Here are some simple tips to writing effective sales copy. 

• Write an attention grabbing headline.  Writing a good headline is half the battle.  Without it, you won’t get anyone to read your message.

• Keep your paragraphs to no more than 5-7 sentences.  Moe than that can be hard on the eyes and the reader will lose interest.

• Keep your sentences short.  Shorter sentences are easier to read and it keeps your readers attention.

• Use an 8^th grade reading comprehension.  I call this the USA Today rule.  If you look at the USA Today, You’ll notice that it’s on an 8^th grade reading level.

• Stress benefits instead of features.  The old copywriting question of “What’s in it for me?”  Benefits are best read in bullet form.

• Write as if you are talking to a person in front of you.  You’ll connect to the reader much more easily.

• Tell a story.  People like to hear stories especially how using your product or service has made a difference.

• Offer a strong money back guarantee to take the risk off of buying.

• Use testimonials if possible.  Make sure they are real and detailed.  People can tell the difference between real and phony.

Here is what happens if you leave out benefits in your copy….NOTHING.  Many times copywriters will mistakenly list the features instead of benefits.  As a consumer you want to know how a product or service is going to help you, how will it make your life better, right? 

• A feature is an attribute of a product.

• A benefit is the way the product or service helps to make your life better.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

Feature: 4-wheel drive.

Benefit: It allows you to drive much easier in the snow.

Feature: Motion sensitive outdoor lights.

Benefit: Saves electricity by not having to turn the lights on before you leave.

Feature: GPS system.

Benefit:  Prevents you from getting lost or stopping and asking for directions.

The best way to list features in your copy is in bullet point format.   You can use numbers, letters, dots, checks or something else.  Make sure you space them so they are not hard on the eyes to read.  You want to put your best ones at the top and middle.

Subheads serve a purpose in your copy.  They help allow your reader to stay focused on what you have to say and keep their interest.  I like to think of it as chapters in a book.  It provides structure but it also serves a hidden agenda. 

It allows scanners to understand the gist of your message.  A certain percentage of people are not going to read every word.  They like to scan.  So by providing subheads that get your message across, you are giving your copy a better chance to succeed.

Subheads are great when accompanied by bullet points.  Subheads should allow the person to want to read the next sentence.

Subheads should be in bold print so they stand out and grab the reader’s attention especially for scanners.

Subheads help break up big chunks of text.  Reading large sections of copy can be difficult on the eyes.

Here’s a test you can do.  If you take your headline and subheads and remove the copy in between, would you be able to comprehend the message?  If so, then you’ve accomplished your task of subheads.

Don’t underestimate the power of the P.S.  The reason it’s important is because many people when reading a letter will quickly jump down to the bottom to see who it’s by.  You have the opportunity to grab their attention before you lose them by adding a strong P.S.

Many people writing copy will discount the power of the P.S.  Don’t fall into this category.  The purpose of the P.S. can be used as a helpful reminder of some important points in your copy.

Some ways to create a powerful P.S are by restating your:

• Benefits
• Guarantee
• Deadline
• Bonuses

Don’t limit yourself to one P.S.  You can use two, three or more.

Having a guarantee shows your confidence in what you’re offering. You want to remove as much of the risk from your clients as possible. You want to offer a strong compelling guarantee. Depending on your guarantee, it could mean the difference between good response and a great response.

There are 3 types of guarantees you can produce:

1. Time: There is a limited amount of time before you can return it. It could be days, weeks, months or even lifetime. The greater the time period, the better. You’ll also find that you’ll have fewer returns the longer they are.

2. Results oriented: Base your guarantee on the expected results. An example of a weight loss product could be “Lose 20 lbs in 30 days or your money back.”

3. Personal satisfaction: For anything that may be hard to measure, you can have them base it on their personal satisfaction. “If you are not completely satisfied, we will refund your entire investment.”

Here are some tips to remember when using guarantees:

• Don’t be afraid to use odd days like “33 day guarantee” or an unusual saying “My personal make you happy guarantee.”

