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Sales Letter Vs Sales Video ?

by RidwanM
47 replies
Which one do you use and why?
#letter #sales #video
  • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
    I use both. One enhances the other.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shaolinsteve
    Originally Posted by RidwanM View Post

    Which one do you use and why?
    I agree with RidwanM. Video marketing can be very powerful and if you can incorporate a powerful message alongside a strong sales letter, chances are, a good proportion are going to be influenced to take action.

    Matt Lloyd does this very well, although he has numerous approaches, I've always found a sales video and sales letter together work best.
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  • Profile picture of the author rileydxf
    why not use both, you have to have both in mind. Some people prefer to see a video, and other love to read. Make both people happy. Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Depends on the offer, traffic, funnel, and quite a few other factors.

    Overall, a VSL with an exit pop that goes to the sales letter.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    You need both. Some people hate video and want to be able to read it all. Others insist on video. If you leave one out, you're leaving money on the table. Same thing goes for your reports and guides and info products. Put them out in PDF and video. Simple.
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  • Profile picture of the author SunnyDays81
    I recommend using an auto play video when someone visits your site.

    Yes, autoplays can be very annoying but from my own in depth testing, they attribute to roughly 25% in additional sales.

    Btw, I run a handful of advertising sites online targeted towards the affiliate promotion and mlm niches.
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeMiller
      In addition to the above, always test! As @jamescanz pointed out, it depends on a lot of factors. Try video, text, combination of both and see which performs better.
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    • Profile picture of the author TakenAction
      Originally Posted by SunnyDays81 View Post

      I recommend using an auto play video when someone visits your site.

      Yes, autoplays can be very annoying but from my own in depth testing, they attribute to roughly 25% in additional sales.

      Btw, I run a handful of advertising sites online targeted towards the affiliate promotion and mlm niches.
      autoplay w/o giving them power to pause it has had the highest conversions in my testing and in others that I have seen.

      You control the sales "presentation" not them.
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  • Profile picture of the author BryRobinson
    I would go with a VSL that exit pops to a sales letter. People respond in different modalities. I'd probably even exit pop from the sales letter to a webinar just to ensure you touch all basis if this is a long-term project/offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author BryRobinson
    P.S Make sure to use a real sales letter as your "sales letter" and not just a transcribed version of your vsl.
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  • Profile picture of the author mattpaul2000
    I think long term you have to use both but I prefer only to use Video for short sharp deliveries of around 2 minutes top.

    Having said that a video on its own works just fine for a free give way especially with a strong headline.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    A sales letter because i suck on camera. I don't even want to hire someone to read my sales letter text. I've studied incredibly hard on copywriting and sales letter writing, so i can write my butt off when it's crunch time. Plus i make money without VSL's anyway... my products are cheap - except for consulting.
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  • Profile picture of the author aaronhah
    Each have their ups and downs, I would personally go with a graphics sales letter
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    I've always had better success with sales letters but I use some sales video as well. For whatever reason, based on my own testing my visitors seem to get more "hooked" with sales letters and therefore buy more often. I think it also depends on what type of products you're offering too, but if I had to pick I'd say sales letters.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marco Moeschter
    I use both as well. I like the normal sales letters if they are not to long because I don't know about you but I scroll to the most important points on a sales letter and that's it. After I have all the information I have a quick look at the video if they have one. If I use sales letter for my own products I do the same a mix between sales letter and video sales letter. I haven't split tested normal sales letter against video sales letter but I do it like that because of my own user experience.
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveBowen4
    As a visitor I prefer sales video in a page. Also I think videos get people more engaged and is better way for having high converting offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author wildnout14
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author netbroker
      Sales Letters I feel will become obsolete.. The more a sales letter looks flash with graphics. buttons.. testimonials. etc etc the more it puts people off.

      A personal sales video speaking directly and honestly, using very good sales copy within your personal video presentation works for me, and higher opt ins too..

      Just my thoughts.. i hope this might help a little.. but everyone is different and has very different ideas which is healthy too..

      Cheers

      Netbroker
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    • Profile picture of the author SteveBowen4
      Originally Posted by wildnout14 View Post

      I don't like the ones that have a video and no call to action.
      hey my friend. Most of videos have call to action but it will appear a little after spending a few minutes on the video....
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      • Profile picture of the author alsenyseck8
        Originally Posted by SteveBowen4 View Post

        hey my friend. Most of videos have call to action but it will appear a little after spending a few minutes on the video....
        Me too Steve. I always prefer watching a video
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  • Profile picture of the author ghost209
    simple answer. I use whatever one converts better and makes me more money.

