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Should You Use a Long Or Short Sales Letter?

Author: Charlie Cook   |   March 6th, 2006

“I hate long sales letters. Why don’t you just tell me the price so I can decide whether I can afford it.”
– Sheryl, Long Beach CA

How do you know which to use, a short succinct sales letter or a long one? The answer is without testing you don’t. The only way to really know which type of sales letter works best is to test multiple versions. But keep in mind the following…

Price by itself can be a scary thing. $100 may sound like a lot to your prospect when they don’t know what they are going to get for their money. On the other hand if they fully understand the value of your product or service and all the extras you provide at no cost, $100 may be an incredible bargain.

Present price without the context of value and it will be deterrent. Present it in the context of the value provided and it can be a compelling reason to buy.

Your sales letter needs to:
– Help your prospects understand how your product or service will help them,
– Why they should trust you,
– What the value of your offer is in terms they understand,
and
– Why they need to act now.

It needs to convince them they can’t live without your product or service.

If you can do all of the above in a few words, great. Generally you’ll need 4-10 pages which is why on average long sales letters work better than short.
– Charlie Cook

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