Elements of a Winning Sales Letter

Writing an effective sales letter is more of a science than an art. This simply means that even a person who isn’t necessarily the best writer can create strong and effective sales copy by following a proven formula.

This proven formula for a winning sales letter is:

* Establish a unique selling proposition

* Target your audience

* Build excitement with an attention-grabbing title and subheading

* Establish credibility

* Present benefits

* Transfer ownership

* Provide a strong guarantee

* Add value with free bonus items

* Create a sense of urgency

* Last but not least… Ask about the sale

Include the elements of this proven formula in your sales copy to create the most effective sales letters possible.

Establish a unique selling proposition:

Your unique selling proposition or USP is what makes your product or service stand out from all the competition. If your product is the fastest, takes up less storage space, or is the most durable; All of these examples present a distinct USP that creates recognition and the opportunity to extend the usefulness of a particular service or product.

Target audiences:

Whatever your product or service, your presentation should speak directly to the needs of your particular target group. We’ve all seen ads for household products that reduce work for busy housewives, as well as ads for office supplies that make it easier for business professionals to organize. When writing your sales copy, think about who your customers are and what their individual needs might be. This is how you address an audience.

Creating excitement with headlines and subheadings:

Most people are almost completely absorbed in their own lives and their own problems almost all the time. An attention-grabbing headline allows you to get into their train of thought long enough to direct them to your wonderful, amazing, out-of-this-world “thing” that you have to offer and is guaranteed to make life a little easier. . Without a headline that grabs your customer’s attention, your amazing offer could easily get lost in their daily shuffling.

Establish credibility:

Establishing credibility is especially important for small businesses. Larger companies don’t have to work as hard to reassure customers who they are and the quality of the product or service they represent. The important question for your client to answer here is: “Why should they trust and do business with you?”

Present benefits:

This is a very important aspect of the sales letter. You must be able to distinguish between features and benefits, and present the benefits to your customers. Customers don’t really care so much about a product or service as what that product or service can do for them.

People don’t buy shampoo because they want shampoo. People buy shampoo because they want clean, good-looking hair. Someone doesn’t buy a brand of cell phone because it has the best reception, but because having the best reception means they can carry on conversations with limited interruption. Selling at a profit means answering the most important customer question: “What’s in it for me?”

Transfer ownership:

Transferring ownership simply means that while reading your sales copy, customers should seamlessly transition from reading about your product to learning more about the product they’re about to buy. Even in the fancy car commercials we see on TV every day, the intention is for each of us to see ourselves in that fancy new vehicle and imagine how much fun we’re going to have.

Provide a strong guarantee:

By providing a solid guarantee, you effectively reduce the risk involved in making a purchase. Someone is much more likely to spend money if they feel they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Add value with a free bonus:

Adding additional value to an already attractive offer with little to no risk is an effective way to seal the deal, so to speak. This feature is often combined with…

Create a sense of urgency:

Creating a sense of urgency simply encourages people with the desire you’ve already created to own your product and/or service. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the phases, “order today and get an additional…” or “call right now and we’ll give you…”

Ask about the sale:

This may seem too obvious, but it’s very important that you actually ask your customer to make the purchase and provide an easy and effective method for them to do so.