What makes a good Sales Letter?
Anyone can write a sales letter. Some people may not be able to write a very good one, but they can still put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and form words and sentences into a sales letter. The unfortunate thing is that products will not sell when portrayed through an average sales letter. The good news is that it is easy to learn what makes up a good letter.
The first thing that any good sales letter has is a headline. If there is a product to be sold or information to be shared, the reader of the letter must be aware of it before he even gets to the “Dear Sir.” The headline should be short, simple, and a summary of the letter. It is estimated that 90% of the success of the letter lies in an attention-grabbing headline.
After the headline, the closing is most important. The closing is not just the last paragraph of the letter; it can include a postscript, a response card, a flyer with testimonials, or all of the above. The closing is where the reader needs to feel the clincher—the headline told him what product he should buy; the closing tells him how easy it is. A postscript is good because the reader often looks at the headline and then drops down to the end of the letter. State your best benefit, a short testimonial, or a deadline for responding in the postscript. After the reader is convinced that this product might be for him, he will go back and read the body of the letter.
The headline caught the reader’s attention, and the closing helped keep his attention. Now the body of the letter must tell him something that will convince him to buy the product or call the company for more information. There are several points that should be included in the body of a sales letter. They do not need to be in any particular order, but should all be incorporated somehow. The reader should know why he should choose this product over another—giving examples of how this product out-rates another is a good method of accomplishing this. Another item that is part of any good sales letter is a simple explanation of multiple benefits to the reader. Most people will only buy something or take other action if they believe that the benefits to them will be worth it. “Features tell; benefits sell.” If the letter only talks about what the product is or does, and says nothing about what the reader gets in return, it is only an average sales letter. To be a good sales letter, the body needs to be filled with ways that the product helps the reader, whether that help is direct or indirect.
Since anyone can write a sales letter and readers get bombarded with sales letters every day, a well-written sales letter will stand out in the crowd. The three keys to remember are a catchy headline, benefits to the reader, and a “call-to-action” on the part of the reader. When a sales letter includes these three things, it has gone from average to good.
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