Writing Great Sales Copy – The Essential Elements

Many of the comments are gleaned from an extraordinary set of interviews that master Internet copywriter, Michel Fortin, conducted several years ago with the legendary Gary Halbert and his writing partner, John Carlton. Michel recently republished the 6 hours of great content and is making it available for free on his blog at MichelFortin.com.
Start with an outline of five elements that every sales letter must have:
1. Introduce the product.
2. Tell the user what the product can do for them.
3. Make it clear why this particular product is the one to buy.
4. Set up the urgency for buying now.
5. Justify the cost.
You can also fit the sales letter’s elements into the four parts of the AIDA process:
– Attention: Create a unique, attention-grabbing headline that compels the consumer to read the copy.
– Interest: Peak the reader’s interest by telling them how the product will benefit him or her.
– Desire: Create the motivation that will drive the reader to want to buy the product now.
– Action: Move the reader to action by making it clear how to get the product (“click here to buy,” or “call 555-5555 now; leave your order after the recorded message.)
Take the outline of 5 elements and write with the emotive qualities of the AIDA process and your copy will come out fine.
To go into a little more detail…
1. Introduce the product.
Most people make the mistake of putting a laundry list of features in the sales copy and expecting the reader to be interested. The introduction should just give enough of a glimpse to make the reader understand what the product is.
2. Tell the user what the product can do for them.
John Carlton suggests that you start by creating a three part list. Put the product features down the left-hand column, and then include the benefits in the middle. Try to think even more deeply about the “benefit within the benefit” that makes your product absolutely must-have and unique. That high-level benefit goes in the right hand column. It’s the benefits-especially the unique benefits-that sell products.
The benefits go in the bullet points of the sales letter. That’s the heart of the letter, and probably the most important part outside of the headline. Always think from the point of view of the consumer-what’s in it for me? How will this product help me?
3. Why my product is the best choice?
Define the unique sales proposition (USP) of the product and that USP will tell the customer why your product is their best choice. Testimonials are often an excellent tool for pointing out the reasons why this product is the best one for the job at hand.
4. Why now?
Good sales letters always promote a sense of urgency. We know that it generally takes 3-7 looks at a product before most people are willing to buy. But with the right motivation, people will plunk down thousands of dollars within minutes of a product launch just to be one of the scarce few who get a copy.
There are hyped and false ways of introducing urgency, and there are legitimate and truthful ways. Always do what you say you are going to do. If a product is going off the market, or the price is increasing at midnight on the last day of the month, then the product needs to be gone, or the price increased one minute after that.
One of the best ways to introduce urgency is to limit based on a need to keep the information included in the product exclusive. Depending on the offer, another very legitimate way to introduce scarcity is to limit based on the product owner’s time available to give support or training.
5. Why this price?
People need to believe that they are getting value for the products they buy. They need to feel that your product is the same or better value than the last product they bought in that particular niche. Always give more than the buyer expects; always leave them satisfied.
When you list bonuses, always price out the value of each one and total the value of all products included in the package. Offering the package for considerably less than its perceived market value will convince many to go ahead with the purchase.
To get a feel for great sales copy, study the sales letters of some of the greats, people like Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Michael Fortin, Joe Vitale, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman and Joe Polish. Use some of the sales letters successful launches in your niche as swipe files. Study them and see if you can figure out what made them so successful. Without plagiarizing, use some of the concepts in these letters to improve your own copy.