The Art of Effective Sales Copy

Five Seconds and Counting… 

You’ve got five seconds or less to attract your reader’s attention.  If your headline fails in this regard they will click away. In fact, your entire page hinges on your headline’s ability to capture and hold a reader’s attention.  The best headlines pose a question that requires further investigation or clarification.  They are not questions that can be answered simply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.  Such as “Have You Made These Investment Mistakes?” that require further reading to identify which mistakes the author is referring to.  Titles that promise solutions such as “How To…” or “5 Ways to …” are usually a safe bet and effective. 

Build Interest

The next step in holding your readers attention is to pinpoint a problem or need in a way that readers can identify with.  This may take some research on your part but it is well worth the time. Briefly outline the problem.  Be unique, don’t just talk about the same things your competitors are.  That’s the equivalent of beating a dead horse.  Dare to use a different approach to the same problem. Search the internet for top sales letters and study them.  The internet is full of sites that are carbon copies of automatically generated lead pages.  I can spot them a mile away.  Remember, web surfers are savvy and can instantly spot these types of sites. 

Create Desire

Before offering a solution, get the reader to imagine what he/she would do if this problem or dilemma no longer existed.  Here’s an example, “One powerful sales letter can make your business a fortune creating a flood of new prospects, additional business from existing customers, increased referrals and a surge of profits. What would this do for you? How would it improve your life?”

As the reader continues he visualizes his business growing, orders pouring in, a new store location, more money, better lifestyle.  This tactic is vitally important because it touches an emotional cord.  One of the first things you learn about marketing is that shopping is 90% emotional.  The key is to get them involved and visualizing.

Use Your Own Experience

Speaking out of first-hand knowledge, something like “I’ve been there…” can resonate with your readers and keep them further engaged.  Don’t loose sight of your objective. Anticipate the questions going through your reader’s mind and answer them. 

Benefits vs. Features

The definition of a benefit is “something that has a good effect or promotes well-being”, that’s what your readers are looking for.  How will your product or service help them.  A feature describes a distinctive part of something.  So instead of writing, “This book comes in hardcover and is 200 pages long” you should focus on the benefits to your consumers, “Powerful techniques copywriters use all of the time saves you money”.  The best way to list the benefits is to use bullet points.  Construct each bullet as you would a headline. 

Return on Investment

Value does not equal price. In fact, your goal is to create a far greater value for your product or service so that price is of no concern.  Believe it or not, you already know how to do this.  We are constantly bombarded by advertising in print, television, radio, and online.  Someone is always selling you on something.  The way they do that is to create far greater value for a low price, “You get this fabulous knife set along with the revolutionary can opener, the Ginsu knife and the indestructible cutting board all for the low price of $19.99!”  Effective sales copy must build value over price.

Create a Sense of Urgency

Creating a sense of urgency motivates your prospect to take action.  Whether it’s to sign-up for the newest release of your most recent e-book, or hit the “buy now” button, your goal is to get them to act.  Remember, shopping is almost entirely an emotional response to a stimulus, in this case your lead copy.  Continuing on the last example of selling the knife set, a sense of urgency is created with, “These items regularly sell for $40 a piece but you can get it today only for the incredibly low price of $19.99.  This is a one-time promotional offer, act now and save!”

Answer the question, why?

Last but not least, you reader will undoubtedly be looking for a catch.  He or she is thinking, why is this guy selling all this great stuff for so little?  Tell them.  Perhaps it’s because it’s all done online, no middleman or retailer to pay, it costs you little to sell and you want to pass along the savings, etc. 

Give your customers a safety net. 

Always offer a 100% money back guarantee, no questions asked.  Make it real easy for them to buy and still feel safe if it does not meet their expectations.  How you handle these returns will also affect future purchases from the same buyer, so be courteous and efficient.  They will remember their positive experience with you and are more likely to purchase from you again.

Feeling overwhelmed and a little discouraged?  Don’t be, there’s help – an entire arsenal of powerful, money-making fill-in-the-blank sales letter templates guaranteed to sell your product or service.  Read about it.