The concept of backend sales came to me a few days ago while I was grocery shopping.
I’ve never understood why when buying an online product, usually an information product, you are often given the chance to buy and expensive upgrade right off the bat. In the past I’ve studied backend sales and it just didn’t click with me. In fact, this is one of the very few things that I feel I don’t have a good grip on.
For example, when you buy a $37 e-book, you are given the option to buy a $97 upgrade for some additional material. I’ve seen upgrades that are completely outrageous with a difference of $200+ from the original product pice.
When you buy groceries do they stick a big four-wheeler right by the register? No. They put packs of gum, tabloids with the newest Spencer and Heidi news (makes me sick) and the ever so great Snickers candy bar.
What makes online marketers think that people are going to upgrade so fast? They haven’t even laid eyes on the product they came for in the first place yet.
I’m not making this post to preach about what I think. I’m genuinely curious about the logic behind this, and most of all; Does it work?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Nate,
It definitely does work. I don’t know how often, but I know it does work. Case in point, my wife Tammy ran across a free ebook. It was filled with excellent links to free tools and ebooks, etc. Nowhere did the author ask for your email address or credit card number. However, there was a small (and I do mean small) backend sale option. I don’t want to give anything away, but Tammy jumped at the backend sale option…not only that, but she couldn’t wait to part with her money! I’m not kidding!!
She told me to read the free ebook to see how I would react. I freaked out! It was pure genius! (Again, I’m not kidding!) Had Tammy not already purchased the backend deal, I would have…no questions asked!
Tammy wrote a post about it: “A Free Viral Marketing Tool With A Mind-Blowing Twist (or Two)” http://bit.ly/41sXW at our website. If done correctly, it can be an excellent deal for the consumer and the merchant!
Cheers,
Scott
PS I’m not trying to be spammy so feel free to edit out the above link if you prefer only the comment. But either way, be sure to read Tammy’s post…and the ebook she links to. :-)
Scott you are the complete opposite of spammy haha! I appreciate you commenting on this. It’s really good to hear from someone who has taken someone up on one of these backend offers so thank you very much for sharing.
It appears that this guy you are talking about did it the right way, so good for him! I’m definately going to look into this idea more, and even possibly use it on my own business that I’m working on. Thanks again!
I think it’s a matter of upselling.
We’ve already made the big commitment to purchase so an additional purchase would require less persuasion on the part of the marketer.
An incremental decision at that.
Andrew you are certainly right. I’m just confused by the huge margins that I’ve seen between the original product price and the upsell. It must work, it’s just typical of me to question why it does! I can’t just let something go by me without wanting to learn more about it I guess :-)
I think it has a lot to do with the perceived value of the offer.
If someone offers a bonus ebook and a 40-minute audio guide mp3 for $10.00 as upsell # 1, and then adds 3 more ebooks, plus 2 hours-worth of mp3s and several tutorial videos for $20.00 as upsell # 2, you get so much more value if you take upsell # 2.
I think if you craft the upsell with value in mind, a person who has already decided to buy the original product, as Andrew pointed out, is already in “yes” mode and would me more likely to buy if the perceived value is high.
Hi Nate,
I agree with Scott on this. If you are already inclined to buy, there is a strong chance that you will be interested in premium offers. It wouldn’t work the other way around.
For example, if you we were buying a $200 course, and then had the option to pay an extra $30 for an ebook, you would probably feel that the ebook was not necessary because the content would be covered in the expensive course.
However, if you were interested in the $30 ebook and were willing to commit to buying, you have already sold yourself on the value of the material. It is an easy step up to the upsell. “If I am serious about doing this, I should just go and buy the full course and do it.”
I think this is a big reason why those expensive monthly membership courses are popular now. People are convincing themselves that they are going to put in the work and make a commitment to accomplishing something. Buying something expensive shows that they are more committed to making it a success.
John and Scott thanks for the responses! You guys are really helping me understand this better. It’s always been a kind of confusing thing for me and it’s now making sense.
The idea of a premium offer seems like a good one and I hadn’t really thought of that before. It’s perceived value as you said, Scott.
And John, talking about the $200 course, and then a $30 book as a upsell, that doesn’t make sense so you are right about that. I certainly wouldn’t take the offer.
Thanks guys! I’m learning something new everyday…