Layout is everything - if your sales letter looks good, so does your business
Seeing how professional copywriters and designers set out their sales letters is something that's well worth examining. What kind of typeface, layout, etc connects with you best? Which businesses look most approachable - and why?
You'll often find just one or two typefaces are used - probably Arial or Times New Roman. Ariel for the more informal letters, Times when you want to be more formal.
You'll see bold headlines and sub-headings, and often a subtle use of coloured text (subtle being the operative word).
Good sales letters aren't cluttered or crammed into a small space either. They're easy to read and easy to grasp the main benefits. Above all, they LOOK GOOD.
Curious fonts, brash colour, over-use of emphases...
As a copywriter, I get sent loads of sales letters to evaluate (see my free evaluation service). Some are fine but others are really curious - they simply don't look professional.
If you want your business to be perceived as being professional - an organisation your target market can trust and which they will feel comfortable spending money with - you need to LOOK professional.
And you can look professional without spending a fortune - without spending anything in many cases.
First, choose a common font - Arial or Times New Roman. Stick to a readable font size of, say, 14 for the main headline, 11 for the sub-headings and 10 for the main text (based on Arial). Keep some of the good sales letters that come through your door and be inspired by the way they do things.
Create a professional-looking letterhead that looks as if it could have been printed or produced professionally (or pay for someone to design one for you). Again, take a look at what other people are doing and adapt your own ideas accordingly (without copying of course!)
Avoid too much use of emphases like underlines, bolds and exclamation marks - or brash colour. Too much emphasis emphasizes nothing and it's so 1970s American hard-sell. It's not a good look.
When you've finished, stand back and look at your letter. Does it look balanced? Or does it look top-heavy? Are the paragraphs short and easily digestible - or does it look more like a stodgy academic thesis? Would YOU bother to read it?
Dear sir or madam...
I'm forever commenting on the way people head-up and sign off their sales letters.
If at all possible, please ALWAYS personalise your letter - never use "Dear sir or madam". Okay, it sounds nice and formal (if that's the way you want to approach people) but it also says you haven't taken the time to find out a contact name.
And sign it off at the end in a friendly, approachable way: "John Brown", not "Mr J Brown".
Every element in your sales letter should make you look like a professional, approachable, modern business - not just the tone of voice, but the layout too.
This is one of the reasons I always like to see a sample of your letterhead before I go ahead with a sales letter - and, if possible, the end result before it gets sent out to the customer.
Recent case study...
Call me a busy-body, but the other week a client asked me to write a sales letter directing people to his website.
I could simply have written the sales letter and left it at that. But I felt the website could be strengthened with a better choice of font and a tighter design. I didn't want people to arrive there, as a result of the sales letter, only to back-click without taking action.
I offered stacks of advice, at no extra cost, which he took on board. So now when people respond to his sales letter and visit the website, he's much more likely to make a sale.
Here's another service I was able to offer him... He was sending out a free promotional item with his sales letter. Feeling sure it would benefit from being professionally designed, I introduced him to a graphic design colleague who came up with a superb low cost design!
End result? Great sales letter, great promotional item and great website!
His comment?
"I can't thank you enough for your help, over the moon with the results... you and your designer's work has lifted this [sales letter, give-away and website combination] to a new level... I will speak to you soon, thanks again."