B-to-B Insights: How to Succeed in Sales Letters
Follow in the footsteps of direct mail’s “grand masters”
December 2007 By Russell Kern
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As a columnist, my job, more or less, is to let you pick my brain every other month. And while I’m more than happy to oblige, I do think a bit of full disclosure is in order.
Frankly, much of what currently resides in my brain—or at least much of the stuff that relates to direct marketing—has been shamelessly picked from the brains of others—from John Caples’, from Victor Schwab’s, from Stan Rapp’s and many, many others.
Over the years, a healthy percentage of my spare time has been spent reading the writings of direct mail’s “grand masters.” Then reading them again. And in some cases, yet again.
Why do I do this? After all, this is the digital age, right? What can a bunch of stiffs who composed sales letters on typewriters teach us about the techniques of motivating human behavior in the era of e-mail?
Plenty.
Deleted or Tossed: Either Way, It Didn’t Sell
In case you were in any doubt, e-mail has not replaced the printed sales letter. Never will. And what is an e-mail anyway, but a digital sales letter? Both vehicles employ words to engage, persuade and motivate. Both struggle to attract the attention of customers who are inundated with incoming sales messages of one kind or another. Both represent the front end of the sales process.
But perhaps the most salient thing print and digital messages have in common is this: Unless they’re written the way they ought to be, they’re both destined for the trash—whether it’s that little on-screen icon or the basket under the prospect’s desk.
To prevent this from happening to your communications, you might want to flip through “2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success,” in which Malcolm Decker reveals what goes through his head when he writes a sales letter: “I develop as clear a profile of my prospect as the research offers, and then match it up with someone I know and ‘put him in a chair’ across from me. Then I write to him conversationally.”
Or you could pick up “Winning Direct Response Advertising” and soak up some of Joan Throckmorton’s approach: “… think about starting a dialogue with the person who embodies your prime market’s characteristics. How would you break the ice? What’s your proposition to start a new relationship? How do you intend to get the prospect interested? What’s the first sentence lead-in?” Throckmorton’s book describes 12 possible approaches to get your letters off and running. These range from the “Invitational” approach, (e.g., “You’ve been officially invited to an exclusive preview of Acme’s new ABC”) to the “Intriguing Story” approach (e.g., “She hoisted herself up noiselessly so as not to disturb the rattlesnakes snoozing there in the sun”).
In case you’re wondering, that last example was lifted from a solicitation to subscribe to Science magazine. I have no idea how many subscriptions it sold, but I doubt many recipients stopped reading after that first sentence!
Throckmorton and Decker would agree that great letter writers have a flair for dramatic effect, along with a sense of rhythm, timing and, where necessary, even humor.
How Much Is Enough?
I’m often asked at the office and at seminars, “How long should letters be?” And, “Do people still read long copy in our digital age?” The answer is deceptively simple. A letter should go on for exactly as long as it takes to tell the story effectively and persuade the reader to take action. No more. No less. This, of course, is easy to talk about but very hard to write.
David Ogilvy used a simple technique to gauge the readability of a letter. He’d give it to a stranger, ask her to read it and then carefully watch her eyes. If they stopped moving in the middle of his letter, he knew he had a copy problem—right there—that demanded fixing before anything went off to the printer.
For help in fixing his letter, Ogilvy, were he alive today, might sit down at his computer, go to www.sigsmarket ingsecrets.com and happily shell out $39 for “Sig Rosenblum’s Marketing Success Secrets,” Robert Bly’s terrific new e-book detailing the wisdom of a real direct marketing genius. The first chapter of this treasure trove reveals “10 Secrets of Better Sales Letters.” I’d love to let you in on 10 of ’em right here in this column, but then I’d be in hot water with Bly, Rosenblum and their publisher.
So, with permission, here’s a brief sampling of Rosenblum’s insights:
“Hop the fence. … Your letter should be built around the needs, fears, desires, profit and happiness of readers … They are interested in themselves, their problems, their opportunities, their comfort. They are not interested primarily in you and your product. The only reason customers buy anything is to help themselves. Be on their side.”
“Don’t waste words. This doesn’t mean terse, clipped, stingy writing without the transitions that give grace and style. But use your blue pencil on sentences filled with fat and bloated with bombast. ... lean writing moves people to action.”
“Be specific. If your new screwdriver works faster, tell the folks how much faster. Tell them the number of additional screws they can drive. What will they save in dollars and cents? Or time? If you use flabby, fuzzy claims such as ‘very fast’ and ‘improved performance,’ a snicker of skepticism will cross the reader’s mind.”
“Be believable. It is not enough for your sales letter to be true. It must sound true, too. … There are many ways to do it. Use testimonials that ring true. Develop solid facts and figures that build your case point by point.”
“Watch your windups. Most sales letters are improved by deleting the first sentence. We call this sentence a windup because it lets the writer ‘get into’ his subject. But if you don’t immediately arrest a reader’s interest, she will not get into the subject, and into the wastebasket will go you and your message.”
I Get the Last Word. (Hey, I’m the Columnist)
The sales letter, whether it’s tucked inside a direct mail package or called up on a computer screen, constitutes the core element of successful direct response. The words it contains frequently are the first ones a prospect will see from your company or client. Its success or failure could determine your own. Considering what’s at stake, I’d want all the help I could get.
Wouldn’t you?
Russell Kern is president of The Kern Organization, a fully integrated offline and online direct marketing agency in Woodland Hills, Calif., and is the author of “S.U.R.E.-Fire Direct Response Marketing” (McGraw-Hill, 2001). He can be reached at (818) 703-8775 or via e-mail at russell@thekernorg.com.
