Copywriting Contest... (RESULTS POSTED!)

[MJ DeMarco]

It's time to a have a little fun and learn something in the process.

Lets do a little copy-writing contest, something which tests our eye for good copy and conversion. I posted this on the INSIDE to start, however if we don't get enough bites in here, I will move this OUTSIDE.

Here is the contest -- and anyone is welcome to compete provided you follow the rules.

THE GOAL
The goal of the contest is to provide the BEST converting "Welcome Mat" which encourages new users to download the first 5 chapters of UNSCRIPTED . A conversion is an email address, upon which, the 5 chapters are sent.

The Welcome Mat is an overlay (from SumoMe) which appears when a new user first visits the forum. See an example below.


(The user sees this overlayed on the entire site.)

TO ENTER (FIRST ROUND)
Design a Welcome Mat that you think will convert and post it here. You can use any combination of backgrounds and copy text. However, it must be able to be programmed via the SumoMe interface.

FINAL ROUNDS
I will select 4 designs of all of the posts and program them into the interface. Feel free to LIKE and COMMENT on any design as I will consider this when judging and selecting the final 4.

THE JUDGING
The contest shall be deemed over when all 4 entrants have accrued 1,500 impressions. Best conversion rate wins.

THE WINNER
The design that converts the BEST will win bragging rights, a line item on their resume, and hey why not, how about a $100 PayPal'd to their personal account and $100 to their favorite charity.

Contest starts now... GO!

PS:I reserve the right to cancel the contest if I don't receive 4 entries worthy of use. Because all new forum users will see this, it is crucially important the entries are professional. I will not accept entries to simply meet a quota -- I will accept entries I know have a chance to convert.

 

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[garyjsmith]

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Thank you to everyone who entered!

@bigbaby @garyjsmith @focusedlife @inputchip @holmzee @TeveTorbes @Argue @TheMatt @Mikkel @Blaise84 @Cavallie @Kabylfx @luniac @ApparentHorizon @Almantas @Invictus @eagleye101 @Fox @SM Switi @c4n @startinup @ksc23 @urianasi @gostorm21 @ThirtyOne

OK so here are the 5 I'd like to test, or at least, variations of.

I will not replicate exactly, but I will use the provided entrants as a framework.

As for why I chose these, I thought these would convert the best based on benefit language and simplicity. I thought there were some better ones in terms of design and meaning, but when it comes down to converting, I thought they were too busy and/or wordy.

Again, thanks to everyone who put forth something. I thought all of them had merit.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

***********FINAL RESULTS

5TH Place (LAST, CONVERSION: .46%)







4TH Place (CONVERSION: .77%)







3RD Place (CONVERSION: .84%)







2ND Place (CONVERSION: .87%)






1ST Place (CONVERSION -- 1.68%)




Congrats to HOLMZEE for the winning entrant!


So what do you think? Are you shocked at these results?

I predicted #3 would have won.

In fact, the 3rd place entrant started out in the lead for several days and then slowly died out.

In the end, I wouldn't use any of these layouts based on these conversion numbers. I'd be shooting for 2% or above.

So based on these results, can we assume that a background image is detrimental to conversion, considering it was the only entrant to not use one? @holmzee please contact the forum (contact us) for prize details.

 

[TL75]

 

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[Guest24480]

Had this concept bouncing around in my head for a few days and decided to give it a go:

 

[Guest24480]

Holy cow, thanks MJ. I didn't expect the results to turn out this way either. I think the text-only works well because it's less distracting and more to the point. Would be interested to see how a similar layout with different copy performs.

There were some great entries, props to everyone who participated!

 

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[inputchip]

Inspired by What is the BEST piece of advice you've been given?

 

[focusedlife]

Total bad jpg mockup, and I was out at happy hour, but this looked like fun so thought I'd throw mine out there...
​

(And, yes, Google told me this image was labeled for reuse)

​

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

Looks like I was premature, there are 3 versions that are now holding pretty close.

That's just me signing up again and again to skew the numbers

As a mini-lesson for my fellow marketers and aspiring copywriters -- you can see how difficult it is to come up with a clear, concise, and compelling message to generate interest and sales in a product.

This is why Apple's original iPod copy was worth millions: "1,000 songs in your pocket"

If you can master this skill, you'll never lack money ever again.

 

[bigbaby]

Tried to go with less words, higher concept. as always feedback is welcome.

 

[TheMatt]

I like this. Came up with a couple more ideas while at the day job.




P.S.: I did these myself (basic HTML and CSS), but I'm quite sure they could be replicated within SumoMe. The image, by the way, is an edit I made of a free-to-use pic from Unsplash (do check it out if you're not familiar with it--it's awesome). Not sure whether it's fitting, but I like it.

 

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[Fox]

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

We had an international meeting of marketing minds this past weekend and the whole "No, I'm rich already" or "No, I know way more than you" or "No, I'm an a**hole" buttons are officially out.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thank you to everyone who posted.

OK so some feedback.

The challenge on this goes beyond just conversion.

It's trying to put something out there that is simplistic and not so cliche.

The guru "make money" clan has already beaten to death the trope of expensive cars, luxury houses, and expensive watches. I really don't want to stick my toe into that type of theme. It turns my stomach.

Some things I've learned in my experience:
1) The more words something has, the worse it converts.
2) Sell a direct benefit.
3) Be interesting or unique. The "Quit your job and live a dream!" seems effective, but it's been used 10,000X before and now it's tuned out.
4) The more busy something is, the less it converts. "Busy" could be busy pictures, buttons w/too many words, etc.

That said, I think there are maybe 2 or 3 here that could be qualified for the final round so I'll wait to see a few more.

Thanks again, I'm hoping we can all learn from this and see in real time what works, and what doesn't.

 

[bigbaby]

Took some inspiration from the existing getunscripted.com opt-in:




Would be cool to see more entries. Looking forward to learning from the winners and results!

 

[Almantas]

Great contest!

@MJ DeMarco If I happen to win, can I instead donate my winnings in a form of two yearly INSIDERS subscriptions to two forum members of my choice?

 

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[TL75]

 

[MJ DeMarco]

All 5 variants are now live.

 

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[bigbaby]

Thought I'd take a shot. Kept it simple.

Hot Tip: For anyone else that wants to give it a go you can get a free account to access the Sumo designer. Sumo - The Best Website Traffic Tools

 

[jon.a]

View attachment 16160

Tried to go with less words, higher concept. as always feedback is welcome.

I tried to click on it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

However, I will test it now and report back. I always enjoy these tests, they are very insightful in what makes people tick.

That graphic converted at 2.84%

The graphic with "eventually" removed? 2.99%.

So it was better!

Moving this outside for more exposure.

 

[GuestUser450]

 

[Argue]

Made this real quick, I plan on making another one.

 

[TheMatt]

Two ideas:

1)

and 2)

 

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[startinup]

I've never made anything like this before so any feedback would be invaluable . Hope this helps!

 

[jsk29]

 

[jsk29]

Version 2

 

[ThirtyOne]

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Some nice ones! If anyone has any they'd like to submit, do so soon as I am gonna start evaluating the 4 candidates.

 

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