Why Long Sales Letters Are Far More Superior Than Short Ones
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I'm sure you've already heard the debate of whether long sales letters work better than short ones - and vice versa. But which one is actually true? Do long sales letters really work better than short ones?
Well the short answer to that question is, yes.
Your prospects want to know everything that they need to know before they buy your product. The fact is, closing a sale is not easy. So to make it easy for your prospect to say "yes" to your offer, and short sales letters does not do it as well as long sales letter.
If you were buying a new car, and the car salesman briefly went over a few things with you, would you really want to buy the car - especially if you had other questions on your mind about it? Probably not.
But if the same salesman went over every-single-detail with you about the vehicle, how much more comfortable would you feel about saying "yes" to the car?
Well online, it's no different, and you need to approach your sales presentation the same way. When creating the sales letter for your product, it's important to make all about your prospect. Tell them what they want to hear, and show them how you will deliver on your promises.
They want to know what's in it for them, so how are you going to efficiently answer this question with a short sales letter? However, all objections that your prospects have can be answered with a long sales letter.
So to really break out of the mold and start getting the sales you desire, you have to ramp things up in your sales copy. You can't be boring or use industry jargon that your prospects don't care about. You can't create "me too" ads that are similar to your competitors and expect to see a huge boost in sales.
You have to be different, and the best way to be different is to speak one-to-one with your prospect. When you speak one-to-one with your prospect, you're speaking from the heart. You will want to use to word "you" as much as possible in order to show your prospect that you really care about them.
You want to do this all throughout your sales copy, including your headline, your bullet points, and also your P.S. In addition to this, the headline on your page has to answer the "so what" test.
The "so what" test is great because it answers the question of "so what?" after a prospect reads your headline. Over 70% of the people who view your sales letter only stop at the headline, so that's a vast majority of potential sales that you could be missing out on if your headline doesn't pass the test.
To make sure that your headline is good, you want to read it to yourself and then ask yourself, "so what?". If your headline has a great answer for this, then that's how you know you have a winning headline in your hands. If your headline can't answer this question effectively, then you should revise and edit it as necessary.
When writing throughout your sales copy, you want to reach and speak to them on an emotional level - something that you just can't do with a 4 or 5 paragraph sales pitch. However with a long letter, you give yourself the opportunity of building a relationship with your prospect, and getting them to trust you because you know how they feel.
So again with the car salesman example, to reach your prospect on an emotional level, instead of showing a car driving down the street, show how the car can get someone a new job or a new girlfriend or boyfriend. This is tough to do with a short sales letter, but with a long sales letter, you have all day to convey this benefit.
I think it's obvious by now which is better for closing more sales. And with long sales letters, the biggest benefit is that you can charge more for a product than you could with a short sales letter. This is because you've shown the prospect everything that they need to know, and have aroused them up so much emotionally - that price is not an issue. They simply want your product.
Keep these tips in mind when writing your next sales letter. They will come in handy when you do so.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randall Magwood is one of the most respected and highly-regarded online marketing experts on the internet. He has a website about internet marketing that helps small business owners learn how to market their business online simply and easily. To learn more, visit his website here: http://www.internetmarketing-rules.com
Well the short answer to that question is, yes.
Your prospects want to know everything that they need to know before they buy your product. The fact is, closing a sale is not easy. So to make it easy for your prospect to say "yes" to your offer, and short sales letters does not do it as well as long sales letter.
If you were buying a new car, and the car salesman briefly went over a few things with you, would you really want to buy the car - especially if you had other questions on your mind about it? Probably not.
But if the same salesman went over every-single-detail with you about the vehicle, how much more comfortable would you feel about saying "yes" to the car?
Well online, it's no different, and you need to approach your sales presentation the same way. When creating the sales letter for your product, it's important to make all about your prospect. Tell them what they want to hear, and show them how you will deliver on your promises.
They want to know what's in it for them, so how are you going to efficiently answer this question with a short sales letter? However, all objections that your prospects have can be answered with a long sales letter.
So to really break out of the mold and start getting the sales you desire, you have to ramp things up in your sales copy. You can't be boring or use industry jargon that your prospects don't care about. You can't create "me too" ads that are similar to your competitors and expect to see a huge boost in sales.
You have to be different, and the best way to be different is to speak one-to-one with your prospect. When you speak one-to-one with your prospect, you're speaking from the heart. You will want to use to word "you" as much as possible in order to show your prospect that you really care about them.
You want to do this all throughout your sales copy, including your headline, your bullet points, and also your P.S. In addition to this, the headline on your page has to answer the "so what" test.
The "so what" test is great because it answers the question of "so what?" after a prospect reads your headline. Over 70% of the people who view your sales letter only stop at the headline, so that's a vast majority of potential sales that you could be missing out on if your headline doesn't pass the test.
To make sure that your headline is good, you want to read it to yourself and then ask yourself, "so what?". If your headline has a great answer for this, then that's how you know you have a winning headline in your hands. If your headline can't answer this question effectively, then you should revise and edit it as necessary.
When writing throughout your sales copy, you want to reach and speak to them on an emotional level - something that you just can't do with a 4 or 5 paragraph sales pitch. However with a long letter, you give yourself the opportunity of building a relationship with your prospect, and getting them to trust you because you know how they feel.
So again with the car salesman example, to reach your prospect on an emotional level, instead of showing a car driving down the street, show how the car can get someone a new job or a new girlfriend or boyfriend. This is tough to do with a short sales letter, but with a long sales letter, you have all day to convey this benefit.
I think it's obvious by now which is better for closing more sales. And with long sales letters, the biggest benefit is that you can charge more for a product than you could with a short sales letter. This is because you've shown the prospect everything that they need to know, and have aroused them up so much emotionally - that price is not an issue. They simply want your product.
Keep these tips in mind when writing your next sales letter. They will come in handy when you do so.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Randall Magwood is one of the most respected and highly-regarded online marketing experts on the internet. He has a website about internet marketing that helps small business owners learn how to market their business online simply and easily. To learn more, visit his website here: http://www.internetmarketing-rules.com