Frankly, much of what currently resides in my brain—or at least much of the stuff that relates to direct marketing—has been shamelessly picked from the brains of others—from John Caples’, from Victor Schwab’s, from Stan Rapp’s and many, many others.
Over the years, a healthy percentage of my spare time has been spent reading the writings of direct mail’s “grand masters.” Then reading them again. And in some cases, yet again.
Why do I do this? After all, this is the digital age, right? What can a bunch of stiffs who composed sales letters on typewriters teach us about the techniques of motivating human behavior in the era of e-mail?
Plenty.
Deleted or Tossed: Either Way, It Didn’t Sell
In case you were in any doubt, e-mail has not replaced the printed sales letter. Never will. And what is an e-mail anyway, but a digital sales letter? Both vehicles employ words to engage, persuade and motivate. Both struggle to attract the attention of customers who are inundated with incoming sales messages of one kind or another. Both represent the front end of the sales process.
But perhaps the most salient thing print and digital messages have in common is this: Unless they’re written the way they ought to be, they’re both destined for the trash—whether it’s that little on-screen icon or the basket under the prospect’s desk.
To prevent this from happening to your communications, you might want to flip through “2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success,” in which Malcolm Decker reveals what goes through his head when he writes a sales letter: “I develop as clear a profile of my prospect as the research offers, and then match it up with someone I know and ‘put him in a chair’ across from me. Then I write to him conversationally.”
Or you could pick up “Winning Direct Response Advertising” and soak up some of Joan Throckmorton’s approach: “… think about starting a dialogue with the person who embodies your prime market’s characteristics. How would you break the ice? What’s your proposition to start a new relationship? How do you intend to get the prospect interested? What’s the first sentence lead-in?” Throckmorton’s book describes 12 possible approaches to get your letters off and running. These range from the “Invitational” approach, (e.g., “You’ve been officially invited to an exclusive preview of Acme’s new ABC”) to the “Intriguing Story” approach (e.g., “She hoisted herself up noiselessly so as not to disturb the rattlesnakes snoozing there in the sun”).
In case you’re wondering, that last example was lifted from a solicitation to subscribe to Science magazine. I have no idea how many subscriptions it sold, but I doubt many recipients stopped reading after that first sentence!
Throckmorton and Decker would agree that great letter writers have a flair for dramatic effect, along with a sense of rhythm, timing and, where necessary, even humor.
How Much Is Enough?
I’m often asked at the office and at seminars, “How long should letters be?” And, “Do people still read long copy in our digital age?” The answer is deceptively simple. A letter should go on for exactly as long as it takes to tell the story effectively and persuade the reader to take action. No more. No less. This, of course, is easy to talk about but very hard to write.
David Ogilvy used a simple technique to gauge the readability of a letter. He’d give it to a stranger, ask her to read it and then carefully watch her eyes. If they stopped moving in the middle of his letter, he knew he had a copy problem—right there—that demanded fixing before anything went off to the printer.
For help in fixing his letter, Ogilvy, were he alive today, might sit down at his computer, go to www.sigsmarket ingsecrets.com and happily shell out $39 for “Sig Rosenblum’s Marketing Success Secrets,” Robert Bly’s terrific new e-book detailing the wisdom of a real direct marketing genius. The first chapter of this treasure trove reveals “10 Secrets of Better Sales Letters.” I’d love to let you in on 10 of ’em right here in this column, but then I’d be in hot water with Bly, Rosenblum and their publisher.
So, with permission, here’s a brief sampling of Rosenblum’s insights:
“Hop the fence. … Your letter should be built around the needs, fears, desires, profit and happiness of readers … They are interested in themselves, their problems, their opportunities, their comfort. They are not interested primarily in you and your product. The only reason customers buy anything is to help themselves. Be on their side.”
“Don’t waste words. This doesn’t mean terse, clipped, stingy writing without the transitions that give grace and style. But use your blue pencil on sentences filled with fat and bloated with bombast. ... lean writing moves people to action.”
“Be specific. If your new screwdriver works faster, tell the folks how much faster. Tell them the number of additional screws they can drive. What will they save in dollars and cents? Or time? If you use flabby, fuzzy claims such as ‘very fast’ and ‘improved performance,’ a snicker of skepticism will cross the reader’s mind.”
“Be believable. It is not enough for your sales letter to be true. It must sound true, too. … There are many ways to do it. Use testimonials that ring true. Develop solid facts and figures that build your case point by point.”
“Watch your windups. Most sales letters are improved by deleting the first sentence. We call this sentence a windup because it lets the writer ‘get into’ his subject. But if you don’t immediately arrest a reader’s interest, she will not get into the subject, and into the wastebasket will go you and your message.”
I Get the Last Word. (Hey, I’m the Columnist)
The sales letter, whether it’s tucked inside a direct mail package or called up on a computer screen, constitutes the core element of successful direct response. The words it contains frequently are the first ones a prospect will see from your company or client. Its success or failure could determine your own. Considering what’s at stake, I’d want all the help I could get.
Wouldn’t you?
Russell Kern is president of The Kern Organization, a fully integrated offline and online direct marketing agency in Woodland Hills, Calif., and is the author of “S.U.R.E.-Fire Direct Response Marketing” (McGraw-Hill, 2001). He can be reached at (818) 703-8775 or via e-mail at russell@thekernorg.com.
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