If you’re like me, you probably get a massive number of email offers each day. Because of this great growth in the volume of email, you’ll need to find some way to distinguish your email sales message from those of the competition. In order to make your sales letter stand out from all the rest, you have to find a way to offer your customers something a little “extra.”
The best way to do this is to offer your customers some sort of information that they can use. This information should be related to your product or service, but shouldn’t be directly connected to it. For instance, if you are marketing a piece of accounting software, you might want to offer your customers some useful tax tips or money-saving advice.
You could also offer your customers some form of entertainment: amusing stories, “news of the weird,” interesting trivia, or just a good joke (of course, I’d keep it clean!). Any of these will capture your audience’s attention and get them to read your message. Once you have their attention, it will be much easier to get them to read about your offer.
You might even be able to turn a series of sales letters into a “lesson plan” or “mini course” for your clients — most customers won’t mind reading a sales pitch at the end of each of these messages, as long as they are getting something out of the messages — and as long as they aren’t paying to get the information!
Another added benefit to this approach is that it will help build your credibility, especially if you are offering useful advice or information. If you can provide your customers with information that makes their lives easier, they will be grateful to you, and will see you as someone who is worth listening to. Keep giving your customers this kind of service, and they may actually start looking forward to getting your messages — imagine THAT happening with a standard email sales letter!
As email becomes more and more popular, competition for our customers’ valuable time will become keener. One of the best ways to distinguish ourselves from our competitors is to provide information that goes beyond just “the sale.” By going beyond the immediate chance to profit, we can build relationships that can be mutually profitable to all involved for a long time.
Ron Sathoff is a noted speaker and manager of DrNunley’s http://www.InternetWriters.com. He provides copy-writing, marketing, Internet promotion, and help for business speakers. Reach him at ron@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.
