Tips for Putting the “Now” in “Buy Now”

How do you put the ‘Now’ in ‘Buy Now’? It’s a big concern if you want your sales letter page to sell. Better known as a call to action, it’s the last thing you’ll write that pushes your customer over their last little bit of resistance, and nudges them into buying your product. It appears before the button that sends your customer to your selling mechanism, and is the last “A” in AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action).

You must have a call to action, even with an excellent sales letter. Otherwise, most people won’t do anything except ‘think about it’. Then, they’ll think about it, and think about it, and think about it, and you won’t make any money from them because they’re too busy thinking about it.

So, here are a few tips for putting the “Now” in “Buy Now”:

• Say so: It’s the basic approach that’s used with the simple “Buy Now” button companies like Amazon.com put in their affiliate material or on their site. This method is so commonly used I don’t even give it much thought when I see it, but I don’t see anyone getting rid of it yet.
• Give your customer a reason why to buy now: Want to call someone to action? Don’t forget to tell them what’s in it for them (the “WIIFM” approach). An example would be something like “Give me my free stuff” on the submission button for an ezine sign-up.
• Limited time offers: The digital equivalent of the scarcity tactic. There is never any scarcity in downloading a digital product, because it was never physical in the first place and therefore unlimited. However, you can say that you might raise the price or pull the offer entirely after a limited time, and motivate a customer to buy that way.
• “If you’re serious…”: This is a bit on the rough side to do to someone, but it also works. It’s the “If you’re serious about such-and-so, you’ll buy the product” approach, and you may have seen it for yourself on other sales letters.
• Overdeliver: Want someone to give every future product you try to sell or promote to them serious consideration? Overdeliver on the first one they buy from you. If you build a reputation for overdelivery, it will put a world of punch into you “Buy Now” calls to action, because your previous customers will know your products overdeliver.
• The P.S.: Yes, the post-script section of a sales letter can give you a second chance to get a sale that you might otherwise miss with an additional call to reconsider. They tend to be right under the “Buy Now” block, and say things like “Wait a minute, before you go” with a quick recap of the sales letter. Their intention is to increase conversions by attempting to change the action that’s about to happen (reader leaves the sales page) with the action you want (reader buys the product or service).

If you’re going to write a sales letter, or generate advertising to cause some sort of action, you have to put the “Now” in “Buy Now”. Forget your call to action, and chances are your visitor won’t take one.