In the direct marketing online space we’ve consistently seen the use of pre-sell pages, and review sites to sell dietary supplements. Although, recently the FDA has been cracking down heavily on review sites.
Lately, what we’re seeing more of, in this space, is selling dietary supplements by way of a book. There are three key reasons for this.
People Trust Books
First- Just by the nature of having a book, people trust you more.
Books have been used as a tool to position expertise, since the beginning of the printing press. This can still have a similar effect in digital format, it just doesn’t work as well as a paper book. But a digital book can make a fine frontend acquisition funnel.
A physical book has a “presence” as it sits there on your table. Even if your prospect doesn’t read it, they will give you the benefit of the doubt, of trust, because it’s in print. This is due to the thickness and the physicality of the book.
This does not mean it has to be long. But as a general guide, it should be at least 170 pages. It’s very difficult to see the length of a digital book, and that’s why a digital book does not work as well. There’s something about a two pound stack of paper that says you are an authority on a subject. You’re suddenly an author and that still has meaning.
Books Give You More Time To Sell
Second- You have more time to educate your prospect and make your case with a book.
Believe it or not, a prospect is more willing to read a 230 page book than they are a 15 page sales letter. Don’t get me wrong, a long form sales letter has it’s place in marketing dietary supplements. But a book is something people are used to consuming in several sittings, making them more likely to get through it.
In a sales letter the reader is not likely to come back and pick up where they left off. The direct response style of selling in long form sales letters, is completely opposite of that type of behavior. And from the direct response world, we know the more they read the higher the chances they will buy.
The Real Secret Of Using Books To Sell Supplements
Three- This is the big one, that practically overshadows the other two reasons. You can almost get away with making claims in a book.
Under certain circumstances, you can use books in ways that other marketing material can’t, for dietary supplements. A book, can contain drug or disease claims as long as it is not directly promoting or selling the health supplement.
So if your book talks about general health and incorporates your supplements ingredients and the effects they have on the body, then you can get away with making drug claims. To learn more review the dietary supplement advertising guide from the FTC.
Where Does A Book Fit Into Your Supplement Funnel?
Books can fit into a dietary supplement business in two main ways. First, as it’s own funnel, selling dietary supplements on the backend in an email follow up sequence (FUS).
Secondly, as the front end product, where you sell dietary supplements in the one-time-offer upsells of the funnel.
Let’s explore each briefly below…
How To Sell Dietary Supplements With a Book
When selling supplements, on the backend in a follow up sequence (FUS), one approach is to set up the foundational knowledge that a prospect needs to know about your supplement in the book itself. This acts to seed the first few emails in the FUS which reinforce the contents of the book.
Then only after you have educated them and build trust via email and the book, do you begin to sell them supplements directly via future emails.
Gaining trust in the email sequence is key to making this strategy work. This way, they will be more open to buying your supplements.
A Second Way To Sell Dietary Supplements With a Book
It is possible however, to short circuit time and sell dietary supplements in the upsell flow of a book funnel, before a FUS.
One way to effectively do this is to sell a supplement as the very first upsell. The key is to position the supplement as the solution to the problem the book is solving. Generally, this breaks the rule of selling information product buyers (i.e. the book) more information. But here’s why it works. No one expects a book to cure any health problem, but a supplement yes, maybe. The leap is not that far for a buyer who has already been convinced enough to buy the book.
You can also sell a second supplement in your one-time-offer, upsell 2 slot. But it is harder than selling the first supplement. This second supplement has to solve a different but similar problem to the first.
The mistake many supplement funnels make is they feel they need more copy to sell the second supplement because it’s a different product. So they need to introduce the product, the problem, etc. But as long as it’s a complementary supplement you can sell it as an upsell with minimal copy.
A Few Advanced Strategies
Some more advanced strategies to sell dietary supplements in a book funnel include:
1. Positioning the supplement in the sales copy that sells the book. By doing this you’re pre-framing the supplement before the prospect gets to the upsell. This makes the prospect more open to buying it when the opportunity arrives. Which you can and should also do in the contents of the book.
2. Don’t oversell the supplement. Never forget the main funnel is a book funnel, not a supplement funnel. Therefore you don’t want to oversell the supplement. Rather you should sell the solution. Moreover, by selling a book, you can be more aggressive that you could with a compliant dietary supplement funnel.
3. Selling dietary supplements as an add-on bump offer. An “add-on / bump offer” is an offer with minimal copy that appears on the order form page and is added to your order with a simple check of a box.
This is another way you can quickly add a supplement to your funnel with using an upsell slot. The key is to make it a no-brainer, direct one to one solution to the solution the book is solving, just a faster way to get there by way of a supplement.
Adding Your Book Funnel
Using a book as a frontend offer to sell dietary supplements is a viable sales funnel. And it’s also a very wise tool to add to your mix of funnels.
Remember, there is no single funnel that is the key to making your health supplement business work. It’s several funnels, all working together.
A book funnel can and should be in your funnel mix.
There Are Three Funnels Every Health Supplement Business Needs To Build A Multi-Million Dollar Empire…
The problem is most dietary supplement companies only have one funnel. Through our work in the online health space, we’ve had the opportunity to observe hundreds of health businesses. What we’ve uncovered are the three critical funnels that each work together that make the difference between the average supplement company just selling on Amazon and a multi-million dollar health empire and compiled our findings in the book below. Click here to get the ebook delivered right to your email for FREE.