    How do you know? you test it.

    more often than not, sales videos outperform everything else i do, since with a sales video you can hit people on a few different levels at once.

    Audio - they can hear your voice
    Visual - they can see you / or see the presentation
    Text - you can have text in the video (or in case of VSL) that they can read
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  • Profile picture of the author Amer123
    it depends on the person me guess, but in my own perspective. if i look at sales page. one that has audio and video in is more engaging. the downside is the load time. if someone is running your site on a poorly connected computer they will surely lose interest. not exactly am ajor issue today but still.

    but I do agree that one enhances the other. it would be great tho if when a visitor opens your site, he gets the option to open the site either in video or in writing.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    If I am selling my own stuff, I will do a sales letter.

    If I am going to promote for other products, if they have a sales video, you can bet that I will send the traffic there.
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  • Profile picture of the author AmanD
    I think it's best to use both.

    As a visitor, I won't watch sales videos, can't stand having my time wasted like that.

    The more sales videos people are exposed to, I would imagine the more they're likely to feel like me.
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  • Profile picture of the author RogozRazvan
    From what I've saw so far, VSLs generally beat sales letters when it comes to conversion. However, a VSL is hard to tweak as you need to do it all over again or at least edit sections from it. A sales letter is far easier to tweak and optimize. Therefore, I prefer VSLs but when it comes to optimizing long term, I use sales letters.
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  • Profile picture of the author spearce000
    Both. I've also seen exit scripts where people get redirected to the written page if they stop viewing the video before it ends.
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  • Profile picture of the author gcbmark20
    Originally Posted by RidwanM View Post

    Which one do you use and why?

    Hi,

    What I've found through testing is that people who sign up to my lists via a
    squeeze page that has a video on it are happy to then go on and watch my
    video on the next page - "My OTO offer sales page".

    Now this isn't always the case of course.

    And this is something that can vary from the traffic source you use, the
    length of the video, the quality of the traffic and so many other factors
    too.

    But of course what you can do is to record a video based sales pitch first
    and then turn the slides (if you use them) into a written based sales pitch
    too and just simply copy and paste those exact words onto your sales page.

    This way you are covering for those who like to watch videos vs those who
    want to read every word of your copy.

    Again there are NO SET IN STONE rules here.

    Allow your testing to do the talking for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author ProPitchingMarketer
      Originally Posted by gcbmark20 View Post

      Hi,

      What I've found through testing is that people who sign up to my lists via a
      squeeze page that has a video on it are happy to then go on and watch my
      video on the next page - "My OTO offer sales page".

      Now this isn't always the case of course.

      And this is something that can vary from the traffic source you use, the
      length of the video, the quality of the traffic and so many other factors
      too.

      But of course what you can do is to record a video based sales pitch first
      and then turn the slides (if you use them) into a written based sales pitch
      too and just simply copy and paste those exact words onto your sales page.

      This way you are covering for those who like to watch videos vs those who
      want to read every word of your copy.

      Again there are NO SET IN STONE rules here.

      Allow your testing to do the talking for you.
      This for sure. Sometimes I want to watch and entire video and others I don't have the time so I'd rather just scan the text for what I'm trying to find.

      You want to appeal to every facet of your niche market.
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      • Profile picture of the author nitro37
        Combo of both is the best way to go for me personally.
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  • Profile picture of the author quadagon
    Increasingly I use video with a letter and a sellographic (kinda like an infographic) down the side.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
    I love broad these questions that don't have a single right answer.

    I write a lot of video scripts. I probably write 10 scripts for every sales letter.

    But when I say video script, I'm talking about all different types of execution - from PowerPoint to full on commercials.

    At the end of the day...

    What matters is:

    Does the COPY convert. If so, it'll likely convert on BOTH video and a sales letter.

    The REAL question is...

    What will convert better? And the answer depends upon a ton of variables.

    What's your market?

    What does the funnel look like? (Are you sending traffic directly to the control... or do you have a native/content lander?

    Where's the traffic coming from? Lists? PPC? Social?

    Don't get caught up in the semantics. Focus always and only upon what works. And that requires constant testing.

    I've been in situations where an "ugly" sales letter converts like crazy. I've also had to dump tons of time and money into creating a polished brand to hit my target numbers.

    I know it's a cliche. But just test. Then tell us.

