The Human Side of Ad Tracking: How to Use Emails to Connect With Your Customers and Find Out Why They Really Bought	Visited: 2119 Not rated Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by Jeff Mulligan October 29, 2003

Do you know why people buy from you?

What part of your offer put them over the edge? Let's face it, you worked for a long time on your sales copy. You created bonuses, designed a guarantee, sweated over the benefits and how to communicate them. But which of those factors really connect with the buyers? What actually motivated the purchase?

If you knew, you could pump up the benefits and the parts of your offer that really drive sales. But how can you tell?

Actually, it's very easy. You just ask.

I do it every day and it takes me virtually no time or effort to get unbelievable information. How?

I add a simple email to my autoresponder series immediately after a customer purchases.

Here's what mine says:

Sample Email Request
====================================
Hi {firstname},

It's Jeff here, from CBmall.

I'm doing a bit of market research.

Can you tell me how you found out about CBmall? Was it a Newsletter? Ad? Search engine? Do you remember who referred you?

Or perhaps you were reading the 10 Powerful Ways CBmall Makes You Money?

And what specifically made you decide to make the investment? What was the benefit that put you over the edge and turned you into a buyer?

This is important, because soon you will be sending traffic to the mall and this may help the CBmall sales information get better. Which will help you make more money!

Please just reply to this email with the answers.

Thanks so much for your help,

Jeff Mulligan
CBmall.com
====================================

Every day these emails go out and every day I get valuable information. To me, finding out why people buy is more important than why they don't. (although I try to find that out, too) That's because there are so many reasons a person may not buy, many of which are beyond my control.

But knowing what turns on buyers is a huge benefit to me as I fine tune the copy. For example, here are some of the comments I get:

**** The Results Provide Great Customer Insight ****

"I read all the info and I liked the fact that I did not have to create a web site and a bunch of other stuff. I am new to internet marketing as well as being technically illiterate but I figure I can follow instructions for the most part and you offer the support I will need."

"Personalized autoresponder and newsletter."

"Reason: The eBook, 10 Powerful Ways CBmall Makes You Money, made good marketing sense... Also the products on ClickBank
- CBmall are terrific and good sellers...."

"I found your ad at clickbank.com"

"I first heard of CBmall from your newsletter which I subscribed to in December but was not convinced. My next step was to get the 10 Powerful Ways CBmall makes you money. This made things much clearer. The number of products available is impressive. The targeted traffic that is shared amongst owners is a useful bonus. The guarantee means no risk, which is essential as I am on a small pension."

**** What You Can Learn ****

OK let's look at this small sample to see what I can learn from it.

* My ad on the ClickBank web site is working - keep it going.

* I have a lot of beginners who don't have a web site of their own. I should continue to highlight this feature.

* People like the fact that there is a built-in autoresponder that puts their affiliate links on all the messages that go out. It means they get multiple chances to sell. Perhaps I should promote this more.

* My eBook and eCourse, 10 Powerful Ways CBmall Makes You Money, is working.

* Look at the last message. This is evidence of how important follow-up is. This person waited 3 months before she felt comfortable ordering.

* My guarantee is very important.

While I can only show you a small sample here, there are many more that echo these thoughts. Put them together in your head and you can see clear trends about what features come up most frequently. For me, ease of use, the ClickBank affiliation and the personalized autoresponders are the most common reasons people buy. I have adjusted the sales copy to highlight these features.

What will you find out?

Note for ClickBank affiliates: If you use ClickBank, you know that you get the email address of your customers. You can use that to send a quick email requesting this information.

A word about timing: I have found that this works really well if you send the email out immediately after the purchase. Mine goes out at the same time the thank you email goes out. This way, the reasons are still fresh in the customer's mind, and they are in a very cooperative mood - often quite excited from their purchase and anxious to do anything to help.

How to reply: I set up a simple macro so that I can just hit reply, activate the macro, and hit send. It just takes a few seconds. Mine just says:

"Thank you for helping out with your input. I really appreciate it. I look forward to helping you make extra money with your new CBmall."

That's all you need, but you should be sure to acknowledge their answers with a reply.

**** How This Helps Your Affiliate Program ****

Here's another great fringe benefit of this tactic. Often customers will specifically mention the newsletter they were reading or the web site they were visiting that first told them about CBmall.

When they do, I will frequently copy the email and send it to that newsletter or web site owner. Since these people are my affiliates, it's a great way to show them how their CBmall promotions are working. It also shows them I am paying attention to their business.

Remember that "mind share" is important in keeping your affiliates active and promoting your products. I've garnered considerable good will through these quick little messages.

**** Summary ****

In summary, while ad tracking is vital to learn WHERE your business is coming from, an autoresponder message to find out WHY you got your business is often just as valuable. Implement this simple tactic and give yourself a better understanding of what is working for you. Use that knowledge to fine tune your site for maximum conversions.