Creating a Powerful, High-Conversion Sales Letter
Your sales copy is one of the most important components of your internet marketing campaign, second only to your product itself. In this post, I’ll address the elements that make-up the ideal sales letter.
The Headline
There are three parts of the headline:
- Pre-headline – This is a short, usually one sentence “attention grabber” that is used to warm-up the visitor to your offer and draw them in, so they’ll continue reading your sales copy. One way to do this is to ask a “yes” question. Here’s an example:
- Main Headline – The main headline is arguably the most important element of your sales copy. Visitors will generally decide whether or not to continue or click away after reading the headline. The text of the headline should be large – around 24 – 72pt., depending on how long your headline is. The best font colors for headlines are usually red, maroon, and sometimes blue. There’s one word to describe the message your headline must convey to your visitors – benefits. The best way to write your headline, actually your entire copy for that matter, is to have a clear vision for your prospective customers. What do you want your customers to accomplish as a result of using your product or service. Having this goal in mind will make writing your copy a lot easier. You should also incorporate power words in your headline to “drive home” your product or service’s benefit. Here’s an example of a good headline:
- Sub-Headline – The sub-headline reinforces the main headline’s benefits or offers another benefit for your product. An effective tip for beginning the sub-headline is to use a lead-in phrase like, “That’s right” or And best of all”. This is important because you need each section of your copy to transition smoothly to the next one. Here’s an example of of a good sub-headline:
The Opening
This section should be written in the style of a letter – like you’re writing to a friend. If your offer is super targeted then you can be very specific:
A non-specific salutation will work fine also:
After your salutation, open with a strong sentence that continues to state your offer’s main benefit:
After the first sentence, you could tell a personal story about how you discovered the solution for a problem or a demand. People love stories, especially those that captivate and create a visual effect.
Misconceptions, Myths and Facts
In this section, present some of the myths and misconceptions present in your niche, then provide facts to dispel these myths. This is a great way to indirectly present yourself as an expert in your niche and also to provide valuable free information for your prospect.
Product Introduction
Now that you’ve clearly stated your offer’s benefits and have educated your prospects, it’s time to introduce your product. In this section, you need to convince your prospects that your product or service is the perfect vehicle to help them realize success. If you have an image of your product, this is the perfect place to insert it. A short video demonstration works well too. However, if you use a video clip here, it needs to be very well done, concise and benefit-rich, not feature-rich. As I stated in an earlier section, when writing about your product or service, you need to step into your prospects shoes and think about how they will perceive your offer.
After introducing and describing your product, add a “benefit box” which answers questions as to how your product or service will benefit the prospect. You could transition with a line like “And The Best Part Is…”.
Bulleted Benefits
Bulleted benefits are a huge part of the sales copy, second only to the main headline. Using bullets help keep you prospects focused. This is a great area in which to creatively present your offer’s benefits. For example, if you’re promoting an e-book, you could add page numbers at the end of each bullet point to show your customers proof that the information in your e-book exists and is not merely hype.
Another creative method your could use in your bulleted benefits section is the use of blanks. This will make your prospects curious and anxious to know the answers, which will increase the temptation to purchase your product.
Testimonials
Testimonials are a proven and powerful way to reinforce your offer. They eliminate the fear of loss in your prospect’s mind and prove to them that your product actually works (social proof). There are several ways to find testimonials for your product or service. If you have a list of subscribers, simply offer your product for a discounted price in exchange for a short testimonial. You could also offer to include a link to their website on your sales copy in exchange for their testimonials. If you don’t have a list of subscribers, you could offer your initial customers a gift (free e-book, report, etc.) in exchange for their testimonials. It’s OK if you don’t have testimonials when you first launch your product. You can add them to your copy after you’ve made a few sales and have developed a client base.
Price
Now it’s time to reveal the price of your product to your prospects. Let them know what you could charge for your product by displaying higher prices then finally showing them the actual price. Categorizing the price of your product with another purchase such as food or clothing has a powerful psychological effect since most people don’t think twice about spending money on essentials.
Bonuses
Bonuses play a vital role in the conversion rate of your sales copy. They add value to your main product or service and have been proven to help minimize refunds. Since bonuses are a component of your marketing plan, I will cover them in greater detail in the next section. One really cool tip for presenting a bonus is to limit it to a certain number of customers. No one wants to “miss out” on anything of value.
Guarantee
Providing a guarantee in your sales copy is another way to eliminate the fear of loss in the minds of your prospects. Typically, guarantees are between 30 and 90 days. I have seen six month guarantees. Most guarantees allow customers to keep the bonuses which is a powerful incentive to buy.
Order Button
Believe it or not, the look and text of your order button is very important. You could use the old boring “Buy Now” order button and if the rest of your sales copy is really good, this may work just fine. I would personally test different text such as “Click here to order now”, “Click here for instant access”, etc. Another thing you may want to experiment with is strategically placing text-only (no button) order links throughout your copy for visitors who are ready to order without needing to read all your sales copy. Don’t get crazy with this because this could easily be a distraction. About three to four payment links is plenty.
Post Scripts
A good sales copy will generally have two post scripts – one that reminds prospects that your offer is limited and the second to sum up your offer. Postscripts are important because many people who are in a hurry will read the headline then skip down to see the price, so having a summary of your offer close to the price will increase conversions.
Conclusion
Writing good sales copy is a skill that requires practice. Many internet marketers outsource this task to professional copywriters because of the time and skill required to produce a high-converting sales copy. If you plan on outsourcing the writing of your sales copy, choose your writer carefully. Be sure to ask for references and samples. If you plan on writing your own sales copy, you can use an HTML editor like Dreamweaver, Microsoft Expression, or GoLive. There is also a new easy to use online editor called Blinkweb which produces tremendous results.
