The Department of Redundancy Department
Direct marketers know that it pays to be redundant, and also to repeat yourself
There’s an old format for presentations you may have been taught:
Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Tell it to them.
Tell them what you told them.
Now let’s see what that looks like in a DRTV commercial that happens to be #6 in the nation right now, per DRMetrix. (To save you time, I edited the spot to jump from the opening to the offer.)
Notice that:
They teased the knife-set giveaway in the opening.
They demonstrated the knife set and gave it away.
They recapped the entire offer, including the knife set.
Seems familiar, doesn’t it? If we put that into a format, it would be:
Tell them what you’re going to give them.
Give it to them.
Tell them what you gave them.
In infomercials, that last part is usually introduced with the classic line: “You get it all!” And like every other memorable phrase from our world, there’s a core selling principle behind it. More after the break.
Chart Watch👁️
Battery Daddy
Pitch: “Organize, store and protect all your batteries”
Offer: $19.99 for one, discounts on multiples
Marketer: Ontel Products Corporation
Producer: The Schwartz Group
This campaign is climbing the charts again, coming in at #26 and sure to rise in the coming weeks. It first broke the DRMetrix Top 20 in Q4 of 2020.
I call the campaign out because it’s an uncommon example of a stand-alone, long-tail seasonal item. Big hits that capitalize on trends are awesome, but they tend to run their course quickly and die out within a year or so. Sometimes savvy marketers can keep the good times rolling by regularly introducing ‘new and improved’ versions (see GraniteStone or Pocket Hose). But this is a rare example of an item you can keep selling as-is for years (decades?) to come.
Other examples from DRTV history are Hampton’s Twin Draft Guard and Allstar’s Magic Mesh.
We’re at the penultimate step of my 10-step formula for scripts that sell (see below for the full recap of articles so far).
Step #9: Recap the entire offer
This is another step that sounds rather mundane but is quite intentional and important. Let’s say you aren’t doing a giant, long-form style offer like the Armor Max offer above. Let’s say, in keeping with step #8, you introduced one bonus and described it. Is a recap still necessary?
My answer is yes. I would still recap the offer with a variation of the well-known phrase mentioned above: “You get both for just $X!”
For me, it all comes down to a core selling principle that can be expressed many ways but that I’ll put this way: Always assume your prospect isn’t paying attention.
Let’s go back to the classic presentation format at the top of this article. It was created for a situation where you have a captive audience and complete control of their environment. You’re in command of all light and sound. It’s just your amplified voice in a quiet theater. And yet — the age-old advice is to repeat your key points three times.
Now think about your prospect. It’s definitely not quiet where she is, and she controls the light and sound. She can make you loud or quiet. She can even put you on mute! (Why do you think we always put titles on the screen?) More important, she is no one’s captive. She can get up and walk out of your presentation at any time. Maybe she’ll come back, maybe she won’t.
So: Do you really want to trust that she remembers (or even knows) what you said — even if you literally just said it?
Personally, I wouldn’t take that chance. Remember, we’re at the bottom of Sugarman’s “slippery slide.” This is the moment of truth! Hopefully, a credit card is about to leave a wallet and an order is about to be placed. The last you thing you want in your soon-to-be customer’s head at this critical moment is: ‘Wait, what am I buying again?’
Another question you don’t want in her head is: ‘And why do I have to buy it now?’ We’ll talk about that one when we finish the formula next week.
News(letters) You Can Use
According to the AI Marketing School newsletter, Amazon has launched a “new AI-powered image generation feature” they are claiming can significantly boost sales. How? Per the Amazon announcement:
For example, an advertiser may have standalone images of their product against a white background, like a toaster. When that same toaster is placed in a lifestyle context—on a kitchen counter, next to a croissant—in a mobile Sponsored Brands ad, click-through rates can be 40% higher compared to ads with standard product images.
Back in June, I shared the “diamond-plate trick” and explained about how the background of an offer can affect its perceived value. It seems the right background can also drive greater interest as evidenced by the Amazon statistic above.
More to the point, we may no longer have to guess what kind of background is best. An AI may soon be able to tell us — and then track the results and do the calculations to prove it!
The Formula for Scripts That Sell
Start with a painful problem
(Article: Ask the ‘Skeptic's Question’ to Check & Fix Your Opening Pitch)Introduce the product and describe it
(Article: Answer These 3 Questions Before Prospects Lose Interest)Explain how the product solves the opening problem
(Article: Pay Off the Problem Opening to Powerfully Position Your Product)Describe the product’s key features and benefits
(Article: Don't Be Misled By the Order of Things)Briefly list all of the key uses for the product
(Article: This Space Intentionally Left Blank)Explain how the product works
(Article: Here’s How 'Here’s How it Works' Works)Set up a value comparison and introduce the offer
(Article: The Incomparable Value Comparison)Introduce a bonus and describe it
(Article: Instantly Boost Sales by Leveraging the ‘Mooch Factor’)Recap the entire offer
(Article: The Department of Redundancy Department)Create a sense of urgency and ask for the order
(Article: The Simple Secret to Closing More Sales)