How to Write a Killer Close For Your Advertising

When it comes to direct sales, most people are too afraid to ask for the order. Consequently when Friday comes, their paycheck is small and they go home to skinny kids. You’ve got to be bold enough to ask for the order. In fact, you might be surprised by what you can get, just by asking for it!

The same principle applies in copywriting whenever you write a marketing communication. Most people write weak closes or they don’t even put one in their marketing! And then people wonder why their ads and sales letters didn’t pull!

But – even if you ask for the order, you’ve got to understand exactly the right way to do it for maximum results. First of all, you need to gently ask the reader to act now in the copy … usually two to three times before the main close. You can do that by saying things like, “Why not give it a try?”, “Take advantage of this today!”, “Get in on this before this offer expires.” By doing that, you set-up the reader for the main close.

Then you have your main close, which is put at the end of your marketing message. This is the part of your advertising message where you explain in step-by-step detail, how to order and what to expect as you go through the order process. You must make this simple enough for a kid to understand.

People like to procrastinate on making decisions and it’s at this crucial point that you don’t want the close to give them an excuse to procrastinate. If they’re going to call their order in, tell them what to expect when they call. Tell them that if they get a busy number that they should be patient and call again.

If they’re to order online, tell them the process that’ll take place. Tell them that your website is completely safe to order on, if it is. And make doubly sure the order page appearance is congruent with the previous page. And if you’re using a sales letter to generate sales, ask for the order in the P.S. as well. In an email or online sales letter, insert several order links.

– Mike