Create the problem
From the very start of your sales letter, it should be clear what problem your service or product will solve for your customers. The sooner the reader can identify with the problem being written about, whilst being made aware that a solution is being offered the better. Hence, the importance of a very focused headline that indicates what you are offering.
If you have written an impactful headline that grabs your target audience’s attention, followed by an equally appealing subheadline, their curiosity will lead them into your first paragraph, and then the next, and the next and so on.
This is what the great Joseph Sugarman (One of America’s Top Copywriters) in his very insightful book The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy
classed as his 8th axiom of good copy-writing.
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The Headline
The headline of your sales letter is the most important components to consider. These are the first things your readers will see, and as such is crucial in hooking their interest in order to command their attention… get them intrigued… curious… as they are guided along the sales letter.
A headline can impact massively on your sales figures, so do not treat it lightly, do not rush it, and spend adequate time in creating it. I spent a few hours researching and tweaking the headline for my partner’s last product and it is still being tested with Google Optimiser as I’m splitting testing variations, before deciding the definitive combination.
Research by IMC has shown that those headlines that communicate the most compelling benefits of your offer are always the better performers. Actually, I will go as far to say that your headline in order to be successful MUST be full of killer benefits. This will appeal directly to the wants of your target audience and have them jostle to find out more.
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