What is a direct response offer? To answer that question I’m breaking down 3 multi-million dollar direct response offers you’ve probably never heard of.
This content was originally published in the No Best Practices newsletter on 05.12.2024.
Things you hear fairly often in the DTC space:
“You need to test your offer before you test creative angles.”
“The right offer will make or break your business.”
But what is a direct response offer? When I first got into eCom, I thought an offer was a promotion, like “buy one, get one free.” That’s only part of the story. I’m going to outline all the components of a direct response offer here, then give you 3 examples of multi-million dollar offers from real brands and break down why they’re so effective.
One caveat before we get started: almost none of this applies to fashion brands. I’ll cover “offer” strategy for fashion brands in an upcoming issue of my dedicated fashion newsletter. Click here to get on that list.
The Components Of A Direct Response Offer
Product Features
This is simply a list of all the functional aspects of the product. For example, a tea kettle could have the following features: liquid capacity, material, color, speed to boil water, works on all stove types, etc.
Obviously, the more complex the product, the longer the list. As a marketer, you should create a master list of features, but focus on the features most relevant to your target customer.
Positioning & Benefits
This isn’t positioning within the competitive landscape, it’s positioning within the consumer landscape. I.e. who are you speaking to and what do they care about?
A protein bar could position itself as pre-workout fuel for athletes, a meal replacement for busy moms looking to lose weight, or a dozen other things.
Successful products typically go hard on one positioning strategy to start, then expand to adjacent customer segments, then go broad. Brands might also choose to launch different products to appeal to different segments of the market.
Once you pick your target consumer, you can narrow your product features down to the 4-5 you think that consumer cares about most. Then develop a benefit statement for each feature.
A simple example:
- Product: caffeine gum
- Target customer: gamers
- Feature: One square of gum = equivalent caffeine to one Monster Energy Drink
- Benefit: Get the same caffeine power-up as your favorite energy drink without having to stop the game for a bathroom break
Note that both the feature and the benefit sit within the target customer’s frame of reference. If you were selling this product to a long haul trucker or a college student during finals, you’d pick different reference points. The more authentic your reference points and copy, the more folks you’ll convert.
Promises & Proof
Promises are things you’re claiming the product can do for your customer. These should also be selected based on the customer’s frame of reference; your promises have to align with your target market’s desires.
Also: you can’t just make stuff up. Not only is it unethical, it’s illegal. You can’t claim that your poop tea will make people lose five pounds of neck fat each time they take a dump.
Proof is how you back up your promises. Brand-funded scientific studies, customer testimonials and customer reviews are the gold standard here. But, in absence of those proof points, you can use proof by association–published research related to your main ingredient/methodology, paid spokespeople, celebrity founders, etc.
The more skeptical your market, and the more high stakes your product, the more critical promises and proof are to your success. (Hint: things you ingest and put on your face are high stakes).
Pricing & Promotions
There are two components of pricing: your price relative to your product’s perceived value, and your price relative to direct competitors and next best alternatives. Pricing theory is too meaty to cover in this newsletter.
Promotions are incentives for first time purchasers. Here are some popular formats:
- A discount for buying multiple related SKUs (a bundle)
- Buy X, get 1 free (or 2 free, or 3 free…)
- Gift with purchase
- Save X% when you subscribe
- Try a free sample, just pay shipping
The purpose of a promotion is to nudge the consumer toward some preferred purchase behavior while creating a sense of urgency or added value.
A flat percentage discount with no stipulations is the least beneficial promotion for the brand. Good promotions increase AOV, encourage habit formation, or promote cross-category shopping.
3 Multi-Million Dollar Direct Response Offers + Why They Work
#1 Meaningful Beauty
Relevant Features: “Melon leaf stem cell technology”–an extract from a French melon varietal that doesn’t age or spoil as quickly as other melons.