• You can state you’ll pay for their shipping to return your product, allow them to keep any bonuses that came with your product.

• Outline your guarantee and make it stand out. Make it a different font and text size. Be proud of it and show it off.

During economic hard times, people tend to reduce or stop their marketing efforts.  It’s my belief that direct marketing should continue especially during slow economic times.  You may need to change the message to meet the changing times but the principal remains the same.

I hear from people that direct marketing is viewed as an expense and it’s one of the first things to get axed.  I couldn’t disagree more.  Without marketing, you immediately reduce revenue coming in the door.  If anything, this is the time to increase it.  Why? Because while your competitors are reducing theirs, you have the opportunity to grab their attention and steal them away.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind during slow economic times with your direct marketing:

1.  Give a reason as to why they should act now during these times.

2.  Add components that cost nothing or very little to your offer.  People like to feel they’re getting deals especially during tight times.

3.  Provide creative financing or extended payment options.

4.  Show them their return on their investment.

5.  Build your database of warm prospects and continue to market to them.

If you’re doing direct mail marketing then you need to be able to cut through the clutter.  And what I mean by that is how can you get your message to stand out against all your competitors’ direct mail marketing pieces?  Most direct mail advertising makes it appear that they are chasing the client which means they will be less trusting of you and less receptive to listen to your message.  So therefore they will be more likely to avoid you.

So how do you turn the tables around and make them want to chase you?   If you can accomplish this, they will be much more open to your message and will be more receptive to what you have and they will want to deal with you.  By using a powerful direct mail marketing piece you will increase your chances tenfold.

What is this powerful direct mail marketing you ask?  To tell you the truth, this direct mail advertising weapon is nothing new at all.

Before I tell what it is, let me tell you the story of how it was believed to have started.  There was a gentleman who had written a book on economics and he wanted to hold a seminar to promote his book.

He decided to run an ad in the newspaper.  After running the ad seeing good results, he decided to purchase 1,000 copies of the paper himself.  He then proceeded to rip out the ad from every paper he bought and he attached a note to it and mailed it to a list of people a friend of his had.

The result was a smashing success of a seminar and two months on the best seller list.  This was about 20 years ago.

This was the birth of the tear sheet (from here on out, I will abbreviate tear sheet with the letters “TS”).  You could say he was the grandfather of it all.

There are two types of direct mail marketing TS’s, newspaper and magazine.  A direct mail marketing TS needs to look authentic for it to have an impact and look believable.  Let’s talk about the components that make up a good tear sheet.

First is the copy, what I mean by copy is the writing of the article because that’s what it is…an article.  It’s not a sales letter.  It needs to look, feel and smell like it was written by a journalist about you or your product or service.  It needs to be believable.  It can’t smell like a sales pitch.  A news position article will have much greater credibility and drive up response rate than one that isn’t.

The second component for to a good direct mail marketing TS is what I call the sidebar pieces.  Such as having the TS numbered just like a newspaper article.  Also, you must have side articles next to it and on the back of the TS.  Now, you can’t just have any articles next to the main editorial.  You should have ones that would be complimentary to yours.  If your business happens to be financial planning, you’re not going to have an article next to it that’s about gardening.  A nice complimentary topic for an adjacent article could be how the average American is not saving enough and won’t have enough money when they retire.

Also, you want to make sure that all the articles are lined up properly and there are no gaps between them.  It should have a title of the newspaper at the top of the TS.

The third component in a direct mail marketing TS is the post-it note.  If you’re not familiar with the post-it notes, it’s the square yellow sticky note you write on to remind you of something and then you stick it up on your fridge, computer or where ever else.  The sticky note needs to appear as if a friend wrote it.  It goes on the TS with a message of some sort.  The message needs to be a call to action.  For example, “Try this it works.”  It should also have an initial as if someone signed it. The initial that gets the greatest response is the letter “J.”  There was a study done using a variety of initials and “J” was the winner.  The only possible explanation is that more people know someone with a name that starts with the letter “J” than any other letter.

