Increase sales with Nick Usborne's "Buy" button techniques by Nick Usborne, 15 September 2009
As your final call to action, your "Buy" button is crucial for response yet often generic and uninspiring. Nick Usborne, author of Wordtracker's Writing Kick-Ass Website Sales Copy, explains how to increase response by making your "Buy" button an extension of your headline.
After taking a huge amount of trouble to optimize a sales page on our sites, all too often we finish the page with a button which says, "Add to Cart", "Add to Basket" or "Add to Shopping Cart". Is that really the best we can do?
Think for a moment of those pieces of direct mail you receive from time to time.
Does the pre-paid response card simply say, “Add to Cart” or “Charge my Credit Card Now”?
Never.
If, for instance, you are being sold a magazine subscription, it might say something like, “Yes, please start my 30-day free trial of Online Copywriting Today.”
Your page has to keep selling, from beginning to end
Let’s assume you have started your online sales page with a strong headline. You have a compelling value proposition, and have left your readers with the belief you can give them something they want.
You then write some great body copy which builds on the promise in your headline, builds confidence and dissolves any hesitation they might feel.
By the time they get to that “Buy Now” button, they are almost ready to commit to the purchase.
But as we all know, to our cost, there is a big difference between being almost ready, and being ready.
Use that “Buy Now” text to tip them over
When you lead someone by the hand all the way down the page, you deliver them face to face with a barrier. And that barrier is the final call to action...the link or button that will take them to your shopping cart.
It is not enough to simply take them as far as the barrier and then turn around and abandon them.
To say “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” is like shrugging your shoulders and walking away. They are such generic phrases. Too passive. Devoid of promise or specificity.
Your call to action is the tail of the headline
You need to add a little flick to that final call to action. And it needs to underline and reaffirm the basic promise of your page.
That’s why it’s the tail of the headline. It is connected to the headline, and gives that final flick to get people into the shopping cart.
The power of the flick depends on how well you can connect it back to the headline and the promise of the page.
Of course, the challenge here is to write a line that achieves this connection, but in very few words.
As an example, let’s say you have a headline that says something like:
Try our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee beans, with a FREE 4 ounce sample.
At the end of the page, instead of the button saying “Add to Cart”, try:
Get your FREE sample Now...
The line is a little longer, but it does tie back to the central promise of the headline.
Does this apply to every online sales page?
No. Online retail stores are a little different.
It can make sense to say something generic, like "Add to Basket", or "Add to Cart" when you have a large online store and are trying to get your visitors to buy more than one item at a time. People are very familiar with the process. You also run into problems with products and models which have long names, like "Add Cuisinart DCC-2000 Coffee-on-Demand 12-cup Programmable Coffeemaker to Basket".
The "tail" approach works best with pages selling subscriptions, memberships, events, special offers, services, downloads etc.
Concluding thoughts...
As writers we tend to develop some blind spots. We pay a lot of attention to some areas of copy, like the headline and body text, but then tend to just write the “usual” for functional elements of text, like on the "Buy Now" button.
Try testing some different text on those buttons, and track clickthroughs and conversion rates.
About Nick Usborne
Nick Usborne is a leading authority on the subject of writing for the web. As a speaker, trainer and consultant he has worked with dozens of companies and organizations, including Yahoo!, J. Paul Getty Trust, Intuit, Walt Disney Attractions, Merck & Co and the National Cancer Institute. He is the author of “Net Words,” a must-have reference for both copywriters and writers of content online. Information about his speaking, training and consulting services is available through his site. Nick is also the publisher of the Excess Voice Newsletter for web copywriters and content writers.
34 comments
We all know how important the CTA is, but so true it often gets categorized as a functional component and thrown in at the last minute. Nice piece!
Thanks for this Nick. I'm thinking about my own sales pages, and there are a few I need to go and update straight away...So trhanks for the tips and see you later...
Thanks for the tip. I'll consider to change the Add to Cart button and splittest the different versions.
Great article. Thanks Nick.
At the bottom of the article, I see an ad for Nick's book and the buy buttons says....."buy now"
Where is the practice what you preach?
Yes very interesting. I had read about specific, related calls to action but is Nick suggesting the entire call to action goes on the button itself?
I am interested as I am currently working on my first attempt at some sales copy.
Thanks.
Jason on Nick's defense that is just a banner ad and not a sells letter. Space is limited and "Buy Now" is the call to action he wants.
Sometimes less is more. Plain and simple works too.
I agree with Jason.. the "Buy Now" button for Nick's book really bugged me because the whole article is talking about why you shouldn't do that. It kind of discredits the article somewhat.
I have to agree with Christopher regarding the banner ad displaying "buy now.' It is used appropriately in the banner.
The "Buy Now" has become a universally recognized icon and lets the prospective buyer of Nick's book know immediately what the book deals with, without reading a lot of sales copy. Not all prospective buyers been yet been introduced to Nick's concept of extending the headline into the "Buy Now" button (like we have) so would have to work harder to make the connection. Like Steve Krug says: "Don't Make Me Think."
See the moon, not the finger pointing at it...
Thanks for this interesting and extremely informative article! I'll have to remember this as I start making sales pages in the future. :)
frickn awesome -- thanks, Nick - just incorporated this into my latest newsletter update...cheers
Humm, interesting. I'd like to try this.
Nick- as always, you deliver great stuff.
I think based on the the comments so far, you may have emphasized a bit more on the Testing. Not only testing if changing the 'Buy Now' to 'Get Your Free sample Now', but to test variations, depending on what you are selling.
For example if you are selling a coffee maker, it may not be in high demand, but when offering a sample, like Ethiopian Yirgacheffe when it is in limited supply, you may get better results with 'Get your Free Sample Now, Before We Run Out....
