Chapter 5: Understanding The Sales Letter
Of all the forms of print advertising, none has more power to generate action than a well written personal letter. A letter is a person-to-person form of communication, and gives the author plenty of room to fully express his ideas.
Sales letters provide direct and sometimes dramatic feedback on their effectiveness. Responses to mailings can occur within three days, and the author finds out quickly whether the letter works or not.
If the letter doesn’t pull the response desired, it can be reworked and tested again. When a sales letter works, it can be swiftly mailed to thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people.
The speed of the response, as well as the relative ease of reaching consumers with direct mail sales letters, is one reason so many people use direct mail to sell their products and services.
Of course, the hard part is writing an effective sales letter. Here are some tips and techniques to help you do that.
- Know what a sales letter looks like. A sales letter generally has several components. These include (in order of importance):
a. The headline
b. The P.S.
c. Any subheads
d. Bullets
e. The body of the letter
- Before you write your sales letter, answer this question: What is your primary goal? Is it orders or leads? Your goal should dictate your letter style.
- Before you start writing your sales letter, think about those who will receive it. What kind of ‘hot buttons’ will you have to push to get them to read your letter?
- Before writing your letter, create a list of the top concerns of your target market, and then address each item on that list with the benefits of your product.
- Before you start writing your sales letter, make a list of all the pertinent facts about the product (competitors’ similar products, too) as well as important facts and phrases from past ad copy.
- Before you start your copy, develop a copy platform, or a list of reasons for the customer to buy: benefits and reasons. To do that, answer these questions.
1. Who are you selling to?
2. What want or need in your prospect does your product or service fulfill?
3. What makes your product or service special?
4. What benefits are you offering?
5. What is the most important benefit to your customers?
- Use a model. Before writing your sales letter, get an example of a sales letter that was successful in your target market, and use it as a rough guideline for your own letter.
Source: 301 Direct Mail Tips, Techniques & Secrets |
| Category: My articles | Added by: Marsipan (04.12.2012)
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