As will become obvious very shortly, I'm quite new to the copywriting world. I've been finding the sales letter a fascinating object of study--just a collection of words on paper (or screen), but what potential power.

I've read all about the physical elements that make up a sales letter: headline, greeting, benefits & features, the copy itself (long vs. short), the PS, and so on.

Now I'm wondering this: What drives the need for a sales letter in the first place?

Not all direct-mail marketing campaigns use them. Not all Web sales sites use them. At some point, somebody (who?) decides that the targeted pitch of a sales letter is the best way to sell a certain product. (Any in particular? Any completely off-limits?)

Can you guys describe what determines if and when this happens? (The "who" question is also a big one.)

Please forgive my ignorance. In my mind, this early-stage process is a big blank. Details would be tremendously helpful.

Thanks for the help,
Virginia

Virginia,

I think there are at least two very good reasons for this format:

1.) Every person alive loves the sight and sound of his or her name and is why every sales letter should be addressed and saluted to the recipient. This draws the reader in to the first line of your letter which of course is the most important and better lead them to the second and so on.

2.) The letter (at $.41 plus design and printing) is still the cheapest way (besides emails) to get in front of someones eyes, no matter how important they are. It's hard to screen a personalized letter, so a lot more letters reach the recipient compared to similarly priced mediums.

And they still work very well. So I think a short answer to your questions would simply be ROI(return on investment); 'best bang for the buck'.

Michael

Virginia,

Think "salesperson".

The sales letter is the salesperson of a package or website. Not all selling situations need a salesperson. But when they do, there is no substitute for a well informed sales person to educate, persuade, and close.

A sales letter pretty much performs like the old door-to-door salesman. Only multiplied by 100,000 times. Or millions of times.

Of course, the same applies to the various long form formats - Magalogs, infomercials, online video is an up and comer.

If you're 3000 miles away, you might have a question. But you can't (or won't) call them up and ask them about it. If you put the salesletter down, the chances are very high that you won't order.

A well-crafted long copy salesletter is designed to answer all anticipated questions and overcome objections much like the salesperson does. So from that perspective, Trebor is correct.

This is why pitching your product in person before you even sit down to put pen to paper is important, because in order to anticipate those questions and objections, you have to know what they are first!

John

Thank you guys very much.

This may sound really silly and basic to you, but where I come from words are used in an entirely different way. Your work is interesting to me. Basically what I'm wondering is why do you do things this way, and not another?

A question common both to the ignorant and the unremittingly stupid. Let me think a while on my follow-up. I don't mind belonging to the first category but try hard to stay out of the latter.

for a salesletter.

Direct response companies have two basic ways of product "discovery"...one is that they find a so-called starving market...and this more often than not is found through the LISTS available in the SRDS.

A marketer can identify a HOT list, and then try to create or acquire a product for this list.

Now the list may have been generated by a full page ad, and in this case, maybe a letter wouldn't work, or may not be cost effective. So, the Creative Director, or the person with that hat on at that time...makes the call.

So, what may happen is the copy is assigned either in house or to a freelancer who will write the promotion as the product is being sourced or tested in one of several ways...to see if the demand really exists, or is it some sort of a fluke (Fluke?...think pet rock or fad thingy).

One way of testing and one of the more successful ways, is to use Focus Study groups...but the best marketers use a "Real Life Simulation"...and here is how that works.

People are invited (maybe through ads, telephone calls, referrals, or customer lists) to attend a Focus Study. They will be PAID for their attendance. Say they get 100 dollars for the 3 hour study.

They could be presented with 12 different products, most often similar ones, the last Real Life Simulation I attended was for jewelry, and all 12 items were jewelry items in a price range from 19.95 to 99.95.

In this example, the products were there, to be looked at, held, examined and then rated as to which ones had the most appeal.

Once all the products were RATED, then the participants were given the opportunity to PURCHASE any of the items of their choice for a serious discount, 50 to 75% or more.

See, by giving them the chance to spend the money you give them, they will be more honest in their appraisals. Maybe, everyone picked the blue star necklace, but 80% bought the red ruby slippers...so, the RLS says that the red ruby slippers are a hot product.

After furthing testing, perhaps the Ruby Slippers are a favorite of several groups.

Now the buyer goes to work sourcing the product. Perhaps she can get them cheap from China, but they have lead paint in them...or source them in Kansas, where a well known manufacturer that specializes in Ruby Slippers can cut a good deal.

As the buyer is sourcing, the Creative Director has assigned someone to gather up a "family" of products...and these too will be run through the RLS, or not, maybe a phone call to the previous participants will work.

So, Smart Marketer Inc., has a product, Ruby Slippers, a mathching Gucci-like handbag, a bracelet, necklace, ear rings, belly button ring, etc. And maybe a line of "YOU AIN'T IN KANSAS Toto perfume" to complete the ensemble.

Then the search for a list begins. Is there one in the SRDS of people who have purchased designer like shoes recently. How many pairs did they buy? Where did the list come from, was it generated by full page ads? Direct letters? AH HA.

