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Are Traditional Sales Copies Still The Answer

by marc643
12 replies
Hey There,

Im wondering what people think with regard to traditional sales letters.

Do you feel that if you get traffic from google, are straight sales letters still the answer to conversions or do you think that getting people onto specfic interesting articles on your site and moving them on to more subtle sales pages works better.

Im wondering whether you think people are fed up being sold to when just googling information and would appreciate a different approach?

I ask this as I get traffic to my sales letter in my signature for different keywords like ab workouts and how to get a six pack etc and dont convert well, and wonder if people think that it would be more beneficial to have them land on an interesting article on my blog each specific to their search term and try to sign them up to my newsletter or move them to a less obvious sales page.

I always thought that if someone searches for something even if they dont intend on buying if they come across something of good value that they have enough interest they can be converted to buyers, in which case it would then mean that my sales page is the problem.

Look forward to what people think and value any feedback.

kind regards
#answer #copies #sales #traditional
  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Gould
    Hey Sebastian,

    What you're talking about was sorta raised in this thread:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...gram-free.html

    Regarding what you're specifically asking about:

    A sales letter is a sales letter is a sales letter.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems by traditional you mean the type of hypey, pumped up, aggressive copy that's the norm in the IM market.

    But that's just one type of copy.

    And it's used because - in that market - it works.

    You need to know what your specific target market needs to hear in order to buy.

    Maybe it's "Lose 50lbs in a week with no diet or exercise" or maybe it's a far more realistic, down-to-earth approach.

    Research your market, find out exactly how they talk, what they really want, what they don't want, etc. And when you know all that, all your copy has to do is feed it back to them. E.g. if you see "I just wish I could lose that last 3lbs of flab" over and over again, you can easily turn it into copy ("How to lose that last 3lbs of flab") and you'll be talking directly to your market in their language.

    And no matter what tone or style your copy is, you still need the fundamentals. You still need to grab attention, keep interest, build desire, and then ask for the sale.

    For a sales funnel, I would almost always give value in the form of articles, videos, interviews, etc before pushing for the sale. But I'd still make the prospect aware I had something to sell so it wouldn't come as a shock.

    And finally, yes your sales page is still a "problem"...

    Generic headline, hypey deck copy, proof stuck half-way down the page, etc.

    Hope all this helps.
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    Andrew Gould

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  • Profile picture of the author marc643
    Hey Andrew,

    I guess your right a sales letter is a sales letter no matter how you make it.

    Yes your answer helps and keeps me on my toes to know i still have a lot to do. I thought the copy had much improved but i suppose even if it has much still to be improved.

    Thanks again
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  • Profile picture of the author Wytnyt
    If you're selling something, long-form sales pages still work, as I've observed with my adventures with websites.

    If however, you prefer to tone down your adspeak, you can focus on what they call content marketing. And instead of having a full-blown sales letter on your website, you can make use of a landing page. You can add certain copywriting elements on your landing pages, but they're generally more "content-based."

    What kind of conversion are you talking about? Sales? Opt-in subscriptions? If you're just after conversion for an email opt-in you don't have to add all the hype. If, however, you're selling a product, sales-letter formats work really well.
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    • Profile picture of the author marc643
      Originally Posted by Wytnyt View Post


      What kind of conversion are you talking about? Sales? Opt-in subscriptions?
      Hey thanks for the answer I was talking about selling something.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert_Rand
    Originally Posted by sebastian643 View Post

    Are Traditional Sales Copies Still The Answer
    Hey Sebastian,

    I don't think they are. And this is coming from someone who sold his first product online with a 37 page sales letter.

    They're better than nothing, that's for sure. But why any smart marketer would opt for just a sales letter over a video is beyond me. 9/10 times a well made video is going to out pull a well written sales letter. If someone is telling you something different then I bet their video just wasn't that compelling, or they didn't test that many variations.

    There are many reasons why this is but perhaps the biggest reasons is entertainment. Remember, most of us live boring lives of quiet desperation and are DESPERATE to be entertained. Video is the perfect platform for that.

    Think about it this way: if you were given 5 minutes of air time on T.V to advertise your product would you simply have moving silent text to simulate a sales letter? And if not, then why would you do that online?

    So why anyone wouldn't at least test having a video is beyond me - especially with how cheap you can get one made if you think creatively.

    Now, I will say that for some subjects you CAN get away with a plain sales letter. Diet/Fitness isn't one of them. haha The reason being: the information has become too much of a commodity. People are too quick to make a snap decision that they don't want to pay for something like that. Of course it can be done, but in a mainstream niche like that, video makes a huge difference.

    If you were in a more technical, specified niche you can definitely get away with a good old salesletter. For example, something like woodworking. "Here are the plans. There are 289 of them. Download them now." or online dating "You're getting 13, proven to convert pre-written profiles. Here's the proof they work. Download them now." But then again, I have a hard time seeing a (well made) video not increasing the conversion rate.

    Does that help?

