How to Write a Persuasive Pre Sell that Will Boost Your Affiliate Sales

As an affiliate marketer it’s not your job to sell, but rather to pre sell. The art of pre selling is something every affiliate needs to master in order to become a success. If you fail to provide enough relevant information to your visitors then they’re not going to convert and may go off to another affiliate’s site and purchase through them instead.

It’s important to consider which stage of the buying process your visitors are at to enable you to show them the most relevant information. Encouraging users to click through before they have been fully pre sold a product is a key reason for poor conversions. It’s better to send through a lower number of highly relevant users than trying to get every visitor to click through your affiliate link. Below are 10 top tips to bear in mind when pre selling to your visitors;

1: Have A Solid Understanding Of The Product

Trying to convince someone to buy a product that you know nothing about is pretty hard, and why should anyone trust your opinion if you clearly have a lack of understanding about that product or service? In order to gain your reader’s trust and help them understand exactly what a product can do for them, you need to brush up on your own knowledge prior to pre selling.

Before creating your article or review you should firstly carry out thorough research into the product, brand and niche. This will help you identify the pro’s and con’s of the product, what ingredients are in it and how they work as well as an understanding of similar products within the market. The more you know about a product, the easier it becomes to write about it.

If possible, you should also test it out for yourself, again this will make it much easier to add in your own opinion and honest feedback which will sound genuine, because it is! It will feel a lot more natural writing about a product you have tested and you will be able to show more enthusiasm compared to writing a review on something you’ve never tried.

2: Highlight The Key Points Including Benefits

One of the most important things about pre selling a product is to give your readers clear, factual information about how it works and the main benefits that product will have for them. If you are discussing these points in a lengthy article then be sure to use bold, underline and bullet points to help key points stand out on the page. Your reader should be able to see the main features and benefits of the product by simply skimming the page, so format and layout are important elements to consider.

Sometimes, less is more and if you only have a few key points to make, highlight these clearly and don’t dilute the page with additional copy if it isn’t necessary. There’s a balance to be found between quantity and quality of content, so don’t waffle on about something unless it is important information the reader needs to know.

3: Focus On The Person, Not The Product

Now, you might be fully prepared to write your article having researched the product, potential questions users may have and the key benefits which need highlighting. But, you need to remember that this is about the customer, what can it do for them, why will it benefit their attempt to lose weight?. The customer isn’t interested in what this product can do for anyone else, so make sure you write as if you are speaking to your visitor directly.

Remember to explain things in simple terms and don’t leave readers second guessing what you mean or asking lots of questions. For example, highlighting that PhenQ contains capsimax powder doesn’t mean much to anyone – what is capsimax powder and how will it benefit their weight loss journey?

4: Understand Who Your Audience Is

A key part of a successful pre sell is knowing who you are actually pre selling to. If this is the very first time a user has heard of your product, then they are going to need more persuading than someone who is returning to your site having previously showed an interest in this product.

You should take into consideration how your content should differ for each traffic source. For example, if you are working on SEO campaigns to get your site ranking for buyer intent keywords, then your copy should reflect your understanding that users visiting that page are aware of the product and are looking to purchase. You will still need to pre sell the product, but in this case you would reiterate the key benefits and sweeten the deal with a strong offer or discount.

On the other hand, if you are driving a lot of traffic through more generic sources such as social media sites, where users are visiting general articles within the niche and have not heard of your product before, then your pre sell needs to be more intricate. In this case you would need to drive users through to your review, perhaps using a CTA banner to read your top weight loss supplement review, the content would then need to clearly introduce the product, brand and concept. It’s important to start building trust with these users, so add in your honest opinion and be persuasive. Again you need to highlight the key features and benefits to the user. You could also try to capture their email address on this page, so that you can follow up with them if they don’t choose to buy on this visit. This could be done by adding a simple email signup in the sidebar, or you could add an exit pop up inviting them to join your mailing list as they go to leave your site.

5: Write Persuasive Copy

If you want users to click through and buy, then you need to prove to them why they should; be persuasive and encourage them to make a purchase. Take a look at the below examples, in the first sentence, there’s little encouragement to click through and no reasoning as to why this is a great product. In the second sentence however, it is very persuasive and pushes the user to buy.

“PhenQ is a weight loss supplement designed to help you lose weight. Click here to buy now.”

“PhenQ is a revolutionary weight loss pill designed to help you lose weight by suppressing your appetite. Why struggle to cut down your food intake when this handy supplement is available for you to purchase right now?! Don’t miss out, get your bottle of PhenQ here!”

Put yourself in the shoes of your visitor, would your copy persuade you to buy this product? Are you engaged with what you’re reading? Do you want to read on and find out more about this product? It’s always worth getting a second pair of eyes to read your article and see if it is persuasive and engaging enough.

6: Answer Questions

Once you’ve written your article, put together a list of frequently asked questions and check you have covered them all in your content. You could also tell a friend about your product and see what questions they have, again check you cover all points in your content. The more useful information you can provide, the better, so think about what questions users will be asking having read your review.

7: Build Anticipation

Building anticipation helps to create excitement around the product and also encourages the user to purchase sooner if you highlight a limited time period and use time references to persuade users to act fast.

Building a buzz around your product helps to make it more desirable, if you’re not excited about it, why should anyone else be?! Going back to the earlier point of highlighting all of the benefits, this should be done in a positive way and the more you shout about things, the more people will listen.

8: Use Social Proof

One thing that really helps to pre sell a product is proving that it works. Testimonials, before/after shots and honest, personal reviews are great ways of building trust with your user and showing them the potential of a product. According to studies, 61% of customers read product reviews before making a purchase, and I’m sure this includes you too! Reassuring your visitor that the product works, showing others have left positive feedback and proving the results with before/after shots can really help to seal the deal when it comes to converting users.

Of course, you need to be realistic, try to use genuine images and testimonials and don’t over exaggerate claims or make things seem too good to be true.

9: Sweeten The Deal

The final step of pre selling your product is to seal the deal with an offer or discount. Your visitors has all the information they need to know, they have read your reviews and are convinced it’s a great product, but still aren’t sure whether to buy. Highlight the strongest offer, it may be a flat discount or a multi buy offer, using the right colours, text and CTA will help to make your offer look enticing, and if the user hasn’t already, they should now be ready to buy!

Some brands may never run discount codes, but that’s not to say you can’t promote a great saving. Often products will have recommended retail prices, or they will be available at a lower price when bought in bulk. So, the aim is to highlight the best deal or lowest price the customer can buy the product for.

10: Don’t Overload Visitors With Your Links

It can be very tempting to add in as many affiliate links and CTA banners as possible to increase the chances of someone clicking through and buying, but in some cases less is definitely more. You need to build trust with your visitor as we’ve already mentioned and it’s also important that you don’t scare them away. Adding in too many links can make your site look spammy and if it’s too obvious you are an affiliate site eg. promoting multiple products with banner ads and little content, then users are less likely to click through.

Put content first and ensure your visitor is absorbing all of the important points you have made about the product. Consider where the most appropriate place is to insert your affiliate link. Avoid placing it too early, if your users are already interested then place a CTA part way through the text, however if you are preaching to new visitors, hold off until the end of your article when they’ve had chance to read all of the information and reviews about the product.

Those are just a few key tips to ensure you are pre selling to your visitors and not simply filtering them through your affiliate links before they are ready to buy. If you’re unsure how well your pre sell is doing or would like more advice on how to improve your own website, get in touch with the MoreNiche affiliate management team today.