Soft Sell Squeeze Pages? A Contradiction?

 We’ve been asked:

“I’ve come to really dislike squeeze pages. From examining my wallet I know they are effective. Is there another way?”

 There are two ways to answer this question, and both are contingent on the phrase “after examining my wallet.”

1) If the writer is a marketer then he/she is profiting from squeeze pages but has an issue with using them.

2) If the writer is a consumer then his/her wallet is lighter after having fallen too many times for the techniques used in squeeze pages.

From the marketer’s point of view:

A squeeze page is a web technique that allows for only two options. Opt-in or leave.

The benefit for the marketer is that those who opt-in are self-qualifying and therefore better potential customers. The truth is, this approach is best for both the marketer and the consumer. No time wasted on either side.

But squeeze pages, by virtue of the limited options, are, in essence, manipulative. They are designed to pressure the visitor to choose. So they are conducive to subliminal persuasion and most often bow to very hard sell techniques.

Squeeze pages, like much of the marketplace, are designed to create false urgency. They inherently say — Do it Now Or You Lose. And the “do it now” means only one thing — Opt-In!

Squeeze page advocates will argue that they are giving the visitor a legitimate choice. But their intention is to assure that choice will be obedience to their command.

From the consumer’s point of view:

Subliminal and hard sell techniques are very often effective. So the consumer does end up with a lighter wallet.

In other words — Hype wins out.

The problem is that the consumer has been abused.

Now is “abused” too strong a characterization? Is this just an issue of political correctness seeping into marketing tactics? Is the writer — me — just a wuss?

When you remember that a fundamental market principle is “caveat emptor” (buyer beware), and there is no equivalent warning that tells the marketer to beware. So it becomes solely the consumer’s responsibility to choose wisely whereas the marketer has free rein to do whatever is necessary to make the sale (in this, case the opt-in).

So, is there another way?

Yes, because squeeze pages—what we prefer to call invitation pages—are just a tool.  How you use them makes all the difference.

If you adopt the idea of an invitation page, then, psychologically and intentionally, your whole approach to the structure of and the copy on the page changes substantially. It’s no longer a “capture” device but an “open door.”

And yes, your visitor will still have to make a choice, but he or she won’t be coerced into a corner, but will be respected as someone who is capable of making a clear choice in the moment.

At that point there no more squeezing going on—no pressing, forcing, ramming, no emotional  abuse.

You open your offer and your visitor is given a choice. And at the heart of that choice is the major difference—you trust that your visitor is truly capable of wanting to participate with you. And those that do are more than merely qualified. They are deeply qualified because you have respected them enough to respect their freedom to choose.   

 Because It’s All in the Respect and Connection,

Judith & Jim