Writing Good Sales Copy

Learning to write good sales copy isn’t something you can learn by reading a quick tutorial – it takes practice. Although you probably won’t turn into a world-famous copywriter overnight, there are a few tips you can use to increase the response from your sales letters.

The first thing you should learn is that the headline is (almost) everything. If your headline is terrible – or worse – boring, most people won’t even read the rest of your sales letter. A headline needs to be exciting, enticing, and intriguing.

It needs to grab the attention of your visitor quickly. Your headline might have shock value, ask a compelling question, or be the beginning of an extremely interesting story. “Six months ago, I was living on the streets of L.A., homeless after my Adjustable Rate Mortgage soared so high I couldn’t make the mortgage payments, but now I’m living in a sky-rise apartment twenty stories up that I paid seven figures for…”

This makes the reader want to know more – how did this person go from being destitute to being wealthy? Good sales copy usually tells a story that the audience can connect with. Copy ideally shouldn’t tell a fictional story, though.

You certainly don’t want to run into any trouble with the FTC or an attorney general with something to prove. Good copy gives people a reason to keep reading. If you tell an interesting, compelling story that’s somehow related to the product and how it will affect them, it will naturally appeal to your visitor.

Every single paragraph should lead into the next paragraph, drawing the reader further and further into the pitch. Consumers usually buy based on emotion, and then they justify their purchase with logic. They rarely buy based on logic alone.

They don’t buy a product because of the features – they buy because of the benefits it will provide to them, the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor. If you’re selling a car, you can’t tell the buyer that it has Corinthian leather seats, ABS brakes, and a superior sound system.

You have to sell them on the fact that their neighbors and coworkers will be envious, girls will flock to them, and they’ll feel like the king of the world whenever they drive it. Then they’ll buy based on the fantasy you’ve just given them, and they’ll use logic to justify their purchase later.

Within each online sales letter, you’ll want to have a main headline, numerous sub-headlines sprinkled throughout, and aside form the written storyline, you’ll want to add sections of benefit-driven bullet points that break up the monotonous text.

Don’t forget the call to action at the end and a Post Script (PS) or two that sums up the order in case they’re bona fide skimmers who hate to read. Go to some of your favorite sales pitch sites and emulate their style and approach. Bookmark it for your “swipe file,” where you borrow ideas (not content) from the original author and use it on your own target audience.