It may seem like the very last piece of the puzzle…but a thorough review of your sales copy – before your prospects see it – is a critical step.
No matter if you paid an experienced copywriter to craft your message or if you’ve done the work yourself…it’s still vitally important to evaluate your copy to make sure it’s as strong as possible before you invest in a print or e-mail campaign.
When evaluating sales copy for any product, it’s important to focus on three critical elements.
Critical Element #1: The Big Idea — First…what is the “big idea” behind your promotion? Is it clear to the reader? And is it powerful enough?
If you’re reviewing someone else’s work, this is easy to evaluate – simply clear your mind and read the first page of copy. Once you’ve finished that first page, stop reading and then see if you can summarize the big idea based on what you’ve read.
If you can’t do this easily…the copy isn’t clear enough.
And even if you can summarize the big idea – you must make sure it’s strong enough.
This is where an analysis of your competition comes into play.
Compare the big idea with others that you’ve seen for similar products – and evaluate it honestly. Does it stand up? Is the “big idea” in your promotion more compelling than the others? Because it needs to be.
Remember – you only have a few seconds to convince your reader not to throw away your letter or hit the “delete” key on the keyboard. And the only sure way to grab the reader’s attention – every time – is with a powerful idea conveyed in very clear language.
Critical Element #2: Credibility — The second element you should evaluate is the credibility of your sales letter. In other words…does your letter have a strong foundation of support?
In the case of nutritional supplement marketing, this is fairly straightforward, as consumers are used to seeing evidence in the form of clinical trials and doctor’s recommendations.
Does your letter include enough of this kind of evidence to convince the reader that your message is to be believed?
And when evaluating the support you’ve included, ask yourself: Is it specific enough? The more specific the evidence, the better – especially when dealing with products marketed to a specific niche.
Which do you find more credible – a claim that “most doctors agree” on a product’s effectiveness…or a study showing that 94 out of 100 doctors surveyed found that a product boosted results by 20% or more?
Critical Element #3: The Offer — The third element to evaluate in your sales letter is often the most overlooked: the offer. A good deal of time and energy is spent – and rightfully so – on the headline and “big idea” with a sales letter…but you also must remember that you’re asking the reader to make a purchase.
And the only way the reader will be able to make that purchase is if the offer is clear…simple to understand…and compelling.
Far too often, I’ve seen powerful sales messages crumble near the end of a letter when a complicated offer is presented to the customer. Remember – you’re asking for the reader to make a financial commitment…so you need to make the process of placing an order as simple as possible.
Jody Madron is a results-oriented copywriter with more than 20 years of breakthrough marketing experience. To learn how Jody can deliver results-boosting copy — ahead of your deadline — visit www.MadronMarketing.com.
