Do You Use A Carrot Or A Stick On Landing Pages?

One of the most puzzling things I see affiliate marketers do is assume their visitors must be completely unlike them.  In other words, they use methods on landing pages that would never convince them to buy or take any action.  They promise more bonuses than a human being could read or use in a lifetime or they use the artificial scarcity ploy.  You know, “I’m going to run out of these crappy ebooks in 30 minutes so you better get yours.”

This got me thinking.  What is the best approach to take on landing pages?  The carrot or the stick?  The answer: both!

The Value Of The Carrot

Of course, if you want to provide extra value to your visitors you’re going to have to give them something they can’t get anywhere else.  This means unique content.  Something you’ve written, produced or had done for you.  It gives your visitor the feeling that you do care about their business and let’s them know you’re willing to go the extra mile to get it.

But you can go too far with this.  I’ve seen landing pages that took me more time to read what came with the product than the product itself.  I’ve had bonuses actually cause me to back away because it made the product look like it couldn’t stand on its own without them and came across as desperate.

The Value Of The Stick

Likewise, I’ve seen landing pages where before they even tell you what the product does they’re telling you about how limited it is and how quickly they’ll sell out.  While this can be true for some products, most of the time it puts me way off because I refuse to be threatened into a purchase.  I think most people feel the same way.  When was the last time you read the words “act now or else” and reached immediately for your credit card.

The Solution Lies In Between

I read a masterfully written landing page this morning where the author obviously had copywriting skills.  They started out talking about the product in depth including how it compared to others in its market.  They offered an act now bonus and mentioned that the other products in the market charged a subscription fee which they did not.  They hinted that they weren’t sure how long they could offer all of the product features without a subscription and still be competitive.  That was it.  No buy now or else deadline and no burial by bonuses.

This is where I think the answer lies.  An honest accounting of the product benefits and bonuses(carrot)while hinting at a sense of urgency(stick).  I would have bought the product in an instant if I didn’t already own it-LOL!

What about you?  Have you seen some really well-written landing pages that just struck a chord with you?  Did they lean more toward the stick or the carrot or balance in between?  Leave us a comment and tell us what you think.