When you write the post-it note, it should also be personalized with the person’s first name.  Say someone on your mailing list who is receiving this is named “Steve”, then the sticky note would read “Steve, try this it works, J” it’s important to have as much of this personalized because it will increase your response rate.

Lastly, having the right envelope is the last ingredient to a successful direct mail marketing tear sheet campaign.  Whatever you do, don’t send it in a computerized name and address font with a bulk postage stamp.  This just screams junk mail and all you hard work and money will go right in the trash.  If you happen to send it this way and were fortunate enough for it to get opened, it would contradict the personalized post-it note.

The best method is to send it in a handwritten font with first class mail.  This will make it appear that it was actually sent by a friend or family member.

Good sales copy has many components.  I’ve outlined the blueprint of what goes into a good sales letter below.

Attention Grabbing Headline

The headline is the most important part of any sales letter, online or offline.  The headline is like the cover of a book, if it’s not appealing then it most likely not going to be picked up and opened.   It’s similar to the curbside appeal of a home on the market; if it’s not appealing, you’re not going in.  It’s similar to the first impression of someone you meet; if they don’t make a good one, you’re not giving them your time and attention. 

Sub Headline

A sub-headline should complement the headline.  It could show a guarantee or benefit.

Expose The Problem

Your objective here is to define the problem that you are providing the solution to.  Agitate the problem and really bring it to surface.  You want to create an image in the readers mind and connect with their emotion.

Provide A Solution

Here is where you offer your solution to their problem.  Tell them how you can help them.  Paint a picture of how their life will be after they use your product or service.

Offer Proof

Providing proof in your copy is very important.  Proof in the form of testimonials, before and after photos, statistics, whatever is applicable to your product or service.

Show Benefits

You need to have a strong benefits list to help convince your prospect on what you’re selling.  They want to know what’s in it for them.  Tell them how it’s going to change their life for the better.  Making bullet points is a great way to highlight the benefits.

Provide A Strong Guarantee

A guarantee in your copy shows your audience how confident you are about what your product or service.  You can’t be weak here.  Don’t be afraid to give a longer than industry norm guarantee.

Incentive to Act

Providing an incentive to act can help motivate people to move on your offer much more quickly.  This can be in the form of bonuses, limited space or deadline.  A good incentive to act can mean the difference between a sale and no sale.  Sometimes the prospective buyer wants the bonuses as much as or more so than the actual product.

Call to Action

A sales letter has only one purpose and that’s to get your reader to ACT.  Therefore, you need to have a strong close by telling them what you want them to do and making it as easy as possible and as many ways as possible (i.e. telephone, internet, fax, mail & email).  The more choices to respond, the greater the response will be.

P.S.

You must have a P.S. to complete a good sales letter.  Many times people will skip all the way down to the P.S. before reading any copy just to see who it’s from.  This is where you can really grab their attention.  It’s best used for restating benefits, guarantee, bonuses and deadline.  It’s ok to use multiple P.S. lines if you need to.

Hand written Boosters

Using hand written sales boosters can increase your sales conversion 27% or more.  Sprinkling some of these throughout your sales copy is the secret weapon in driving up response.  Click here to learn more.

Example of a Timely Sales Copy Headline

Here is a great sales headline that was used during Governor Rod Blagojevich and his attempt to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.  It was placed by a furniture store in Illinois.

The furniture company launched the ad campaign after the scandal broke out.  This is a great example of how to use breaking news in the sales headline of your marketing.  Whether you’re in the market for furniture or not, it most likely will capture your attention.  I would venture to guess that you will pay this store a visit if you’re looking for a new sofa or even on the fence about getting one.

If I would alter anything about the ad it would be to change the following:

Since they are running this ad in local papers, I would take out the cities that are not in driving distance.  You don’t need Birmingham, Al, Atlanta, GA and Illinois locations all running in the same ad.  In Illinois I would take out Birmingham and Atlanta as and replace it with a coupon.  Have the coupon state “Bring this Coupon in and receive up to 50% off.”  Place a deadline in the coupon.<-->