Sellers Beware: New Study Shows It Is Way Too Easy To Breeze by Internet Links
Just because you put links into your emails and writings it doesn’t mean it’s “a lock” that people will click on them and go where they’re being enticed to go.
According to a recent experiment I conducted, people find it all too easy to ignore links, especially as the Internet’s novelty wears off.
I tested the power of links by offering one in an email that succinctly suggested to my readers that they might be interested in seeing a new article.
I predicted that from a list of 200, I’d probably get 40 clicks or more from that emailing.
Wrong!
I’m inferring that the actual number turned out to be closer to 10 clicks, which frankly, is not only disappointing; it’s piddling.
Before this test, I attached or pasted my articles into the text of my emails. Simply judging from the numbers that asked to be removed from the lists, I believe the great majority of recipients probably read at least some, if not all of the content that they were sent.
They had to, if only to determine whether is was of any interest, much as people begin to read an article in a newspaper or magazine.
The point to be learned from this little test is this: If you have a reader’s attention, don’t ask him to go somewhere else.
Sell him where you both are, now!
This is common sense.
If you run an ad on the radio or TV, in most cases it’s dumb to ask people to visit your web site, if you can sell them something right now.
The same logic applies to offering links. Don’t bother, if you can deliver what that link would provide, without making the customer go through the hassle of clicking for it, himself.