When I’ve talked to people who want to sell something on the Clickbank Marketplace, they often talk about a “killer sales video” or “kick-ass design”. Both are important, but not the only factors in the success of a Clickbank promotion.
In my experience, there are FIVE elements any successful promo needs if it is to generate sales and attract affiliates. And like any good recipe, you need all five ingredients for it to work. Just as it’s almost impossible to bake a cake without flour or sugar, a promo won’t get very far without a good copy or audience.
So let’s dive into every element …
offer
If you don’t have an offer, you don’t have a promotion.
As simple as that.
That said, it’s more than a case of throwing something up, messing around some packaging, and then hoping that your marketing can make up for any mistakes or flaws. (And yes, unfortunately that happens.)
A great offer is perhaps the most persuasive of the five. A top-notch product that helps people solve a problem or satisfy a wish doesn’t necessarily need a top-notch copy or multi-million dollar design to sell. Sure, both help – but if people really want that, you’re already on a winner.
Of course, a great offer usually doesn’t just fall into your lap. It takes time to develop, test, and refine a great offering. If you’re just getting started with your offering, you might want to check out this handy list of things to keep in mind.
Showing everything in your listing (even if it’s a digital product) is a great way to show the full value.
Copy
As a copywriter, I believe that successful advertising needs strong, convincing texts. And powerful promotions copied:
- Attracts attention
- Is interested
- Makes you want
- Encourages action
(Yes, that is the classic AIDA marketing principle that Alec Baldwin so eloquently outlined in Glengarry Glen Ross!)
Copywriting is a specialty. While there are many different tactics and approaches you can use, it is probably best to outsource this to a specialist.
All in all, copy isn’t the core part of a promo. If you’re familiar with the 40/40/20 marketing rule, you’ll know that typically only 20% of marketing success comes from the creative. So while you shouldn’t ignore the copy (or design), you can’t trust them to be the backbone of your advertising.
Great texts not only convince, but entertain or educate potential customers while reading or looking at them
design
Sometimes you will see a stunningly designed VSL or sales letter smoothly promoting a Clickbank product.
Sometimes it’s black text, white backgrounds, and little more than a strange picture.
In any case, the design is an important factor when it comes to supporting or hindering the conversion of a promotion.
But when we talk about design, I don’t just mean aesthetics. How a sales page or website is structured can go a long way in paving a prospect’s path to selling … or creating obstacles. In many cases, an ugly design that makes it easier for customers to buy, read a copy, or navigate a website often works better than a “pretty” design that gets in their way.
Like copying, design is a profound skill that can take years of learning. If you want to learn more about why “ugly” design can work, you can start here.
Great design isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s also about helping the copy to do a super compelling advertisement.
audience
When the best orchestra in the world plays in front of an empty house, does that really count?
Well, the comment may be a little ironic, but the concept is true. You can have an amazing product backed by great copywriting and crystal clear design, but if no one reaches your sales page it’s a wasted effort.
If you’re usually into sales funnels and promotions, you’re talking either B2C or B2B. Of course, there are big differences between the two segments, especially when it comes to your target audience. But with Clickbank, the equation changes again.
Because you don’t just sell to decision-makers in companies or to people on the street. You actually have two different audiences that your advertising is aimed at:
- Prospects to buy your offer
- Partners who market your offer
Well, number 1 is your typical buyer and that’s where a lot of the sales are generated. But # 2 is critical to how you attract those typical buyers. This is one of the main reasons people use Clickbank to promote their offering: to tap into the rich streak of affiliate marketers ready to grow
Like SEO or ads, affiliates are another channel for attracting customers. Affiliates market your offer, whether on their website or in their email list, for a commission, which is usually a percentage of the offer price.
Many affiliates are specialists in traffic generation and can send a flood of potential buyers in your direction. For more discerning offer owners, it’s a breeze. Why?
Because often the money is not earned at the front end (or with the first purchase). This is often only there to win a new customer. The real value lies in upsells and future purchases. Because of this, companies are often happy to give 100% of the profits from that first purchase to a partner who brought the customer to the door.
Again, this is a detailed topic and is not the aim of this article. If you want to learn more about frontend vs. backend (i.e., a customer’s additional or repeated purchases), here’s a good explanation.
Find the right affiliates and they will send dozens of potential buyers to your promotion.
conviction
Unlike your product, copy, design, or even customers popping up thanks to affiliates, there is no tangible element of persuasion. Instead, it will be incorporated into every other part of your advertisement.
By making your offering as useful, relevant, and attractive as possible to the target audience, you have built-in persuasiveness once it’s ready to sell.
Great copies are inherently soaked in persuasiveness, whether with “persuasion hacks” or clever tactics.
Design that supports the sale and makes it easy for the customer reinforces the conviction that a fantastic offer and a first-class copy bring with them.
And of course, affiliates who help you attract more people to your advertising are “persuasion agents” themselves.
Does your promo include all five?
While I’ve focused on the elements that make a Clickbank advertisement successful, there isn’t much of a difference between those who live in the Clickbank marketplace and those outside of it. Virtually every promotion you run takes a mix of all five to raise the money.
So … does your promo have all five?
