Key takeaways:
For marketing, advertising, and sales efforts, content is the cornerstone of your strategy. To connect with your target audience and ultimately entice them to take action with you, the correct communication methods and copy are crucial to telling a story that resonates with them.
At some point along your business’s growth journey, you may find yourself needing some sort of direct mail correspondence that informs and persuades your target audience. This is known as a sales letter, and yes, even in the age of artificial intelligence, they’re still relevant.
Why? Because people still look forward to checking their mailboxes.
In today’s world of digital saturation, where the average time someone spends reading an email continues to decrease, a personalized letter might be all it takes to truly grab someone’s attention.
In concept, sales letters are pretty straightforward, yet the challenge lies in writing them correctly.
The ContentBacon team is here to walk you through exactly what a sales letter is and how you can go about writing the perfect one.
Sales letters help you showcase your brand alongside a new product or service. Their goal is to persuade someone to buy what you’re selling. It must be persuasive and establish credibility and trust with your audience.
You can reach people directly with these letters, providing details about your business’s services, what makes them unique, and why people should care.
Although the traditional domain of sales letters, snail mail isn’t their only medium. You can post them on your website, send them via email, or include them as a part of other marketing communications you send out.
You can speak directly to customers’ pain points with sales letters, making sure they know that your product will provide a solution to their pressing needs.
But, you have to be convincing and include social proof that backs up your claims.
When you write a sales letter, it isn’t always easy to get started. You want to sound genuine and avoid the salesy speak, while also making a case for your service or product.
It has to be engaging, intriguing, and authentic to really make an impact.
These six tips will help you do just that.
Engage people right from the start with a catchy headline (if applicable) and a hook in the introduction. Use clear language, pose a question, state a concerning statistic, and leave your audience wanting to learn more.
Ask yourself why someone should keep reading, and use that answer as a starting place for your hook.
A great hook takes knowing your audience, so think about what would make that particular group excited about your product.
Humans are a tribal species, and people will trust you more if you can show them a great track record.
Include a case study in your sales letter that outlines how you helped a previous client. Include quotes and measurable outcomes they achieved because of your product or service.
Be clear about the value you added to this client and how you can provide the same results for other customers.
In most cases, numbers are objective. Statistical findings that present an objective point of view on the matter you’re discussing generally tend to build more trust than lists of product benefits and features.
Your case will only be stronger if you can bring in numbers. Do some research about your industry or the problems your audience faces.
This sets you up to explain how your product or service delivers a solution that people can count on.
People are likely to snooze on a new product unless they think it’s not going to last forever.
Create some urgency by talking about a one-time offer or a temporary service. Maybe you expect a product to sell out fast. If so, you should indicate that in your letter, so it’s time-sensitive.
You can also make your sales letter timely by talking about a current event or industry trend that directly impacts your audience. Get them thinking about what’s happening right now, and introduce your product as the solution.
A great salesperson knows what their target audiences care about. By identifying their needs and wants, you can create an emotional response when discussing the solutions you can give them.
Focus on what they might be going through or the challenges they may be facing.
Ask yourself what your target audience’s daily frustrations are. What keeps them up at night?
Craft your language so readers feel like you’re talking directly to them. These emotional responses will build trust, and they’ll be more likely to convert readers into customers.
The average attention span is around eight seconds, and your sales letter could fall victim to the same problems that digital media struggle with if it’s not written correctly.
An effective sales letter will leave nothing to the imagination. Your language should be simple and straightforward. Avoid industry jargon and break up copy so that paragraphs aren’t extremely long.
You want people to read every word of the letter, and they won’t get very far if they have to stumble over clunky or confusing language.
Clearly emphasize the benefits of your products and services, driving people to buy.
Naturally, your first instinct when writing an effective sales letter might be to turn to AI for assistance.
While not a replacement for a great imagination, AI can most certainly help the process in a number of ways:
In the end, writing the perfect sales letter is easier said than done. You need content that will engage and inspire people to act, creating strong connections with your brand that will last.
Writing a killer sales letter is one way to show people what your business can do.
When you need a little writing support, turn to the team at ContentBacon. Our expert writers and marketers are ready to help you craft inspirational content that aligns with your brand voice and business goals.
We help you create a winning inbound marketing strategy so that your online presence improves, your brand awareness grows, and your business prospers.
ContentBacon offers a range of inbound marketing services to help you attract more leads with spicy content.
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