{"id":3278,"date":"2021-07-20T07:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T11:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/?p=3278"},"modified":"2023-11-29T11:43:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T15:43:28","slug":"supplement-branding-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativethirst.com\/blog\/supplement-branding-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dietary Supplement Brand eCommerce Design vs. Direct Response Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Supplement brand marketers are at odds with direct response marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have been for years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the greatest marketing fights of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand marketers believe\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brand is the bridge between the product and the customer.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore brand marketing is about linking the values of a company or product with an audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their belief is that this will result in more sales over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand marketing requires advertising dollars to be spent in good faith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success is measured in how many people have seen an ad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volume and time is how brand marketers win the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The direct response marketer on the other hand believes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every advertising dollar must be trackable down to the sale. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Success is measured in units sold and total average order value. (And in some cases life time value.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cost of acquisition (that is how much it costs to get a customer to buy) is how to win the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowhere is this great marketing struggle seen more clearly than on the product sales page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

eCommerce product detail pages vs. Long form direct response sales pages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The typical supplement eCommerce product sales page looks like this. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"supplement<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Where as the typical supplement direct response sales page looks like this. (shortened to fit)<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"dietary<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These two pages couldn\u2019t be any more different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you agree with one of our core principles\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People don\u2019t buy supplements online the same way they buy other products.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplement sales are both functional and emotional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the function side is how it works, the mechanism of action and the science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the emotional side is the hope and desire part of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Dietary
Dietary Supplement Buying Forces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you agree with that hypothesis then it\u2019s not very hard to see the problem here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The standard eCommerce sales page has very little selling going on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s only functional there’s no emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It presents the product in a take it or leave it kind of way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if the prospect is not already sold before she comes to an eCommerce page she\u2019s likely not going to buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything before getting to the eCommerce product detail page is doing the heavy lifting for the sale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Including the advertisement, the brand, and the desire within the prospect to solve their problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eCommerce type of product detail pages only work for prospects that are both problem and product aware in the marketplace awareness<\/a> pyramid.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"marketplace<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The direct response sales page does more of the heavy lifting in terms of selling than the eCommerce product detail page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eCommerce product detail page lacks tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without tension, there is no sale.

Tension comes from the words used on the page and the length of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The length of a typical direct response sales page is something most brand marketers can\u2019t get past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand marketers see such a long page and cringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They think no one will read that much. And that\u2019s simply not true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long sales pages typically beat short pages in every single split test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not that it\u2019s just long. It\u2019s also compelling. Compelling copy leads the prospect to a conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That conclusion is the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>Put the prospect in the lead\u2026 Not the product<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Putting the prospect in the lead means the sale is about the prospect, not the product.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplement brands<\/a> mistakenly lead with science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The science only addresses the logical, functional side of how people buy supplements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the emotional side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplement brands mistakenly believe that a supplement is a functional sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way people buy supplements involves hope, desire, trust, and belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an example of how you tap into that first and use science to support later.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The example above is for a pre-workout supplement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this market segment, it’s all about being your best. That’s why they are taking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think about it that’s a very emotional sale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead copy on this page starts with the prospect’s desire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not the science or even the product. That comes below the fold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That may seem taboo to best practices but people don’t buy supplements the same way they buy other products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of the major differences with selling supplements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a video where Lori Haller and I break down a long-form sales page design that uses direct response copy and design tactics to increase bottom-line response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n