Why Salesletters Don’t Always Work
By Anna Johnson on July 21st, 2009If you sell information products in certain niches such as the Internet marketing niche, business opportunity niche, stock trading niche, or weight loss niche (to name a few), you could be forgiven for thinking that the most effective type of website for maximizing conversions is one consisting of a long-copy salesletter.
But while a salesletter-style-website (whether including videos, optin forms or other bells and whistles) may be optimal for selling info products, it is NOT by any means ideal for selling a variety of other products and services.
If, for example, you run an online store selling tangible items, e.g. homewares, furniture, cars, houses, etc. you would be much, much better off having a website that displays lots of photos of those tangible things.
It’s obvious, right – if people are going to buy based on what something looks like, you want to show them what that thing looks like, don’t you?
Here’s another example: hotel rooms. Do you think a salesletter – as beautifully written and compelling as it might be – can really beat a virtual tour of the hotel’s rooms and other features?
Sure, a well-written salesletter may beat a poorly done virtual tour (which might actually kill the sale!), but a great virtual tour is sure to beat a great salesletter any day.
Need convincing? Check out this website and tell me whether you think a salesletter could top the audio-visual experience offered here: http://www.seven4one.com/
What about an online service such as a search engine? That’s right, Google or Bing or Yahoo. Do you think they would attract so many users if people had to wade through a sales letter before being able to perform a search?
And I could give you tons more examples. Salesletters are NOT always the best way to position, sell or give something away.
I press the point because occasionally I see new Internet marketers drink the ‘Internet marketing niche Kool-Aid’ and assume they need a long-copy salesletter for everything.
I also see Internet marketing ‘gurus’ espouse the merits of salesletters without acknowledging that they may be inappropriate for all kinds of products and services.
Maybe that’s because such ‘gurus’ have only ever sold Internet marketing info- products via salesletters! Which is all the more reason to keep their advice (however good it may be) in perspective…
Salesletters were (and are) a solution to a problem that doesn’t always exist: the need for a detailed, written explanation of the merits of a given product or service.
Salesletters were invented to be the proverbial ‘salesperson in print’ who could explain – and sell – the benefits of products and services that could not be explained in person (becausee it was impractical or non-cost-effective) and were otherwise HARD to convey or HARD for people to instantly appreciate.
That’s essentially why salesletters are ideal for intangible products such as information products, and other products and services whose benefits are intangible.
But you don’t need to explain and persuade someone about the benefits of using a search engine if you can let them use it and experience the benefits straight away.
And photos and virtual tours can convey the look of furniture, hotel rooms and houses much better than mere words.
So if something is likely to work better than a salesletter, use that instead!
Of course, just becaues you choose not to use a long-copy salesletter doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about writing (or hiring someone to write) good copy.
Good copy is essential even for websites that don’t display a single word of text (if there are any such sites) – just ask anyone who writes TV ads, radio ads or infomercials. And for websites using just small amounts of copy – e.g. online stores – knowing which words to use is as important as ever.
The bottom line is, however, that you need to think about your prospects’ expectations, needs and wants before assuming you know how to best present your offer, product or service.
Then, and only then, is it time to construct an appropriate online communications approach, including how you present your offer on your website, and whether that involves a salesletter or otherwise.
July 22nd, 2009 at 5:21 am
Nice post from what I read. As a customer myself, I really get annoyed if I have to go over a very lengthy sales letter. It is so tiresome most of the time. I sometimes just click away when I just can’t get an overview of the product or service I would like to purchase. I think it is just better if salesletters will just give what is in the product or service briefly and let the customer decide if it is for them. I truly believe that the right products will always sell themselves so there should be no use of trying to convince the customer to buy the product or service. I have experienced most of the time that sales letters are somehow exaggerated.
I am just sharing my own opinion here. Hope to hear from others on what they think too.