Sales letter alternatives?

by DavidO

Posted: 15 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Everybody "knows" that a conventional sales letter is the most effective way to sell a single product. I myself have tried every alternative imaginable but nothing so far has equalled my sales letter.

But that doesn't stop me from trying because I just don't like sales letters. There must be a better way to sell than all the BS used in sales letters.

I know video is promising but, other than that, can anybody point out a successful, high-converting site (single product, not online store) that doesn't use a sales letter?

I'd especially be interested in something in the health niche. Here for example is a successful product in my niche:

RESPeRATE To Lower Blood Pressure - USA Home

Now I don't know their conversion but they do have a huge advertising budget so it is probably turning a profit.

Thanks for any suggestions. I'm sure other people reading this thread will be interested too because I've heard from a lot of people who don't like sales letters. Of course it's the customer's opinion that counts but there may come a time when the public gets turned off of them.

#alternatives #letter #sales

Gavin Stephenson 15 years ago

The only other form of a sales letter is video as you said. If I find a site without a sales letter i'll let you know. Video and Written copy works best for me. The more vision and feelings you can generate from another human the better it will convert i guess
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DavidO

15 years ago

Yes, video can be powerful but I hesitate to make the investment until I have more confidence about my site and my sales message. I think adding a video without these essentials in place would be counter-productive.

What I'm interested in is a site design that triggers emotions and desire with a few choice words and images instead of the long rigmarole of a sales letter. Maybe this isn't possible but I'm sure there must be examples of sites that pull it off.

Thanks
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Tyrus Antas

15 years ago

Originally Posted by DavidO

The most effective video format would probably be a infomercial type of video. You say you hate that kind of stuff.

Your only option is to do those product launch formula kind of launches where you build desire email after email. You still need great copy though.

Tyrus

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Jason Fladlien 15 years ago

Don't think in terms of just one thing. The best way is to use a sales letter combined with either a teleseminar or a webinar.

Use the the first 45 minutes of the call for dramatic demonstrations of expertise and effectiveness, and spend the last 10 minutes closing. I've closed 42% or higher on high ticket items form a webinar platform WITHOUT nothing more than a buy now button and a couple paragraphs of text.
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Lance K

15 years ago

Check out fellow Warrior Scott Lundergan's site...

Concept To Completion Website Video Marketing Solutions

I'm not sure if that's what you had in mind. But it may be a good place to start.

Originally Posted by DavidO

What I'm interested in is a site design that triggers emotions and desire with a few choice words and images instead of the long rigmarole of a sales letter. Maybe this isn't possible but I'm sure there must be examples of sites that pull it off.

Thanks

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Richard N Adams 15 years ago

I operate in a niche where I know quite a few of the "big boys" personally and they have split tested sales letters vs. other types of sales techniques and in that niche they all agree that sales letters *dont'* convert as well as a decent landing page. They are selling a commodity that varies very little between suppliers so customers only need to know the few ways in which their product is different to someone elses.

Of course I'm not going to go showing you those landing pages but my experience tells me that a long-form salesletter isn't *always* the best way. After all, these guys are making money that would make your eyes pop and have tested everything you can think of :-)

All the best,
Richard
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- DavidO 15 years ago
  
  Thanks, Richard. Your comments give me confidence that there are indeed options other than the salesletter. But the conditions you describe about the product may not apply to others.
  
  My product and method are unknown, but I still think there's a more straightforward and effective way to present the benefits and features of any product without a long sales letter.
  
  Without exposing any of your colleagues I'd be grateful to know of any designers that specialize in this type of landing page.
  
  Thanks
  
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Lightlysalted 15 years ago

Sorry can't think of anything else. Although personally I have found video a much more powerful media, especially if you are a adopting a logical step by step approach to selling that presents a problem and then provides the solution.
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LFL 15 years ago

You could always squeeze them offering a free 5-day e-course and disguise the sales pitch within that email course. I have seen it done.
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Greg Jacobs 15 years ago

Video done well trumps any sales letter any day of the week, but a Sales Letter is better than average video.

There is also the incremental click site, like fatloss4idots does. where they have short pages and keep getting you to click(agree) to get the next tidbit of information.
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JustinBrooke 15 years ago

Last year Jason Moffatt and I did a product launch
using nothing but video and made $20,000 in a weekend
from just a video and an order button.

I've also seen webinars far outsell salesletters...

I personally think the age of salesletter as king is coming
to an end. They still work GREAT but rich media is raising
its head as the leader in all my tests.

I also think it really depends on the market and offer, as video
won't go over well in the knitting niche where the target market
is 65yr old women who don't all have DSL grade connections.
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Kezz 15 years ago

You know what's interesting? I did a little research recently to find out which websites actually have the highest conversion rates on the web.

As far as the stats I could get hold of, the highest converting sites in fact are all catalog sites. Some had insane conversion rates, as high as 50.5% in some cases. I don't know how they pulled that off - they must have had some great promotions running.

So here's one site that has repeatedly achieved months of 40% - 50% conversion: SCHWAN'S: Time Saving Food, Online Grocery Shopping & Home Delivery Service

The question is, what are they doing right, and what are they doing differently?

I actually did a full study recently of the top converting sites I could find stats for, and documented some of their common points. I came up with one method that I've been playing with. Would love to know if anyone would be interested in doing some split testing with me of what I came up with.
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Kezz 15 years ago

The downside of sales letters, is that for a lot of people they instantly cause a protection barrier to go up. Many people, including myself before I got involved with internet marketing, have an inherent distrust of the sales letter format.

When this is the case, there is an additional objection to overcome, solely because of the format the sales letter is presented in. The sales letter then has to be extra convincing, just to get back the trust that is diminished by the shape and flow of the information.

It would be my assumption that this is a big part of why strong video presentations and other new and innovative formats are experiencing success - they don't trigger that extra objection that has to be dealt with, so the information can just be absorbed and evaluated on its merits.
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mmurtha 15 years ago

I think the market and offer determine what will convert, but you will only really know by testing that market with that offer. Yes videos work well with some markets, especially to the newer generations where they are inspired by imagery or symbols, etc ..., while other markets respond to landing pages and full sales letters.

I've used all of these I mentioned, and they all convert well with the right market. And just because one way works for a specific market for a specific offer, doesn't mean it will convert the same way all the time. Offers matter in every market.

I know this horse gets beat to death, but the best way to go about what is converting on what offer is to test each and every one during the process. This way you can tweak things as you go.

Mary
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Sales letter alternatives?

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