Positioning & Benefits: Originally targeted towards younger Boomers and Gen X who knew Cindy Crawford as an iconic supermodel. Spoke to this audience in 2004 when they were solidly middle-aged, specifically those concerned with “aging naturally”/not looking “plastic”.
Promises & Proof: Promises to reduce the signs of aging and slow future aging, reducing/ eliminating the need for injectables and surgery.
Cindy Crawford provided borrowed authority when the brand first launched and the results were unproven. The implied claim is that Cindy aged well without surgery because she used these products. Now that the brand is 20 years old it draws from a wealth of customer testimonials.
Pricing, Promotions & Offers: The 7-piece system is $79.95, currently offered at 25% off + free shipping. The 5-piece system is $49.95 + free shipping.
Why This Is Interesting: Cindy Crawford launched this brand with Guthy-Renker, the makers of Proactiv. Most skincare lines circa 2004 leaned on distribution or “prestige” to grow. Your options were department store brands, drug store brands, or cult brands with high price tags developed by celebrity dermatologists.
Guthy-Renker applied a direct response framework to “prestige” skincare and sold it via infomercials…and it worked. Check out this infomercial from 2022. Note how it builds curiosity and authority, and how the pricing of the 5-piece system is framed.
#2 Hostage Tape
Relevant Features: It’s tape you place over your mouth while you sleep. It’s breathable, but “only in an emergency”. It stays on your mouth but doesn’t hurt to remove.
Positioning & Benefits: Originally this was aimed at the male self-improvement space. It was one part esoteric biohacking tool (better sleep) and one part relationship booster (men be snoring, women be complaining about it).
Now that mouth taping is more mainstream, the target audience is broader. But the positioning remains the same. It won’t simply stop your snoring, it will improve overall quality of life as a result.
Promises & Proof: Promises to stop your snoring, resulting in the best sleep of your life and a stronger relationship with your sleeping partner.
The founder’s story was the initial proof. He claimed that the tape (eventually, indirectly) saved his marriage from divorce. You can read that here, it’s great storytelling.
Now the brand has thousands of reviews and testimonials.
Pricing, Promotions & Offers: The tape is only available in three formats: a one-month supply, a three-month supply, and a one-year supply. Each format is broken down by “cost per day”, all of which are under $1.
If you click “unlock offer” on the founder story page, you’ll get a “buy 3, get 2 free” offer for $59.29.
Why This Is Interesting: Hostage Tape is the ultimate example of how the direct response offer framework can elevate a commodity product into a brand. The limited purchase options are a smart way to reduce decision fatigue while keeping AOV up.
#3 Pip Decks
Relevant Features: Pip Decks are decks of cards with information that helps the buyer become a better storyteller, meeting-holder, educator or designer. Each card in the deck covers a single topic with 6-8 related tips or thought starters.
Positioning & Benefits: There are 2- and 3-deck bundles aimed at managers, designers, consultants, strategists and marketers. The product is positioned as a professional development tool that will help the buyer brainstorm, manage and communicate better.
Promises & Proof: Promises to help you achieve professional advancement. The brand speaks to this in different ways depending on the product and audience (check out this page and this page for examples).
Proof comes from two places: the decks are written by subject matter experts who have achieved professional success, and the landing pages are full of customer testimonials.
Pricing, Promotions & Offers: The price of each deck is high when compared to a card game like Uno, but low when compared to other professional development resources.
Each deck is offered at a lower price as a digital product, and a higher price for the physical card deck and the digital version. Discounts are also offered on multi-deck bundles.
Why This Is Interesting: Like hostage tape, this product is a 1+1=3 scenario. Knowledge of the customer and the market, combined with a strong offer strategy, allows the brand to set a price that has nothing to do with the cost of raw materials.
A deck of playing cards is a few dollars. A deck of game cards like Uno or Cards Against Humanity might be $20-30. These cards are more than $200. But that’s cheap compared to an online course, an MBA, or a professional coach.