Get them with a powerful sales letter!

One of the quickest ways to make a sale is through copywriting. A sales letter is typically short and powerful, which makes it perfect for capturing people’s attention and getting them to sign up for your product or service. It’s important to recognize that writing a sales letter can be quite challenging, due in part to the sheer amount of information you have to convey without boring your reader.

In this article, I will teach you how best practice tips can be invaluable when writing a strong sales letter that converts customers into leads and leads into buyers.

What is a sales letter?

A sales letter is a piece of writing that will persuade you to purchase a product or service. It's used most often in Internet marketing, especially via email, but it can also be an effective way to promote other types of businesses, such as restaurants and hotels.

Like postcards, advertisements and flyers, the purpose of a sales letter is to capture the attention of the reader. Most people ignore these advertisements anyway; they don't want anything you have to sell and they don't typically read your sales letters unless they are very interested in what you're offering. This means that when writing effective sales letters, it's important to create them as short as possible so that your message gets read.

How to write a sales letter

Unlike most creative writing, there isn't an exact formula for writing great sales letters. Instead, the best way to make sure your sales letter is well-written and effective is by following the basic principles below:

Keep it short. Your sales message should be short and simple, so that your reader doesn’t lose interest in what you have to say. It should be no longer than one page or 20 words per line (maximum), with a page limit of six (6) lines per page. The more concise your message, the better it will sell! Don’t include jargon and technical terms unless they are relevant to your product or service. Be honest. Don’t fool your reader by writing a sales letter that appears to be something it isn't. For example, if you are sending out a newsletter regularly, don’t send out the same newsletter periodically. Be sure your content is genuinely useful to the reader and interesting enough so that they will want to read further. This is called ‘guidance for action’ and it’s important in every sales letter. Your sales message should also have a clear call to action – an urgent request for the reader to take some sort of action such as signing up for your newsletter or buying your product or service.

The above principles are the basis for writing any effective sales letter, with more tips about each below.

Tips for writing a sales letter

Plan ahead. Have a clear plan of how you’re going to write the sales message before you start. This will allow you to organize what you have to say and break it down into manageable bits, which is easier than writing one big long message (which could take hours!) Plan your content . Before writing, decide what is important for your reader to know about your product or service. Consider: who will benefit from using your product or service? What problem does it solve? How will they use it? Think of these pieces in advance, so that you are able to emphasize them in the copy. Print out your copy and set a timer for five minutes. Set your timer and write as much as you can in five minutes. You should be able to come up with at least 100 words in this time. This is the maximum length of a sales letter, so after each writing session, ask yourself if you’re able to come up with at least 100 words. If not, break the content into separate parts. Use the word ‘you’ in every sentence . This is universally accepted as the best way to get your reader involved and interested in what you have to say. It also allows your reader to feel like they are a part of your business or organization, rather than merely being an observer. Focus on benefits and features, not products. The main idea is to convey your benefits, not the features of your product or service. For example, don’t say ‘our product will help you lose 20 pounds in four weeks’; instead say ‘you will lose 20 pounds in four weeks using our product’.

The main idea is to convey your benefits, not the features of your product or service. For example, don’t say ‘our product will help you lose 20 pounds in four weeks’; instead say ‘you will lose 20 pounds in four weeks using our product’. Use testimonials . Testimonials are important to build your credibility. They also help to underscore the benefits an individual is likely to experience by using your product or service.

Testimonials are important to build your credibility. They also help to underscore the benefits an individual is likely to experience by using your product or service. Use a call-to-action in every sentence . Every sentence should end with a CTA, whether that’s a ‘click here’ link, a signup form, or just more information about the product or service.

Every sentence should end with a CTA, whether that’s a ‘click here’ link, a signup form, or just more information about the product or service. State your offer clearly . If you don’t state what it is that you are selling, the reader will not be able to understand what it is you are offering. Be sure to use clear and simple words to explain what you are selling. Use non-rhetorical questions . These help to clarify your message and also make it appear like more time has been spent on the sales message than actually has. Avoid long sentences! Long sentences can be difficult for readers to read and understand without scanning back and forth. It is often better to break up your message into separate paragraphs. This allows the reader to find exactly what they are looking for and also see where they are in your message. Review the document multiple times before releasing it to the public . After you finish writing a sales letter, it is important to review it to look for errors and make sure all of your content makes sense and flows well. If you have access to a proofreading service, consider using them if you believe your message does not flow as well as you would hope that it does.

After you finish writing a sales letter, it is important to review it to look for errors and make sure all of your content makes sense and flows well. If you have access to a proofreading service, consider using them if you believe your message does not flow as well as you would hope that it does. Ask yourself – would my mom like this? The best way to test the effectiveness of your sales letter is to ask another person (preferably someone who is not an expert in or very close to the industry) what they think of the content before releasing it. You can also post it on social media, such as Facebook or Instagram, and ask your friends and family what they think of it too. Use this opportunity to gather feedback on how the letter flows and whether or not any parts need further clarification.

Conclusion

In this section of the guide, we examined some of the common mistakes made by new and inexperienced writers in their sales letter. We looked at what content they should include, what formatting they should use, and how to best structure their message.

In the next section, we will be looking at how to write a sales letter that actually gets results.

How to Write a Sales Letter That Actually Gets Results

You might have spent hours writing your sales letter and it still doesn’t seem like anybody is reading it or buying your product or service. You can’t blame yourself for this because as we said earlier, there are a number of factors that can affect whether or not your sales letter is effective.