Nov
10
Creating A Powerful Marketing Letter That Closes Sales For You
November 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Marketing letters have one job. Compelling the reader to take action by visiting the site linked to it. We’re going to dissect the traits of an effective marketing letter, covering what it should say, why it needs to say them the way it does, and how to bring that air of compulsion to the reader, so they’ll come to your website to find out more.
Realistic expectations are important, however. Marketing is not the same as sales – and trying to treat your marketing letter as a sales letter puts the customer under pressure, and ninety percent of the time, causes them to leave. Your marketing letter is there to build rapport and trust, and leave the door open for further communication.
What you are doing in effect, is building a mini campaign. Nobody likes to feel that they are being bulldozed into doing anything. It’s rather like going to into a shop, or wandering onto a used car lot, and a sales person descending on you immediately with the immortal words: “Can I be of assistance?” which occasions the immortal reply: “No thanks I’m just looking”.
The thing is, that the damage has already been done. Straight away you feel under pressure, and nine times out of ten you will leave quickly as you feel uncomfortable, whereas left to your own devices, you might have tarried a little bit longer and taken an interest in something.
Whomever the recipient of your marketing letter is, keep in mind that they don’t know you, you don’t know them, and your letter is one of thousands that they get each day. Give them something interesting to read, something immediately useful, and then give them a way to indicate interest (usually by clicking a link to a web site.)
This being the case, the content of the letter is critical. The wrong tone will just get it deleted, whereas the right tone will piques that interest we are talking about, and having piqued that interest, we then need to move on to a call to action, albeit, a gentle one.
Let’s take a quick look at the content of an effective marketing letter just to point you in the right direction. The first thing that you must have is an attention grabbing headline; something that will catch the reader’s eye, give them pause for thought, and get that little pique of interest that we keep on referring to.
After the headline, you need the lead. This is a short paragraph that describes in brief what the rest of the document is going to cover, sounds excited without being breathlessly overhyped, lets them know quickly if this is for them.
Don’t make outrageous claims. Yes, your acai berry product is endorsed by a C list Hollywood actor, and will help the user lose weight, get washboard abs, and be able to pick winning stocks by taste. And by the time someone gets to the second claim that sets off their BS-meter, they delete the email. Your audience is just as smart as you are, and they’re just as prone to saying “Nope…” and stopping the reading. It’s worth it to discuss the benefits of whatever product you’re pitching…but keep the claims reasonable, and build a narrative about how your skepticism was overcome.
Your marketing letter needs to close with a call for action. It’s not going to be a ‘buy now’ message. They crash and burn at this phase of the game. Try “Visit our web site to learn more” or “If you find this letter interesting, let us know by clicking this button.” Have the landing page flow straight from the marketing letter so it’s not jarring to the reader.
If your website is not making sales then your marketing letter is probably at fault. Find out how you can create a high converting marketing letter every time in just a few minutes!
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