if you did use quality content, you’d and built a little rapport, would you get more sales or less?
I think that’s the real question…
Andrew
I agree with Martin, but since I’m working on a list building product right now, I’m seeing everything through the prism of list building!
So if the visitor is new you want them to subscribe. Then you have the chance of sending them to that page whenever you like.
If you are not building a list you have to get them to click on an affiliate link there and then!
But maybe that is just a “debate in your head” anyway – how do you write for a sticky page rather than for a slippery page?
In both cases you just have to write the most compelling copy you can.
The bottom line is quality content!
Alex
You’re almost getting philosphical here Andrew… (is that a word?)…
“Doesn’t a relationship increase conversion rates?”
I’d say; it depends. I am by no means an expert on conversions but here are a couple of examples:
1)
Let’s say you, as an affiliate, promote a membership to a website that offers downloadable games for XBOX for instance. You throw up some blogs with articles on blogspot, build your own wordpress blogs or whatever….
Version 1:
You get 1000 visitors.
20% (to be conservative) click through to the salespage = 200 clicks.
If you manage to get 1:200 sales conversion that’s one sale of maybe $25
Version 2:
Same product, same site…
You get 1000 visitors.
35% of these opt-in for your free report on how to download Free Games for your Xbox or whatever.. (guess I’m steppin’ on someones toes now).
How many will confirm their subscription?
How many will actually read the report?
How many will buy immediatly after reading the report/getting on your list?
Of course you can hammer them affiliate offers, but in these kinds of niches it is often a one-off purchase thing. Or is it?
I’d love to hear your view on this!!
2)
Now, let’s say your into the “potato-growing-niche” as an affiliate or even an e-book/software developer in a specific market (ringing any bells, Andrew?).
Version 1 (same as above):
You get 1000 visitors.
20% (to be conservative) click through to the salespage = 200 click.
If you manage to get 1:200 sales conversion that’s one sale of maybe $25
Version 2:
Same product, same site…(potato for instance)
You get 1000 visitors.
35% of these opt-in for your free report on niche marketing or “potato growing secrets” .
Let’s say that from the 350 that signed up, 300 actually confirms their subscription.
200 actually reads the report.
2 people actually buys the product right after reading the report. (=50 bucks in almost immediate cash vs $25 in alternative 1)
You keep sending them quality mails, promote your blog, build a relationship, recommends new potato growing gadgets….
You have unlimited ways of making money down the line. People will trust you. People will buy!!
Why am I reading the andrewhansen.name blog? Because I’ve seen your free report (?), bought your niche marketing on crack book, bought your NEG software, read your FirePow blog and finally been led over here…
My conclusion:
Relationship pays off if it is a good market where people;
a) Have money to spare and a credit card.
b) It is a passionate market where people can buy different things and not only do a one-off-sale.
c) You provide quality content.
PUh… I wrote this without much though or consideration. Does it make sense, guys?
Andrew,
Slippery copy is not just any old copy from the web (duplicate blog posts, scraped articles blah, blah)
What I meant by slippery copy is copy that connects with the core need of the reader and recommends as efficiently as possible that they check out this page (i.e. affiliate money page) where they can find a solution that satisfies that need.
I use slippery copy whenever I only intend to sell one product into the niche where the traffic is being derived. If I had the intention to sell several products then I would seek to have them opt-in to a list, build a relationship and promote several products that might satisfy there needs.
It’s horses for course but if you want efficiency in converting a hungry traffic stream into immediate sales then slippery copy is the best bet. It won’t lead to the highest conversions but it should lead to the highest click thru’s to the affiliate product page.
On my best pages I was experiencing a 70% click thru to the money page whereas if I were attempting an opt-in strategy I would only have a 20 – 25% opt-in.
Guru Bob
Robert,
Ahh, I get ya.
So your slippery copy is what I referred to here as quality content – something that presells effectively, etc.
So we can kick out crappy content altogether – great, I’m hoping everyone reading already has.
So the remaining question is that of listbuilding;
So the conclusion is that how ’slippery’ the copy should be is based on the nature of the niche –
A niche with the possibility to sell repeatedly to the prospect should be met with a more long term approach versus a niche that’s looking for the one time sale.
Interesting stuff!
The final question raised by this is “If you could CHOOSE, would you rather start a site in a niche that’s one time sale focused, or long term focused – and why?”
The topic of another post perhaps
Thanks for the input Bob – hope the Beechworth event was a hit!
Andrew
Thanks Rob & Andrew.
I am not thinking about crappy content when saying “slippery” either, just that would possibly be written in a different way than stuff which intention is to keep people on your website.
“The final question raised by this is “If you could CHOOSE, would you rather start a site in a niche that’s one time sale focused, or long term focused – and why?””
I would chose one where I could sell over and over again as I would basically only need one website and not have to go through all the pain of making new sites all the time
Haven’t had much luck in that segment yet, though….
Martin
Is there a question of morality or ethics in here anyplace? Does slippery mean unethical? It seems to bear that meaning in my mind. It kinda reminds of scam or shyster.
I think quality can be great copy and informative. What is it all about but helping folks to come to a buying conclusion. I do not and I am sure that no one here likes being treated like we are on a showroom floor thinking about buying a car and having some slick salesman ramming his product down our throat. We like to be informed but not pushed in a way that makes us feel cheated afterward, no matter what we might by.
I for one want my customer, either one time or repeat to leave feeling he got just what he needed at a fair price.
Just my two cents worth.
Justin