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Attention Deficit Sales Letter Disorder
For any marketer, attention is a precious commodity. With
consumers bombarded with thousands of advertising messages each
day the question of how to make your message stand out of the
crowd becomes even more critical.
Any successful sales letter must accomplish two things:
1. It must sell the prospect on reading the sales message all
the way through
2. It must lead the prospect to the most desired action, whether
it's to make a purchase or subscribe to your newsletter.
If the copywriter fails at Step 1, then Step 2 becomes an
impossibility. In other words, it's unfeasible to make a sale if
the sales message is not read. Many copywriters overlook Step 1
and therefore even though they have a great offer and close, the
message is not "attractive" to read. The bottom line is that the
sales letter suffers from Attention Deficit Sales Letter
Disorder - ADSLD!
Direct marketers know that half the battle is won if they can
just get their letters opened. Much thought and testing go into
determining the size, design, color, message and layout of the
mailing envelope. These marketers know that if that envelop is
not opened, then the letter is not read and the sale is not
made. Simple.
For the online marketer, there are no envelopes to be opened
even though some webmasters create a Flash introductory page
that can act like an envelope. When a prospect comes to a
website the message is there to be read. But how can this
prospect be enticed into reading the sales letter all the way
through?
Here are a number of ways that I remedy ADSLD for my copywriting
clients:
1. Several tests have shown that a RED headline gets attention
over any other font color choice. Red is often associated with
danger but it also says, "This is important, read me!"
2. Remove anything from the page that doesn't support the sales
message or distracts from the sales message. This includes most
animated graphics and bright colors for the page background that
competes with the foreground text. Nothing beats just plain
black font against a white background. If you can keep the
number of colors used to three or less, this will also help
readability.
3. Keep the text table width under 700 px. If the text is set
too wide then it becomes tedious to read from one line to the
next because too much head and eye movement is involved.
4. The headline must engage the reader to read the rest of the
message immediately. Headlines that work best are those that
promise a BIG benefit for READING the letter, induce some
curiosity and written in large bold type. It should also have
some 'newsy' element to it as well.
5. The format and layout of the sales letter should be inviting
to read. 12 pt. Arial font works well online, paragraphs kept
under five lines and appropriate highlighting, bolding and
subheads all make the letter appear easy to read.
6. The
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lead in, or the hook for the sales letter must arrest the
attention of the reader and seduce them into wanting to read the
entire letter. This can be best done by making a bold promise
for reading the letter itself. Great hooks include stories,
factual statements of a surprising kind and a strong testimonial
from a user of the product. Whatever method is used the lead in
has to break into the conversation that is already taking place
in the readers head. Using popular news items you know that will
be familiar to your target audience is another effective
strategy.
7. There should be prompts all along the letter that encourages
the reader to keep reading. This could be as simple as writing:
"Keep reading ..." One of the best strategies is to begin a
thought process and break it with another subject and return to
complete the thought later. This can be done simply by writing,
for example, "I'll tell you how I lost 38 lbs in just 3 weeks,
but before I do so let me tell you ... [other parenthetical idea
or story goes here]" You've planted an initial idea that
requires resolution and the reader must continue reading to gain
it.
8. Be UNIQUE. If all of the sales letters in your industry looks
and reads the same then why should a prospect read yours? You
should try to go for a unique look and feel for your website.
This may mean using a mascot, a humorous twist in your message
or what can be more unique that your picture or story? The fact
is that you want to stand out from the crowd and don't be afraid
to push the envelope sometimes. One of the cardinal sins of
copywriting is to be boring.
9. Focus your message on the reader not on your company or
product. This is a major downfall of big corporation who think
that everyone should just know how great their companies are.
But your prospect is basically motivated by selfish desires. The
questions you must be answering all through the sales letter is
"What's in it for your reader?"
Often there is a debate about just how long a sales letter
should be. Keep in mind that any person will read a 1,000 page
book if it's all about them. About your company? ... that's
another story altogether.
With thousands of marketers coming online you'll need to fight
more and more for the ATTENTION of your prospects. I've been
able to use these same tips I'm sharing with you to win
attention and increased profits for my copywriting clients. You
can do the same for your marketing message as well.
About the author:
Ray L. Edwards is a master copywriter, published author and
Internet Marketing Consultant. His copywriting clients have
claimed up to 1,600% increase in their comversion rates just
from using his services. He is an expert in writing sales copy
for the web. He has studied extensively the relationship between
website structure and design as a factor in internet sales
success. You may get more tips at:
http://www.webcopy-writing.com
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