Pre­am­ble: In response to some excel­lent rebut­tals as well as count­less com­ments I’ve received on my pre­vi­ous post, “The Real Sin­is­ter Side of Forced Con­ti­nu­ity,” I believe some peo­ple are miss­ing the point of my argu­ment, and I want to clar­ify a few things.

I’m not a lawyer by any stretch. But as a copy­writer and busi­ness owner, I do know the rules enough to know that there’s a dif­fer­ence between “optional con­ti­nu­ity,” “forced con­ti­nu­ity,” and “hid­den continuity.”

Optional con­ti­nu­ity is self-​​explanatory. Forced con­ti­nu­ity is a very com­mon mar­ket­ing prac­tice (I’m not a fan of it, but I don’t mind it). In fact, there’s noth­ing wrong with forced con­ti­nu­ity in and of itself.

What’s wrong is when it’s used in a wrong way.

The real prob­lem, I believe, is that good mar­keters, includ­ing mar­keters using “forced con­ti­nu­ity” in an eth­i­cal and legit­i­mate way, are get­ting a bad rep­u­ta­tion because some mar­keters unscrupu­lously mis­use forced continuity.

The lack of trans­parency is the real cul­prit — such as hid­ing it or dis­guis­ing it. Espe­cially when it’s done on pur­pose. That annoys me. Because it’s no longer an issue of mis­use. It’s out-​​and-​​out abuse.

But what both­ers me more is how it affects us all. And it affects us all, both cus­tomers and mar­keters alike, in more ways than you think.

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“What am I sup­posed to do?”

You may not know it but that’s a ques­tion your read­ers, vis­i­tors and prospects may be ask­ing right now. And it’s also one you need to avoid at all costs, or else it will cost you in wasted traf­fic and sales. In other words, if peo­ple become lost on your web­site at any point, or while read­ing your copy, you in turn will lose them.

For­ever.

Granted, your copy may com­pel your reader’s atten­tion and present an irre­sistible offer. But if it fails to pro­pel their actions too, you will prob­a­bly won­der why it’s not pro­duc­ing any sales or why it’s get­ting such a poor response. If that’s the case, here are three quickie sug­ges­tions you can implement.

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