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author Ammy Singh
    Originally Posted by RidwanM View Post

    Which one do you use and why?
    Why not use both? In my opinion - combination of both works pretty well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rory Singh
    Originally Posted by RidwanM View Post

    Which one do you use and why?
    Are you RidwanM asking regarding yourself?

    If so, are you good at BOTH like everyone is telling you to do?

    However, if you mean using other people's stuff, then yes, use both because both are very powerful. Personally for me to see other people's sales video, I would say that Video is by far a lot more powerful than just text.

    But if I were the one that had to 'create' the sales promotion myself, I would choose sales letter because I communicate way better to people by text.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fat Wolf
    it really depend on what product that you selling, if you go both it won't be wrong
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  • Profile picture of the author daintyg21
    I do not think one is better than the other, it comes down to preference,and me personally would use a combination of the two simply because with the right mindset and the right traffic source you can make good money with both.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    As a general rule of thumb, use video if the traffic is coming from another video, such as Youtube, Vimeo or FB video ad, etc.

    If the traffic is coming from non-video sources, use text.
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  • Profile picture of the author algreg
    There's a thousand different ways to look at this. And everyone here has given awesome advice. You should probably have 3 versions: audio, VSL, and text.

    5 Easy Steps:

    Create a sales letter (or get someone to do it)
    Create a slightly different script with some variations for the VSL
    Record the voice
    Create the slides/visuals
    Sync the slides with the voice

    When you do all that, you then have 3 versions: VSL, sales letter, and audio. Easy Peasy.

    Now you COULD do all this yourself or you could get someone to do it FOR YOU.

    Hmm...
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  • Profile picture of the author Thesecret2marketing
    Without a doubt you need both in today's modern digital economy.

    Most people have shorter attention spans and want to be entertained. A VSL is perfect for this type of audience so they can be lazy, entertained, and watch a quick explainer video about what you want them to whip out their credit card and buy from you.

    And for some people videos are annoying. They want to read something and process the information in their brain themselves. These are people will be very satisfied having something to read over and make their own decision about.

    At the end of the day you can have one or the other, however you have to think about what your ideal customer/client has in their mind and how can you best satisfy their impulse buying desire.

    Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author pilot47
    I see many sites now use a 2 minute video like a movie trailer... so I guess that's what's trending now...
    or I could be wrong...
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  • Profile picture of the author tuti
    try use both.
    one page shows video (not a boring video salesletter)
    if the person want to leave/ exit, redirect to text salesletter.

    but, one rules apply.
    Tweak and Track!
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  • Profile picture of the author smoor2012
    I think you should use both, but make them both pretty quick.

    Highlight the benefits quickly in a video no longer than 2-5 minutes.

    Then enhance those benefits with a few bullet points below the sales letter and then your call to action.

    Admittedly, I see videos longer than this but I don't always watch them all the way through.

    Quick videos highlighting benefits. I say this because I prefer quick highlights and then to read a little bit more about a product. The long videos and long sales letters turn me off.

    It doesn't mean I won't buy or join, but it does mean I wish the information was simplified.

    Maybe this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author C G
    I use video (short) with an exit popup pointing to the text version.

    I prefer video because as they cannot forward it. They are forced to go over the sales and persuasion process. Which greatly increases conversion.

    Cheers,

    C.G.
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  • Profile picture of the author QueenMelanie
    many squeeze pages have both vids and letters.. Some people prefer videos, some people prefer to read, may as well cater for both audiences!
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  • Profile picture of the author selfdisciplineacademy
    Use video primarily..

    >Lower bounce rates
    >More engaged audience
    >Higher Conversions

    However, do have some sales copy under your video
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  • Profile picture of the author Jacob Caris
    I think it depends on what you are selling and who you are engaging with. Both have a place, and very powerful when correctly combined.
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  • Profile picture of the author Candice886
    I don't like sales letter in fact, it's too long to scan. Generally speaking, Sales Video is direct to express what the creator wants to help clients and doesn't waste time. Some of them are cartoon, very interesting. Nowadays, cartoon videos are easy to create, you can use a software and make different pictures together, do it yourself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Raydal
    The real power of video over text is ATTENTION. Even if the
    video is just reading the text of the sales letter, the prospect will
    still stay longer listening than reading--despite those who say
    they hate videos, I doubt they would read the entire sales letter
    anyway. If the video cannot get your ATTENTION neither
    will the text.

    Attention is the real scarce commodity online today, especially
    with social media. So if you can get someone to pay attention
    the fight for the sale is 90% won.

    -Ray Edwards
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