Marketing letters are about marketing - building awareness of your product or service - not direct sales. It needs to build up awareness in the mind of the reader, and give them a way to express their interest in whatever it is you’re selling. The aim here is to be compelling to the customer or reader.
Marketing is a numbers game, and marketing letters are proof of that. No single marketing letter is going to be effective for all the recipients; indeed, the concept of impressions applies here - it usually takes seven to fifteen repetitions of the message to make an impression on the subject. While there are some people who will respond immediately to one marketing letter, there are plenty more who will need a follow up message or more. You’re using this marketing letter to open a door of awareness.
What you are doing in effect, is building a mini campaign. Nobody likes to feel that they are being bulldozed into doing anything. It’s rather like going to into a shop, or wandering onto a used car lot, and a sales person descending on you immediately with the immortal words: “Can I be of assistance?” which occasions the immortal reply: “No thanks I’m just looking”.
The thing is, that the damage has already been done. Straight away you feel under pressure, and nine times out of ten you will leave quickly as you feel uncomfortable, whereas left to your own devices, you might have tarried a little bit longer and taken an interest in something.
Your first marketing letter needs to avoid the hard pitch. Your recipient has never heard of you before. You have no rapport, they have no reason to trust you, and you have no insight into what they want. You’re cold calling.. Don’t force it, give them something interesting to read to build a favorable impression and let them alone.
This being the case, the content of the letter is critical. The wrong tone will just get it deleted, whereas the right tone will piques that interest we are talking about, and having piqued that interest, we then need to move on to a call to action, albeit, a gentle one.
The contents of an effective marketing letter starts with a good, attention grabbing headline. Headlines are supposed to provoke thought, and make someone go “What?” and ask for more. Go for a laugh, or go for a “What the heck?” response. Give them a reason to want to read the rest of the message.
Next, your marketing letter needs a great intro; something that leads straight on from the attention grabbing headline, continues the excitement and interest, and outlines what it is they are going to read about in the main body of the letter/email.
For the rest of your marketing letter, avoid making outrageous claims. Exaggeration trips the skepticism meters. It sounds like you’re pulling their leg, or it sounds like you’re desperate. Even little things like “I know you’re not going to believe this…” undermine your credibility. Everyone who reads your marketing letter is as smart as you are, and they’ve been mass marketed to since the age of three. Go for interesting writing and honestly informative. Don’t make it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread; it’s an internet product. It isn’t.
The last thing that an effective marketing letter cannot be without is a final call to action. You’re not trying to seal a deal at this stage so, no: “Buy one now” type remarks; they simply won’t work 99% of the time. A simple: “Visit our website to find out more”, is sufficient; just make sure that the landing page carries straight on from the marketing letter so it’s like a natural progression. Good luck!
John Farrazio is an internet marketer who learned how to finally create an effective marketing letter in the most efficient and inexpensive way possible. Find out how he created a high impact marketing letter in just under twenty minutes for one of his sites and how you can do the same!
categories: marketing letter,sales letter,internet marketing,online business,copywriting,internet marketing,online business
Tags: copywriting, internet marketing, marketing letter, online business, sales letter