You can have the greatest product in the world, but if the sales letter doesn’t resonate with the audience, then you’re toast.
So that’s why this question about improving a sales letter conversion rate is such a good one.
So here’s what you do: ask yourself the following questions to help trouble shoot the problem…
Did you profile your audience first?
The more you know about your audience, the better able you’ll be to craft a letter that really connects with them.
That’s why you’ll want to find out as much as you can about their demographics, as well as the way they think and feel. Two ways to do this:
- Survey them. You might also do some research to see if others have done this research for you in your niche.
- Spend time with them. In other words, become part of your target market in order to truly understand them.
Next question…
Do you plan to track, test and tweak?
It doesn’t do much good to try to improve your conversion rate if you’re not actually carefully testing to see what works.
So get your hands on a good testing tool, such as Piwik.org (free alternative to Google Analytics), or SplitTestMonkey.com.
Does your page look crisp and professional?
If your page doesn’t inspire confidence, you’re unlikely to have a good conversion rate. If you can’t create a professional design, then hire someone who can.
Is your biggest benefit in the headline?
You need to grab your readers straight away, which is why you should put your biggest benefit or two right in your headline. Bonus points if you can arouse curiosity.
For example: “You’re about to discover the #1 way to get rid of belly fat – you’ll wonder why you didn’t hear about this surprising secret years ago!”
Do you create an emotional pull in the opener?
Your headline hooks ‘em and pulls them into your copy, and then your opener needs to hold their attention. You can do this by emotionally engaging the reader.
Here are two ways:
- Tell a story about how someone like the reader overcame their same problem.
- Tap into your reader’s pain by directly addressing their problems and the frustration they cause.
Next…
Do you showcase your benefits in a bulleted list?
Remember that some of your readers are skimmers, so they’re not going to read every last word of your sales letter.
That’s why you need to showcase your benefits in an eye-catching, easy-to-read bulleted list.
Do you offer proof of your claims?
Guess what?
Readers want to believe you, but they’ve been burned too many times before. That’s why you’ll want to offer proof such as:
- Testimonials
- Case studies
- Pictures
- Screenshots
- Videos
And anything else that will help prove that what you say is true.
Do you handle objections?
Many people have a reason why they don’t want to buy your product. Your job is to raise and then handle (justify or explain) these objections. Common objections include:
- It’s too expensive, I can’t afford it.
- It’s too cheap, it must be junk.
- I don’t need it right now.
- It probably won’t work for me.
Of course there are other objections that may be specific to your type of product.
For example, most people might assume that diet recipes won’t taste good. You need to raise and handle this objection to let prospects know the recipes are so delicious the entire family will love them.
Do you offer a strong call to action?
This is where you specifically tell people to order(and how to do it). Ideally, you should create a sense of urgency so that they order now.
For example: Take out your credit card and click the payment button below to get started – and do it now while you can still claim the 50% discount!
Next…
Do you include a postscript?
This is one of the most-read parts of a sales letter, which is why it’s so important to include.
Your postscript can reiterate a main benefit along with a call to action, or even offer additional testimonials along with a call to action.