There is a trope that goes back many decades and well before the internet.
And it is the “But ‘MY business’ is different” crowd.
Just about anyone who’s been in the game has heard it, and many of us dismiss it for the assumptive-based reasoning it is that is 99% of the time completely untrue and only holding back those who buy into it hook, line, and sinker – which many online do, unfortunately.
Whatever your business is, it is probably not different.
And prancing around telling everyone it is basically makes you the business equivalent of the chick dressed as Harley Quinn at the Halloween party, surrounded by 100+ other chicks also in the exact same costume, telling the guys she talks to, “I’m not like those other girls.”
And so it goes with the “my business is different” crowd.
Take images in emails, for instance.
I got this question not long ago:
“What if you absolutely need to add images as a form of social proof? Since I write financial and sports betting-related copy, adding member wins and proof of profits is necessary.”
Admittedly I am not familiar with his exact niche.
So maybe I am missing something.
But I daresay 100 years of direct response says otherwise.
The way I see it, if you “needed” pictures in a niche/market/industry like that — or any adjacent industries — then all those broadcast radio ads and shows on flat sounding a.m. bandwidths selling financial advice, or narrating live sporting events, etc would never have made any money, never had lasted for decades in some cases, never had 10s of millions of listeners happily getting their info driving to and from work, totally engaged, and ready to buy from the other audio-only financial direct response ads during the commercials.
I am the last to prescribe any kind of one-size-fits all solution to any business.
But here is what I suggest this person try out just to see:
Write 30 days of daily emails ranting about the sport, exposing dirt and/or gossip about the players, critiquing what’s wrong about the industry that pisses you and your audience off, hot breaking news that affects everyone in the niche, your most radical opinions and predictions that you know half your list will disagree with, etc.
Then, if you must show visual aids?
If they HAVE to see a visual for so-called “social proof”?
Send ‘em to a website which you can control the end-to-end user experience (as opposed to emails especially if you use images — as different devices/user settings/ISPs, browsers, clients, screen sizes, etc show emails different, and, worse, if they have images turned off they are looking at blank squares) that also sells your offer, right there, while they are in “heat” to buy.
I can’t make you any promises.
But I highly suspect inbox deliverability will be a lot higher.
And, also, sales too.
Only one way to find out though, and that is to try it out.
Far too many “But Ben my business is different, I have to use images!” boys & ghouls don’t even bother learning and trying even really basic copywriting 101-level skills to use words to create far more engaging Vision than some graphics/images (which, by their nature, create scrolling not reading), or how to think beyond the typical binary-thinking online goo-roos and “agency” crowd who can’t write themselves out of a paper bag.
Anyway, that’s my opinion on it.
Do what you want with it.
For those who can think beyond amateur online goo-roo dogma, you might enjoy the paid Email Players newsletter here:
Ben Settle
