An Actually Useful Recap of Affiliate Summit, Las Vegas

While everyone else decides to post useless pictures from the event, I’ll post about some of the new marketing ideas that I’ve learned.*

Affiliate Summit 2010 had the most useful keynote I’ve ever been to. It was the one by Dr. Robert Cialdini about persuasion.  Since fairly everyone that reads this blog is a direct response advertiser or a performance marketer, scientifically proven persuasion techniques are a must to understand.  If you know what ad copy performs best, you can automatically test that in your advertisements and instantly increase conversions.

Here is what I learned from that keynote:

1. How to gain instant credibility: Admit a fault.  However, you’ll see many marketing “gurus” stating that they’re “coming clean;” this is usually an attempt to admit a fault but it’s so poorly done, it’s not even close to being as effective as it could be.  Cialdini gave a few examples on properly implementing this by mentioning a negative of product/service before the use of “but”:
   • “We’re number 2 but we try harder.” An advertisement by Avis against Hertz.
   • “We’re expensive but we’re worth it.” Makeup ad.
   • “Acai berry will not make you lose weight, but combine it with a colon cleanse…” Okay, that one could be better; I just made it up.

   Learn more about using negatives in copywriting.

2. 6 principles of influence: Here’s a link. Credit: Cakes.

If you’re interested, here is a snippet of the description of the keynote, Influence During Times of Uncertainty:

…Dr. Robert Cialdini briefly reviews six research-based universal principles of influence, but focuses on those principles that are most effective during conditions of uncertainty and that leaders can employ to bring about positive and lasting change among individuals located both inside and outside their organizations.

Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the ground-breaking book, Influence, and co-author of the New York Times best-seller, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive, is your guide in translating highly relevant but poorly-understood scientific research into practical business applications. His books have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Dr. Cialdini is the world’s leading authority on influence and his widely acclaimed studies are highly instructive to those who want to be more influential.

There were actually quite a few other useful things I wrote down, but many are private and I really don’t have the time to organize and post them. Honestly, time’s the reason why I try not to post more than once a month anyway.

Below, are some other posts about ASW10:

• Ad Hustler: Part 1, 2, 3
• Bryn
• Justin Dupre
• Nicky Cakes: Part 1
• Nerdy Affiliate
• PPC.bz
• Riley Pool
• Shoemoney
• Volk

*I actually enjoy to read what others in the industry post.  I just don’t like carrying around a camera – so I don’t have any pictures to post.