Ever wonder why some emails get clicks — and others get crickets? Here’s how to analyze ads and get the same results.
If you’ve ever sent an email or put together an offer and felt like something was missing — but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it — you’re not alone. That “almost there” feeling is more common than you think, and it usually comes down to one thing: clarity.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been helping members of the DIYMarketers community fine-tune their emails and offers. We’ve been digging into what’s working, what’s confusing, and how small changes can make a big difference. (I call those “Fix-It Sessions”- more on that after the tips)
Fix It Session
Send me one thing you’re stuck on in your business — a page, funnel, or offer. I’ll review it and send you a short video with clear feedback and next steps. No pressure, just a simple, actionable fix to get you unstuck.
One community member shared an email promoting an amazing offer — but when I read it, I noticed it was missing something critical: clarity around the result the reader could expect. The message had heart and value, but the takeaway wasn’t obvious.
In this email and “Fix it Session” example, I’ll walk you through a process you can use to make sure you’re marketing message gets conversions.
Step-by-Step: How to Reverse Engineer a High-Converting Offer
Step 1: Scroll With Intention Go through your Facebook feed, Instagram stories, or Google search results. Don’t just skim. Scroll until something stops you in your tracks. Take screenshots of anything that makes you want to click.
Here’s one that came up in my facebook stream.
Let’s go over what grabbed me that led me to click from the ad to the landing page.
“Every morning I wake up to 10 new leads asking about my coaching services in the DMs”
This is super captivating and appealing. I mean the ideal desired outcome for any consultant or coach is to have a flood of new prospects waiting on you without having to do anything.
Another attractive piece of copy is where it says “I never had to touch a single DM”
But then – it says “My assistant sends 1000 cold DMs every month and generates 24 clients.
Also notice that there’s a huge (and intentional) gap between what’s said and unsaid about HOW these 24 clients show up from DMs. This is what the program is about.
I often recommend that you make this a daily practice and look for ways to incorporate those practices into your marketing.
Step 2: Ask yourself “What grabbed me”?
Dissect the ad or message. What words or phrases caught your attention? Was it a dream outcome? A bold claim? Something you desperately want to avoid?
Here’s what grabbed my attention and how you can adapt your offer to do the same:
1. DM Script — in the yellow bar, “DM script” jumped out at me. No one wants to talk to prospects or customers and “DM script” offers an escape from that. Selling feels icky and no one wants to do it. SO, DM script sounds awesome.
Your turn:
Think about your own offer – does it offer an escape from something? If so, what can they avoid doing ever again? And what is it that they want that they can get – even without doing the thing they want to avoid doing.
2. 20% Conversion rate — This is a desired outcome. Conversions are downright impossible right now as people are looking for something that works.
Your turn:
What is the desired outcome your customer is yearning for? Is it something that seems or feels impossible to achieve or maybe something they’ve tried to achieve over and over but failed.
3. “Stop wasting hours on dead end leads” — wasting time = wasting money. Spending time doing something to get NOTHING. It’s that slot machine thing. So the promise to avoid yet another activity you don’t want to do.
Your turn:
Think about what specific activities have your customers been doing over and over again and gotten NOTHING for it.
4. “My VA turns DMs into High-Ticket Clients Daily”: Someone else does the work and can convert just as well as I can.
Your turn:
What is it that makes your offer effortless and easy to implement or put to use?
5. 15 minutes or less – Getting fast results is another must-have ingredient for an irresistible offer. In this case, the promise of not taking over my day. May be really easy if I can do it in just 15 minutes.
Your turn:
In what ways does YOUR offer generate results quickly, easily, and effortlessly?
6. Negligible investment of only $7 – this is a no brainer, low-cost offer. It’s called a trip-wire. It’s designed to ferret out buyers from tire-kickers.
Your turn:
What element of your full-price offer can you provide as a lead magnet or a sample that will provide value for the money and also qualify and filter your ideal customers who would be happy to pay the full price?
7. The small print – This landing page has some valuable small print that provides critical information. A lot of these offers don’t provide this, but it often holds important information.
It’s hard to see in the image, so I’ve pulled it out here:
The results you see are the results of specific clients. We do not guarantee you will receive any specific results. You could get better results, worse results, or the same results. We only guarantee that we will give you our tools to help increase the performance of your ads or your money back..
Notice in the small print it tells you they only guarantee that you’ll get tools to help increase the performance of your ads – right away you can see that this is going to be something with ads, most likely facebook ads.
Read the small print because if you have no intention of doing ads, then this isn’t for you.
Now the question is how can you reverse engineer this ad and landing page in a way that’s going to make your offer do well.
Step 3: Reverse Engineer Your Offer Against the Sample
Now let’s take all of those elements that jumped out at you and see how you can fit your offer inside those same criteria.
What is the result you’re selling?: Not the product, but the transformation. In the example below, it wasn’t about DMs or a VA. It was about getting high-ticket clients with zero effort.
- Describe the before, during, and after: Imagine that you’re a camera. Picture your ideal customer in their natural habitat. Describe what you see. Notice what feelings they are experiencing; pain, frustration, doubt, etc. What’s causing these feelings, where are they struggling?
- Imagine them experiencing your offer. What is their experience with your offer? Finally, what is the transformation? Compare the before to the after. This is a lot like any infomercial where they expand on the pain and frustration and
- Show the after; the relief, the joy, the success. In what ways is their life different? This is the desired outcome.
Spot the “Implied How”: What’s being hinted at but not fully explained? That gap creates curiosity and makes you click. Look for what’s said and unsaid.
- Build curiosity. What you don’t say about your offer is actually one of the most powerful conversion levers you can use. Just look at the ads that grabbed you. Notice how the promise of the silver bullet is the magnet.
- Test the offer. I don’t often advocate purchasing expensive offers, but consider purchasing some of these low cost offers and save them for your research and swipe file. Your goal is to see the level of detail or value that you get from
Break Down the Trust Triggers: Low price? Big guarantee? Simple time investment? Clear steps? These remove friction and lower risk.
- Prove you get them: My favorite trust trigger is actually the copy. The level to which your copy grabs their attention, keeps them reading and generates clicks will tell you how much trust there is.
Create the Fine Print: Sometimes the truth of what’s actually being delivered is in the disclaimers. Learn how they manage expectations.
- Should you add fine print? I say it’s a good idea, especially if you are charging for the tripwire. Few people read it, and, at the same time, you can reveal elements of what’s in the offer that will help define what’s in the offer.
Set a low price: Instead of giving things away for free, offer a low-price offer. $7 is very popular.
- Your goal is to qualify prospects here, not make a million dollars. Make the price a no-brainer, but one that still communicates value.
Sell the feeling: This ad doesn’t sell you a product. It sells you a feeling — of ease, automation, and ROI. That’s what you need to sell, too.
ACTION STEP: Pick one ad this week and reverse engineer it using the 6 steps above. Then take what you’ve learned and apply it to your own email, landing page, or social post.
Want help breaking down your offer? Book a Fix-It Session with me and we’ll turn your almost-there message into something that sells.
