The Ultimate Sales Letter cover

The Ultimate Sales Letter

by Dan Kennedy

Business
BOOK INFOGRAPHIC The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy TL;DR Writing sales copy that converts is a systematic,repeatable process. KEY THEMES WritingMarketingInfluenceStrategy 13 min read 7 sections Direct marketers... Always enter the conversation already occurring in thecustomer's mind.

The Book in Three Sentences

The Five Big Ideas

The Ultimate Sales Letter Summary

Writing copy that sells is not a creative act so much as it is a mechanical process, adhering to formulas, and assembling essential component parts within a reliable framework.

Before writing, you may find it useful to build reference lists or stacks of 3-by-5-inch cards—“What I Know about Our Customers … about Our Product … ” and so on.

Kennedy’s “10 Smart Market Diagnosis and Profiling Questions”

Once you’ve begun that process of identification, you’ll be in a good position to determine what the recipient of your letter wants. Write these items down in order of priority.

You must determine accurately, in advance, what your customers’ priorities are. And you must address their priorities, not yours.

The danger for the business owner writing copy for himself and for his own business is ingrained assumption—encouraging shortcutting or altogether neglecting this step.

“Always enter the conversation already occurring in the customer’s mind.” — Robert Collier (also known as “The Collier Principle”).

Ask yourself, “What will your customers be thinking about and talking about the day they receive or see your sales copy?”

Do not arrive as an interruption or disruption, attempting to divert your reader’s attention from the object it is focused on, fighting to interest him in something different from what he is already, at this moment, interested in.

Just as you try to crawl inside the letter recipient’s mind and heart, you want to crawl around in your product or service, too.

List every possible feature and benefit, then organize them by importance.

“People do not buy things for what they are; they buy things for what they do.”

By acknowledging the flaws, you force yourself to address your letter recipient’s questions, objections, and concerns. You also enhance your credibility.

By admitting and openly discussing the drawbacks to your offer, your “credibility stock” goes way up on most of your letter recipients’ charts. This is called “damaging admission copy.”

Look at the flaws and disadvantages of your product, service, business, or proposition as problems and obstacles as building blocks in a believable, interesting, and persuasive message.

Early in the process of putting together your sales letter, think about getting the finished letter into the hands of people who can respond.

Kennedy writes,

In case you had illusions to the contrary, no one is sitting around hoping and praying that he will receive your sales letter. When it arrives, it is most likely an unwelcome pest. How do you earn your welcome as a guest? By immediately saying something that is recognized by the recipient as important and valuable and beneficial.

In case you had illusions to the contrary, no one is sitting around hoping and praying that he will receive your sales letter. When it arrives, it is most likely an unwelcome pest. How do you earn your welcome as a guest? By immediately saying something that is recognized by the recipient as important and valuable and beneficial.

Fill-In-the-Blank Headlines with Examples

One of the simplest ways to strengthen a headline is attaching a “flag.” The Flag is brief, as brief as a single word, stuck on the front of the headline, to reach out and grab the attention of certain specific prospects, by telegraphing that the message is specifically for them. This puts the “who is this for?” ahead of what is being advertised and sold (if you’re writing online, Brian Dean discusses doing this foron-page SEO, by “frontloading” your target keyword at the front of your headline).

Another form of flagging is to focus on the “ill to be cured” or “problem to be solved.” This is usually best done by posing a question, as in these examples

If we were writing a sales letter for an ordinary apple, instead of just saying that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” we might list every vitamin and mineral provided by the apple, then list every health benefit delivered by each of those vitamins and minerals. We might then show the huge bulk of other foods you’d have to consume to get those same nutrients and benefits—all to turn that little apple into a huge “bulk” of benefits and value.

Three Letter Formulas That Let You Transcend Price Questions

Formula #1: Problem Agitation Solution

Kennedy says it may be the most reliable sales formula ever invented.

