Why Attraction and Conversion Need To Be Separated For Opt-In

To get a customer to opt-in may seem an easy process. But that’s only if the customer is already right in front of you. So if the customer is at your office, or on your website, then opt-in is relatively easier.

But what if the customer is listening to your ad on the radio? What if the customer is reading your message in email? What if the customer is browsing an RSS feed on her iPhone?

This is when we tend to goof up the opt-in process.

And the only reason we goof it up, is because we don’t separate the steps involved in attraction and conversion. This means that you must treat attraction as one step. And conversion as the second step. And avoid mixing the two steps.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you’re going to do a course with a training organisation. Now you don’t ever set out to do a course. The process starts out with a simple email that’s designed to do just one thing: Attract.

Step One: Attraction

Let’s assume you are already on the organisation’s list. An email is sent out, telling you that a three-part information series is available. That email gets you to go to a specific page; a specific site. The job of the email is simple. It’s only designed to attract. If it does the job well, you’ll get to stage 2, namely conversion.

Step Two: Conversion

The email directs you to a page, where you read information about the three-part information series. And then you take a decision.

You decide to sign up. You can’t see the information unless you sign up. And so you’ve got to make the ‘transaction.’ You’ve got to give your information and in turn I’ve got to give you the information I promised. And as soon as you sign up, you’ve gone through the second stage of conversion.

So what just happened in the two steps?

The first step focused solely on attraction. It didn’t say ‘sign up’ or ‘register’. It simply attracted you to the page. That’s it. The second step did the work of conversion. It reiterated what you read in the email, and then got you in the right frame of mind to sign up for the course.

But where do most marketers make the mistake?

You guessed it. In the email, they tell me to sign up for a course. Or to register. Or to do something that’s clearly ‘conversion-based’. And as a customer, I want to read what I’m signing up for, before I sign up.

The job of the email, radio ad, or whatever you send me is just an attraction device. The ONLY job is to get you to the next step. It’s not meant to make you do any thing else. It’s just the chauffeur; the transport; the vehicle.

And yes, I know I’m overdoing this emphasis, but it’s where you’ll make the mistake. You roll the attraction and the conversion together, and that’s why the message fails.

Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.
Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.
Keep the attraction separate from the conversion.

Which brings us to real life examples:

1) If you’re advertising on radio, the ad should not get me to buy. It should get me to call.
2) If you’re sending an email, the email should not get me to do any transaction. It should simply get me to the conversion page.
3) If you’re advertising in the local newspaper, you need to make sure you get the customer to come into the store.

Avoid trying to stuff attraction and conversion into one package and you’ll be fine. Keep it simple so that the customer moves from one stage to the other, and you’ll start to see your conversion (and eventually, consumption) rocket.

And that’s what you want, right? To ensure that opt-in works you need to have three core elements at the point of conversion. Without those three core elements, the offer can quickly fall apart.

So what are these elements? And is it possible to use these elements both online and offline? Let’s find out, shall we?

Three Core Elements

1) You must offer something of great value. No rubbish allowed.
2) That value must be tangible. That offering must have a price (even if offered free).
3) The rules of transaction must be clear.

Online Example Free Courses

Great Value: No rubbish. Take any series that we do on Psychotactics. A product with audio/text/transcript and formatting can take anywhere between 10-20 working hours. And that’s not even counting the additional time and resources to get it to you, the customer. It’s not flippant information, but information that can be sold. In other words, it’s valuable information.

Clearly-defined price: This three-part series needs to have a tangible price. Tangible means it can be expressed in a currency such as dollars. The course can be valued at $150 or $450, but it must have a price. And it’s not enough to simply value the course. You need to actually let the customers know that value up front.

The rules of transaction are clear: The course is being held to demonstrate the value of a workshop, or some online course that’s about to be held. This information needs to be upfront. The customer needs to know that they will get the information, but they will also get some component of sales.

They then need to know what is going to happen as a result of filling in the form. Will they be taken to the goodies? Will they be taken to a sales page? The rules of transaction need to be clear and upfront.

And these three steps can be rolled out offline as well.

My friend Julia used to own a bed store, and here’s how she got opt-in.

Offline Example: Bed Store

Great Value: No rubbish. When customers walked into the bed store, they were shown the various options. And given solid information. However, at one point, when the customer asked for a quote, something unusual occurred. They were not only given a quote, but they were also given a set of pillows worth a retail price of $50. These pillows were the real-thing, and even came in their own box.

Clearly-defined price: As we already know those pillows were worth $50 at retail value, and the sticker on the box prominently displayed this price. The customer was also told that the price of the pillows was $50, and that they were receiving this pillow set because they asked for a quote.

The rules of transaction are clear: The prospect gets the set of pillows because he/she visits the store. They get this when they ask for the quote. There is no requirement to buy the product/or buy any product for that matter. They simply have to ask for the quote, and get the gift.

It’s not enough to simply get a customer to your store or web page. Once they’re there, you need to get them to opt in. And you must indeed follow these three core elements of great value, clearly defined price, and rules of transaction.

When you do, you’ll see the conversion go up, up and away.

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