Content Delivery Pain Misrepresentation Out-Right Lies

Wow! That title is a mouthful. Say it three times fast. But this is actually a serious subject because it is the way many people deliver their content. Certainly by my own experience I might say content delivery wrapped in misrepresentation, deception, and out-right lies is the way many, or perhaps most, people do it. And that is a sad thing to me!

#1 - Do Not Lie To Me Or I Will Not Buy From You

Content delivery methods seem to be full of lies. Are they intentional, or just the result of bad design? Probably no one, except the person delivering the content, can know for sure. The thing is, whether lie or mistake, there are a lot of falsehoods in the content marketing field.

False or misleading email subject lines are often used to get the potential reader to open the email. Many people, it seems, think that "opens" represents a key factor in email marketing. In fact, false opens are meaningless. They will not likely convert. There is more likelihood that they will tarnish your reputation and reduce conversion numbers among those who would have otherwise purchased from you. Not a good thing.

Even the action button can be a lie. Action buttons with titles like "Download", "Download Now!", "Get It Now!", "Instant Access", and similar immediate results statements but which lead to a series of validation and follow-up emails or other tasks are, simply, lies. I tend to have less respect for, and to deal less with, those who lie to me, even in small ways.

Instead use something like "Get Access", "Give Me Access", or "Take The Next Step" -- all true statements -- and lead me into the same multi-step process. I will come out of it feeling better, less frustrated, and more willing to do business.

#2 - Do Not Misrepresent Or Inflate The Facts

I often see 20 (or so) page ebooks shown with a stated value of $47.00 but a selling price of $9.97. The ebook has never been offered to the public at $47.00 so what does that number represent? If it is the suggested value of the contents then the ebook probably isn't worth reading. The content of even a small ebook should be of infinite value to the reader. There are just too many options available to go for something that is only worth $47.00.

Or is this number just pulled from the air to add a perceived value to the product? If so, you are misrepresentation or inflating the facts. If the ebook is always being sold for $9.97 then its mercantile value (not the worth of its content) is $9.97, not $47.00. Be honest with your prospects and more of them will come to respect you and be more likely to engage with you and by your products or services.

#3 - Take The Pain Out Of Your Content Delivery Method

I recently signed up for a marketing program. You know the ones where 50 or so marketers, coaches, movers, shakers, and wannabees offer a free product or service to give you a taste of what they provide with the hopes of converting you to a paying client or customer at some point.

In this case the process involved signing up with name and email address, getting an email with a confirmation link, confirming and receiving access to the list of offers. Remember, now, they have my name and confirmed email address.

Access to each of the individual free "gift" product or service required I go through a different set of hoops, providing my name and email yet again, receiving a confirmation email, visiting one or more pages, and eventually being able to download, or register for, my free gift. The process became tedious, time wasting, and frustrating.

On one or more occasions I have bailed out of the process before checking out everyone in the list. Those 10 or 20 or 30 people that were farther down the list will never know that their products or services might have been helpful, useful, valuable to me. And I will not be doing business with them. At least not at the moment.

It would be so much easier for prospects like me, and so much more beneficial to the vendors, especially the ones down at the bottom of the list, if the process involved,

1. the initial sign-up and verification process provided my name and email to everyone on the vendor list,
    
2. each vendor provided a direct link to the product (or registration form for services) allowing me to quickly create the process.

All-in-all, this two-step process would reduce the time taken to receive the gifts, allow for faster access and evaluation of the offering, and reduce my frustration level thus increasing the likelihood of my dealing with any of the vendors.

The Results Are Worth It

Keep all this in mind when you are putting your sales funnel, or special give-away program, into service. Conversion numbers, the ones that matter, may depend on it!

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