When using problem, agitate, solution, first, define the customer’sproblemin clear, straightforward terms (saying only enough to elicit agreement). Once the problem is established, clearly and factually, inject emotion andagitatethe problem. Lastly, unveil thesolution, the answer—your product or services and the accompanying benefits.

Kennedy’s sales trainer friend, the famous (late) Cavett Robert, said to sell life insurance or cemetery plots, you have to make your customer see the hearse backed up to the door.

Formula #2: Fortune-telling

We’re fascinated by those who can predict the future.

Formula #3: Winners and Losers

Your copy needs to polarize your audience. Kennedy refers to “The $2 billion dollar sales letter” fromThe Wall Street Journalas a good example of putting the reader in “either/or” camp.

All successful selling is by nature and necessity manipulative and must apply pressure to get decision and action.

How to Motivate Action

Technique #1: Intimidation

i. Limited Number Available

Also known as “Scarcity” (SeeInfluenceby Robert Cialdini)

ii. Most Will Buy

This technique relies on what is sometimes called the “bandwagon effect,” creating the idea that a huge trend has developed, everybody is getting involved, and anyone who passes it up is, quite simply, an idiot.

iii. You Will Buy Only If …

Challenge the reader’s ego and pride.

a. You Can Buy Only If …

Use an “application process” to make people qualify to buy.

b. Only Some Can Qualify …

This appeals to the person’s desire to be part of an elite group, for approval and recognition.

Show the prospect something interesting, appealing, or desirable, then snatch it away and have it play hard to get.

Technique #2: Demonstrate ROI—Sell Money at a Discount

In business-to-business sales letters, it’s very important to talk about, promise, and if possible, demonstrate ROI.

Demonstrating ROI puts you in the position of “selling money at a discount.”

ROI can be presented in terms of dollars to be made or in terms of dollars to be saved.

It sometimes pays to exaggerate our ROI promise, then bring the reader back down with copy like this: … and even if I’m only half right, you’ll still pocket over $ …

Technique #3: Ego Appeals

When a product, a service, an association with a certain company, or any offer is convincingly portrayed as a status symbol, you’ve got the basis of a good sales letter.

Technique #4: Strong Guarantee

i. Basic Money-Back Guarantee

This is the simple, basic approach: “If, for any reason, you are not fully satisfied with your purchase, return it for a full refund.”

You might say “delighted” or “thrilled” or even use fancier language, rather than “satisfied.”

ii. Refund and Keep the Premium

You can strengthen your guarantee by linking it with a premium (free bonus gift).

iii. Redundancy

Be deliberately redundant. Say the same thing twice or even three times! For example: “Receive a full 100 percent refund of every penny you paid.”

a. Free Trial Offer

You can give your guarantee a different twist by presenting it as a free trial offer.

b. Make the Guarantee the Primary Focus of the Offer

You can sometimes increase the effectiveness of your entire sales letter by making the guarantee the featured item.

Technique #5: Be a Storyteller

Study good fiction and fiction writers so you can write good stories and create good storylines for sales letters.

“Who’s going to read all your copy?” Those people most likely to respond.

Write for the buyer, not the non-buyer. Real prospects are hungry for information.

You can divide recipients into two personality extremes: the impulsive and the analytical.

In a sales letter, you can convey your basic sales message and promise:

How to Stimulate Immediate Response

By properly summarizing the offer/promise in your PS, you can inspire the recipient to dig in and read the entire letter, or simply add an extra incentive to respond.

Dan Kennedy’s Copywriting Checklist

This step is the way to be certain you incorporate as many successful strategies, formulas, and techniques as possible in your sales letter.

27 Essential Copy Cosmetic Enhancements

If you can’t romanticize your product or service or its direct benefits, you’ve got to be able to create excitement out of the feelings of owning it or using it, or the enjoyment of the money or time it saves. Find something for the reader to get excited about.

Regardless of who you are addressing your copy to, it is better to err on the side of simplicity.

Other Books by Dan Kennedy

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