11 Keys to Writing a Successful Sales Letter

When writing sales letters that sell, there are 11 key ingredients that must be applied. But first you “Must" determine who will receive your sales message. This is crucial to the success of your sales letter. The who is the most important ingredient in your marketing campaign. You can send an average sales letter to a great list and have a decent response. On the other hand, you cannot send a great sales letter to a bad list and expect a good response. You must match the “Right” message to the “Right” audience with the “Right” media.

You must know whom you’re talking to in your sales letter. Are they men or women? Are they older or younger? Are they affluent or middle class? Do they own a home or rent? What are the demographics of your perfect client or customer? Understanding this will give you the best opportunity for success when writing a sales letter that sells.

Here are the “Key” ingredients to writing a sales letter that gets Results!

Writing a Sales Letter Key # 1: The Headline must grab the reader’s attention and make them want to know more. The headline is the most important ingredient when writing your sales letter. If you mess this up, it’s GAME OVER! Your headline must provoke curiosity or state benefits to the reader. Example . . . Let’s say you’re selling a product to expecting women. Here’s a headline that would grab their attention. “7 Secrets Expecting Moms Need To Know About Their Pregnancy That Their Doctors Aren’t Telling Them. Most expecting mom’s would “Stop” what they were doing and want to know more about this headline.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 2: When writing your sales letter, make sure you personalize the salutation. This will give you higher readership. People love to hear and see their name. It’s been tested and proven to increase response. Example . . . Dear Mary, NOT Dear Customer. Use their first name and you’ll increase your readership and response.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 3: You can have a picture of you or your product in the upper left hand corner of your sales letter. Or a picture that ties into your sales message. We did a sales letter for salon owners, where we had a picture of people combing through the woods, looking for lost customers. The headline said . . . Janet, Have You Been Taken Hostage? We Haven’t Seen You In Our Salon In Months, So We Sent Out A Search Party To Find You. This sales letter received a twenty-three percent response from their old customer list.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 4: When writing your sales letter, don’t be boring. People are so inundated with sales messages all day that it takes creative marketing to get noticed. So, if you can make your sales letter interesting and fun, this automatically creates market dominance.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 5: Your “Body Copy” should state your customers “Problem.” What are their fears? What keeps them awake at night? Next, you need to agitate the problem your customer is having. And last, you need to show the customers/clients how your product or service can solve their situation. Make sure you tell them about the benefits your product or service provides. Your customers or clients only cares about what's in it for them. Benefits, Benefits, Benefits!

Writing a Sales Letter Key # 6: You must have an irresistible offer. Give your reader a reason to buy what you’re offering.Make your offer so irresistible that they’d swing from a rotten vine across a snake filled pit of venomous vipers to obtain your product or service.

Writing a Sales Letter Key # 7: Make sure you have a deadline in your sales letter to get your customers/clients to respond immediately. Example . . . You must respond by 4/3/2008, to receive this incredible offer.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 8: Creating scarcity in your sales letter will also get your prospects or customers to respond quickly.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 9: Make sure you show your prospects or customers the value in buying today. What is the actual cost if purchased today as opposed to what they will pay if they procrastinate? Example . . . If you respond by next Thursday, you’ll save forty percent off the original price of $49.95. That’s a $20 Savings! If you miss out, you’ll pay “Full” price.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 10: Always have a P.S. at the end of your sales letters. When people receive letters in the mail, their first instinct is to find out who sent it. So they look at the end of the sales letter, and 95 percent of the time, they read the P.S. first. Your P.S. must restate the benefits, the offer, or the deadline, or all three.

Writing Sales Letter Key # 11: Add testimonials to all your sales letters for credibility. This will increase sales and your response.

Finally, when writing your sales letter, make sure you’re talking to one person. Your sales letter should sound personal, as though it came from a friend.