So, there were 782,000 people who purchased slippers and jewelry from someone in the last few months and they bought via a "sheet catalog"...this is one of those OTHER type promotions you mentioned.

Maybe the Creative Director will test a sales letter. Probably will test several things...in small 2 to 3,000 tests.

If the SALES LETTER pulls enough, then another, larger test is done. Then the decision is made...usually by the person wearing the CREATIVE DIRECTOR or some similar title, will make the call.

Let's roll out with a sales letter because we've tested it can sell more products and back ends, and upsells and cross sells than the catalog can do.

That is WHO usually makes that call.

Since this got kind of long, I'll post the second part or product "DISCOVERY" in a new post, OK?

gjabiz

Virginia,

In other RLS groups, there will NOT be a product, but rather 12 different promotions. Some of them letters, some flyers, some catalogs, some full page ads.

The participants rate the products based on the PROMOTIONS, see? And they too get to put their money where their mouth is...and so it is a very cost effective way to determine which products and WHICH TYPE OF PROMOTION to use.

Run these 12 items through several days of RLS, and then they can be rated...and if one or two items get rated higher when a sales letter is used as opposed to a flyer or full page ad...then the tests would indicate a sales letter might work best.

Again, the Creative Director will probably want to test a couple of different ways, to see if the focus study is valid.

Also, by using PROMOTIONS, you get a feel for the SALESMANSHIP needed to make a sale, which products are outright winners...and usually about 1 in 7 or 8 products selected from the RLS become real winners that produce hundreds of thousands of dollars of profit.

But it all must be tested. Some products are just naturally better fits for other media...a radio personality has a following, and their endorsement goes a long way...maybe just to get the listener to go to a web site...

Then all kinds of media dynamics come into play...

But regarding the sales letter and when it is used and WHO makes the call...it is usually (but not always) done after signifcant testing occurs.

Unless the Copywriter is the person who brought the product to the company, her part may be over with the tests, or she may be invited to write the letter, the full page ad, etc. So she could get paid just for the original promotion at a flat rate, or she could negotiate a % deal on sales of the products.

My experience is that once a product gets a high rating on the RLS, then a specialist copywriter would be contacted. If it is jewelry, then someone with jewelry experience. Supplements? Same thing, someone with experience and a track record in that field.

As to WHO actually makes the call for the Sales Letter...it is MY opinion that the market dictates the type of promotion to use...but I could be wrong.

gjabiz

Holy moly!!!! I'll be chewing on that for a while to come. What a huge help, gjabiz.

What's clear here is why you guys keep saying that being a good writer is not enough to be a good copywriter. Sounds like an engineering degree wouldn't hurt.

Virginia,

It does sound and can get complicated in bigger companies.

However, Mom and Pop are alive and well in America today. Smaller companies won't go through all that...they want the bottom line...to INCREASE.

YOU (copywriter), as a profit finding partner will help them INCREASE their bottom line through the power of your words.

Being a good writer is a good start. YOU have that already.

So, I'm a minimalist...

RUNS GOOD $1500.00 Call 789-123-4567

Parked at the supermarket for half an hour and I made a sale.

That APPEALED to a certain person. The call went something like this:

HIM: Will you take a 1000.00?
ME: No, 1500 is my bottom.
HIM: OK, where can I meet you.
ME: I'm checking out now, see you in 5 minutes.

Now the magic for me is how quickly I can get to that BUY button.

If "Wanna Buy?" works...then I'm done speaking or writing. This works around the world, if you've ever been to a market or bazaar or swap meet.

Sometimes a picture and a price is all you need for any GIVEN ITEM...but if you have tons of the same thing...then you may need tons more writing.

It does help to understand human behavior, salesmanship, buying motives, etc. SOMETIMES.

Sometimes it is "OH my god where have you been?" sort of a thing. I recently bought a can opener with such an exclamation...and my decrepit old arthritic hands practically shouted that "where have you been"...at this attach and push a button MIRACLE.

10 pages of world class copy wouldn't do much to help can opener sales...but one DEMO, that shows how it works...was all I needed. (Brought several for friends and family).

Virginia and others new to the copy world, don't let it seem like a mountain...always reduce it to the lowest common denominators (and I was terrible at that stuff)...

You have something to sell.

TELL the person most likely to want it ALL about it and make it easy for her to get it NOW.

That's the short and probably just as accurate version of copywriting.

gjabiz

PS. Engineering might help, but Quantum Physics would be much better to understand copywriting...HA!

Quantum physics, right on. There's a hell of a lot more here than meets the naked eye. A science and an art.

Your formula is very useful. I had begun to ask about its application to open-ended "blind" marketing, such as happens on the Web, when you have no idea who or where your message might reach. But the answer there is the same. A good marketer has ways to drive those likely buyers to his site, and there's the pitch ready and waiting.

The way you do the telling, that's the kicker. You can tell someone all about something he's always wanted, show him a clear path to your door, and still send him running for the hills. Engagement of your reader is key, and there again I see why you'd better know your market. (Where's the "Ah so, grasshopper" emoticon when you need it?)

Okay. More to digest.