How to Write an Effective Sales Letter

A sales letter is a form of mail sent by an advertiser to a potential customer, persuading him to purchase a specific product or service. These letters are predominantly in textual form and sell a specific product or product line in the absence of a salesman. As the entire world is going global, sales letters have become powerful tools of product marketing.

As you seek the right words and right tone desperately, writing these letters may seem a tedious task at first, however, it will come to you naturally as you progress. Once you have identified your target audience and have a proper marketing plan in place, you can start the proceedings with a sales letter.

Ideally, the sales letter should be conversational and personalized. You should use the same tone that you would use when talking to the person. A single letter can't address the problems of all the customers, and hence, you have to take their individual preferences into consideration when writing it.

As a sales letter is an attribute of persuasive writing, it is better to address the concerned person by his/her name, rather than using 'to whomsoever it may concern'.

It is better to get to the point right from the word go as beating around the bush will increase your chances of losing the reader. Making a point in the first few sentences will work in your favor as the reader will be glued to your letter.

Make sure that your letter is simplified. Though the use of technical words is permitted, you may have to explain them to the customer in a concise manner.

It is better to stress on the benefits the customer will get rather than on the features of your product. In order to know the product features, the customer can get them in your product manual as well, but the fact that he is going through the sales letter means he is looking for the benefits he will avail if he opts for your product.

Additionally, you will also have to format the letter to make it more appealing. Make sure that the paragraphs are short and have enough spacing between them. Use of bullets and numbers can give the letter the look necessary to capture the reader's attention. More importantly, you should keep the letter short, ideally, a single page will be enough.

You can include a guarantee, no-risk offer or testimonials in the sales letter. This will boost the credibility of the product and eventually boost your relationship with the customer. Including a business reply card in the letter sent by mail service (or a web link in a letter sent by an email) can increase your chances of getting an inquiry.

In quite a few cases, a sales letter is actually the last step of the sales process. However, that doesn't mean it is less important. In fact, it is treated as the last chance to make a mark on the customer's mind. Over the years, Internet technology has witnessed tremendous progress thereby making sales letters an integral part of digital marketing.