Gimmicks...so many people use them in all walks of life. In the world of copywriting, these gimmicks are as rampant as the recent outbreak of swine flu. But the question is, do these gimmicks really work? Well, the answers I'm going to provide in this article might surprise you.
First of all, what are these gimmicks that I'm referring to? Well, there are a ton of then, so where do you even begin? How about the "Only good for the next 24 hours" disclaimer? You know the one I'm talking about. The prospect is supposed to believe that the special price (is it even a special price?) is only going to be good for the next 24 hours. Trust me, with 99% of these sales pages, if you came back to the copy 24 hours later, it would still read "Only good for the next 24 hours." Makes you feel like you're in some kind of a time warp, doesn't it?
Truth is, and this is the part that many people won't want to hear, these gimmicks, in some niches, DO work...sad to say. In niches that are not marketing related, meaning the prospect doesn't know all the gimmicks because they use it themselves, these gimmicks work like gang busters. People who don't know marketing from a hole in the wall see something like that and immediately rush to purchase before the price goes up. I know it's hard for us to understand this because of our mindset of being IN the business, but trust me, people who are NOT in the business actually believe this stuff.
Personally, as a copywriter, I do not use these gimmicks. I say what I mean in my copy. If I say something is limited, it's limited. The problem is, in the IM niche, nobody believes it...until they find out that the item is actually sold out. So far, I have 9 such items that are sold out...and I still get people writing to me, begging me to let them have a copy. Ironically, the perception in our industry has made it so that when I do sell something out, people get angry with me because they thought it was just a gimmick.
Bottom line is this. You MUST know who your target market is and how they're going to react to your gimmick. I'm not passing judgment on whether these gimmicks should or shouldn't be used. That's between the copywriter and his conscience. But make no mistake about it...in some niches, these gimmicks DO work and in others they WILL blow up in your face.
Proceed with caution.
To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim
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