Writing a sales letter can be an effective way to draw people’s attention to your business. A good sales letter accomplishes a lot in a short amount of time.
It shows your reader that you aren’t just trying to sell to them, but that you identify with their problem. It shows you understand. It establishes trust and most of all, convinces them that you are the right one for them to buy from.
As you can imagine, this is no easy task in a few hundred words. Writing a sales letter requires a wide range of skills.
5 Tips for Writing a Sales Letter that Brings in Customers
Put Yourself in Their Shoes – You can’t just clobber someone over the head with a 30 second sales pitch and expect them to be compelled to buy. Anything your audience reads is by their choice, and therefore needs to grab them. The first thing you have to do is be able to think like your customers while you are writing a sales letter. That means being able to identify, and solve their problem. Make sure you understand the difference between features and benefits, and highlight the features.
Grab Their Attention – What will readers obtain for giving you their greatest investment (their time)? It’s up to you to position yourself as a solution up front, in the headline. Give them a reason to keep reading right away. Show them how they’ll learn to do something new. Show them why yours is the best product on the market. Show them why they should buy from you, and not just any business in your industry clamoring for attention. Make a promise. Deliver strong.
Make it Easy to Read – People reading a sales letter aren’t necessarily going to give you vast amounts of their time – unless you hook them in, and make it easy for them to read. Short paragraphs and bulleted lists are easy ways to convey your message quickly. This is especially important if your sales letter is going to end up repurposed as landing page content, as visually friendly content is a significant component of writing for the web.
What’s in it For Me? – This question is often at the heart of why your audience is giving you the initial time. They’re not necessarily buying your product, they are buying the benefits they’ll receive. They’re buying the ability to solve their problem. The quicker and more clearly you can answer “What’s in it for me?” the better.
A Clear Course of Action – Like with blogging, your readers aren’t going to know how to take a decisive course of action, unless you tell them. If you want them to email or call to complete a sale, tell them, and make the appropriate contact information readily available.
When writing your sales letter, make sure you convey the urgency, or demand.
Do you have a limited product quantity, or is the special only going on for a short time? Make sure you let your readers know that they need to act, and act promptly for the best results.
Sales letters can be an effective tool in attracting more business. A well-written letter can greatly boost a business. If you’re considering writing a sales letter, these tips can help.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-based marketing writer and copy editor.
