Yesterday I spoke at the Create Leaders BAWSE conference in LA.The speaker line up included Russell Simmons, Jillian Manus, myself, etc.
It was so much fun! I ran a workshop on Building Apps Without Code, and I got 57% of the audience to subscribe to my blog & request more information about my Apps Without Code Bootcamp (happy to have you guys onboard!)
To get this crazy conversion rate, I tried a wacky tactic that I totally planned LAST MINUTE! Honestly, I set everything up 1 hour before my presentation, and it completely paid off. Here's the strategy I used.
Part 1- Where do you get these crazy ideas?
Before I share the details of the crazy experiment I ran, I want to tell you WHERE the experiment idea came from. Because it actually came from merging 2 separate tactics together.
Tactic #1 came from my friend Danielle Leslie. Danielle is a crazy genius when it comes to course selling & list-building. And a few weeks ago, Danielle recommended that at the end of my presentation, I should offer 1:1 office hours to the first 10 people who came up & talked to me.
She recommended I get out a pen & paper & have people sign up for office hours on the spot. The strategy was to generate urgency by creating a big line waiting to signup! At first, the idea worried me.
As a digital girl, it seemed inefficient to have people write their name on pen & paper for office hours. But I understood the psychology of creating in-person urgency around free office hours with me. And Danielle is usually right about this kind of thing.
So I was willing to try the idea. That was Tactic #1. Old School Pen, Paper, & Urgency (details on how that is performed below).
But a few days after talking to Danielle, I was listening to the Conversion Cast podcast & heard something that also really inspired me!
The podcast episode discussed a case study on how marketer, Bob Jenkins, uses SMS text messaging to convert audiences at live events. Bob asks his audience (on the spot) to text a word to a number in order to get a special gift. And I thought—Oooh I should try that!
That was Tactic #2: The New School Way—SMS lead generation.
Here's the Podcast episode that inspired me: [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/269698713" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
Part 2- Last Minute Implementation
Now, remember, I told you that I set this all up 1 hour before my presentation? Well honestly, it's true! Last minute, I worked up the courage to try this live experiment.
Here's how I set it up:
Step #1- I stumbled around!
I started off looking for the cheapest solution. I searched ProductHunt, but I was super surprised to not find many options there. Then I found JoinbyText.com & TextMarks.com, which were $19 & $49 respectively, but user onboarding was taking a long time & I was in a RUSH.
Step #2- I spent 5 mins setting up LeadDigits
I landed on LeadDigits, which was more expensive than the other options, but given my time crunch, the price was totally worth it. It took me 5 mins to set everything up.
- I created my own unique code (BAWSE1, inspired by the name of the event).
- I customized my opt-in instructions & gift email copy
- DONE!
Step #3- Then I updated my final presentation slide and pressed save!
Part 3- The Experiment Results
So I stood there on stage & delivered a killer presentation! And at the end, I offered to share my slides & details on my Apps Without Code Bootcamp with the audience. I encouraged everyone to get out their phones & text me if they were interested.
And then I paused to give the audience time. The novelty of the text code made everyone smile & a lot of people pulled out their phones. Next, I explained that people often find it helpful to talk 1:1 with me about their app ideas & the best way to start building them.
So I offered a handful of 1:1 calls with the first people who signed up on my list in the back of the room. I combined the old school way, which created urgency with the newer school, which felt really novel to the audience. As a result 57% of the audience opted in.
But that success was totally reliant on the fact that I COMBINED the two strategies. While most people engaged with me via SMS, there were A LOT of people who rushed to talk to me immediately afterwards.
- If I had done ONLY the SMS strategy, I would have lost over 40% of my conversions.
- And if I had done ONLY the pen & paper strategy, I would have lost over 50% of my conversions
So I'm super glad I tried both! But there are definitely some things I'll be improving for next time. Lessons learned:
- Fully Test Your Tech: Some people had trouble with the text code. Still not sure why, but I bet my conversions would have been EVEN HIGHER if I had time to fully test my technology
- Offer a Juicy Digital Gift: Since I planned everything last minute, I didn't have time to make a juicier lead-magnet (like a checklist or getting started guide). I bet a sweeter gift would have converted better than an offer for the presentation slides & more info on my Bootcamp.
- Pitch the Text Code Twice: I only pitched my text code once (at the end of the presentation). Next time, I'll try it TWICE: once at the beginning of the presentation and AGAIN at the end.
- The In-Person Line Effect Is Still Valid: You can be high-tech if you want, but FOMO (fear of missing out) still sells & works best in-person.
Stay tuned for an update on this post. I'll let you know how I'm converting these leads into paying customers.