It all comes down to testing variations of the button the same as you would do for the headline.
Thanks again for the tips!
I'm afraid I agree with Jason and Kim..the 'Buy Now' slogan DOES undermine the content of the article. I don't believe the fact that it is a 'banner' ad justifies a contradiction in the advice. Also the fact that at least three people feel uncomfortable with it suggests that something may be amiss. After reading the 'banner' might I suggest that 'Kick-Ass Now!' might be a more effective text on the 'buy button'
Thanks David for agreeing with me! Although I have been wrong before, but not on this one.
Nick is the expert here, right? I'm sure he has tested it and then others who have not are questioning his results.
Well, you can only help someone that knows they need help. Or someone that is open to suggestions. The rest of them are know it alls or unteachable.
When you stop being teachable or stop learning they throw the dirt in your face. The only problem is you're about six feet under the the ground at the time or just about dead anyway.
It's easy to be a critic but, for a banner ad I would love to see a better call to action for Nick's book.
I'll stand or even sit to be corrected if someone can shine a better light on this.
I mean no offense to anyone that disagrees with me! However if you can't do better yourself just don't put Nick down. That's all I'm asking.
On our own "Buy" button: Nick writes for us. He has no part in the banners or marketing on this site. So don't blame him. Like most sites we have a long list of things to do on our road to perfection. It might make us look a bit silly but we have a sense a humor here and it doesn't make Nick's advice any different.
Fret: I love "Kick Ass Now!" I'm going to ask if we can get that done.
On testing: always be :)
I think that the "buy now" button exist on this page for marketing purposes too. This simple thing started a great "topic". Why? It's called BUZZ marketing, and is great!! Good job Nick!
As a longtime copywriter, I almost never use the word "Buy" on a button or a call to action. I substitute "order" or something else that's less... I dunno, daunting. I think shoppers have a subconscious reaction to the word "buy" that can make them hesitate, thinking, "What am I getting myself into?"
It's the same reason a good salesman rarely asks you to "sign the contract." Too scary. Instead, she'll hand you the pen and say "I just need you to approve this" or "give me your OK and we'll start." The pen says it all. She doesn't need to say the word to get her message across.
I agree with the article, that where a site has the opportunity to do away with the generic buttons, they should. I have been doing that for many years and have had various amounts of success.
Some very interesting responses here too and yes, I found the banner at the top of the article a little disconcerting, considering the topic.
The only issue I see with a button such as David McCauley suggested "'Get your Free Sample Now, Before We Run Out.... " is that often the size of a button is limited. You don't really want a button that spreads across the page or generally takes up too much room either.
I wonder (though I haven't tested it yet) if someone might be confused and fail to understand that a long text on a button is still really a button. People are trained for the most part that a CTA button is a short command of two to four words at most such as 'buy now' :)
Thanks Mark Nunney for you kind remark on my suggested text for the 'Buy Now' button for the 'Kick-Ass' banner ad. My normal fees apply...just click the 'Buy Now' button on my website. (Ps..only kidding)
You have to write for your market and with that in mind Nick is spot on in his advice. However, His book title containing the phrase "kick ass" simply suggests to me some lame American slang that puts me off buying it. Marketing with those phrases to the more reserved and cultured Europeans doesnt hit it off somehow. How about "How to write great website content- shoot your competitors down quicker than a Winchester" The Americans tend to write and thus buy when these macho phrases are used. Companies brand differently for different regions and countries and I would think about the title of a book in that sense too.
Excellent article.
I did see a site (a book site) once which used the longtail technique on their buy button and it looked pathetic. It looked great with short title but as soon as the title got longer than 4 or 5 words it looked terrible.
We've done testing on this and found that "add to cart" generated more non UK sales, but "add to basket" worked better for UK customers. Also we are currently testing using the alt and title tags of the buy button. So even though the button says "add to basket" when the user hovers they get a much better call to action like "add the [product name] to your basket".
You can't have that article and that buy now button on the same page... c'mon?
So true Nick, Good article one which will Kick-Start some action I think.
Well done and thank you.
Mick
I agree it is not congruent having the Buy Now button on this page.
Having Tailored text in the button, is a tail relating to the headline/offer, a technique used by some of the top international and Australian marketers, because it works!
This an interesting article. Is anyone willing to publish any results of a test comparing short form call-to-action with a long tail one?
What I like about this approach is that, it goes back to direct marketing combined with subliminal messages to take action. We try to do this in our window industry.
Great article Nick, I'd love to know what you'd do to the 'Buy Now' buttons on our contemporary art site! Kind regards, StephanieJ
The things we missed are often the most obvious ones - great Article NIck !
Just read 'Don't Make Me Think' and Nick's website seems to break some basic usability rules. Looks like we all have something to learn.
I agree that the placement of the "Buy Now" banner ad is both ironic and unfortunate in the context of the article it's about! However, that doesn't entirely detract from the valuable message. Stephanie,as a suggestion,and I'm not an expert,you could try something like "Add to (your) collection Now",or maybe even if it's a U.K. site,"Be Artful,Buy Now". By the way,your website is apparently under construction at the moment,according to Firefox.
Well, I'll say this, Nick ... your post was enough to make me buy your book. :)
Interesting article. When we first transitioned from Paypal to a bonafide shopping cart, we tried leaving both the Paypal button and the new Add to Cart button. Our sales plummeted because it gave too many options- caused confusion. Removing PayPal button cleared it up. We have over 50 items- but our complete HHO kits are our big sellers. I may try this technique just on our complete HHO kits only and see if it changes our conversion. Thanks!
Just remember, Nick's advice, like 'Don't Make Me Think' are advice and guidelines not gospel. Read it, adapt it to your needs, then test it to see if it improves your outcomes.