    In other words, stop thinking "What is the least I can get by with?" And start thinking, "How can I WOW people? How can I entertain them? How can I be different than everyone else? How can I be a leader in my market vs. being like everyone else?"
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  • Profile picture of the author jembuter
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    • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
      Originally Posted by jembuter View Post

      may i know which one is better?

      writen sales copy? graphic sales letter? or video sales letter?

      i want to make a product, but need ur advice for the sales letter format.

      thank you
      As stated above, the answer depends on your industry/product/service and the audience you're trying to reach. There is no one medium that works best across the board.
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      Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.

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  • Profile picture of the author marc643
    Hey Robert,

    Thanks for such an extensive answer that is very helpful.

    I fully agree with what you said and intend on creating a video at the top of my site, what I wanted to achieve first was to see that my sales copy works and converts to know that I had got that side of things correct. Then once I was happy with that move on to creating a good video that I would have hoped would improve my conversions.

    I don't know if that is the correct way to do things, just made sense in my mind. Not sure what you would think of that?

    Kind regards
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert_Rand
      Originally Posted by sebastian643 View Post

      Hey Robert,

      Thanks for such an extensive answer that is very helpful.

      I fully agree with what you said and intend on creating a video at the top of my site, what I wanted to achieve first was to see that my sales copy works and converts to know that I had got that side of things correct. Then once I was happy with that move on to creating a good video that I would have hoped would improve my conversions.

      I don't know if that is the correct way to do things, just made sense in my mind. Not sure what you would think of that?

      Kind regards
      I'd do it now. Not to put water on your fire by any means... but I think that sales copy is going to have a tough time converting. See, that's another great thing about video... you can get away with less than spectacular copy and still be successful. Also, I bet if you convert that copy into a video, you'll naturally find yourself making it more conversational because speaking it out loud the way it is now will sound awkward. The copy actually isn't that bad, but a few tweaks - especially in the beginning - I think would help a lot.

      And even if the video is just "ok" in terms of the actual copy... but you can prove credibility (i.e. you have a six pack and you have testimonials) and you come across as confident/authentic... I bet you'd increase what you currently have by 1000%+. Then you can build on that as you learn more about marketing, or invest your profits into hiring a professional to write you a better script. I'd also strongly advise changing the name of your program to something more brandable (i.e mysixpacksecrets, the6packsolution, my6packsystem, or something like that) I think the right name can help A LOT. Hope that helps... Stay focused on improving, don't give up and eventually you'll have a breakthrough. P.S. I'd also raise the price
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      • Profile picture of the author marc643
        Originally Posted by Robert_Rand View Post

        I'd do it now. Not to put water on your fire by any means... but I think that sales copy is going to have a tough time converting. See, that's another great thing about video... you can get away with less than spectacular copy and still be successful. Also, I bet if you convert that copy into a video, you'll naturally find yourself making it more conversational because speaking it out loud the way it is now will sound awkward. The copy actually isn't that bad, but a few tweaks - especially in the beginning - I think would help a lot.

        And even if the video is just "ok" in terms of the actual copy... but you can prove credibility (i.e. you have a six pack and you have testimonials) and you come across as confident/authentic... I bet you'd increase what you currently have by 1000%+. Then you can build on that as you learn more about marketing, or invest your profits into hiring a professional to write you a better script. I'd also strongly advise changing the name of your program to something more brandable (i.e mysixpacksecrets, the6packsolution, my6packsystem, or something like that) I think the right name can help A LOT. Hope that helps... Stay focused on improving, don't give up and eventually you'll have a breakthrough. P.S. I'd also raise the price
        Hey Robert,

        Thanks again you made some interesting points and will think about them a lot, the name of the program being bad is something I hadn't considered I thought lovesexyabs was quite decent lol.

        But thanks for the advice it is highly appreciated.

        Thanks again to sethczerepak, rathnavelpandian and raydar, comments and points appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author sethczerepak
    If the copy is engaging and if the offer is good and if it's in front of the right person, a sales letter will always work. But since we can add video and audio now, why not? It certainly can't hurt.
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    • Profile picture of the author James Basher
      i think the copy is a problem.the name of the site too.i mean its a good effort but alot of improvement can be done.

      for this niche "the one little secret" type of copy would probably be more effective.

      the image of the product,with cds,book and another cover psychologically might say to the prospect that theres too much information to digest and not the quick tidbit of information that they want.the silver bullet
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    The traditional sales letter is here to stay and it's not
    going anywhere. If politicians are still giving speeches
    and preachers are still giving sermons and sales people
    are still doing demonstrations then the sales letter would
    still be around.

    Of course there are great speeches and great sermons
    and great demonstrations and there are .... you get
    the point.

    Even with the popularity of video, blogs (TEXT) still get a
    ton of traffic and results. The message is still more
    important than the medium.

    -Ray Edwards
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    The most powerful and concentrated copywriting training online today bar none! Autoresponder Writing Email SECRETS
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