If you catch the attention of the reader in the first paragraph of your sales letter, your reader will most likely read through to the second paragraph.
And if you have convinced him to read on by your first paragraph, the more your second paragraph will be convincing because by now your reader will believe he has a need for your product or service because you’ve suggested that the product that you offer will satisfy a need. Make sense?
The content of your copy must briefly sum up three important aspects: attraction, necessity and urge.
The second paragraph can be called the “psychological paragraph” because it creates a psychological impact on the reader making him-
1. Realize a heretofore unknown need and;
2. Giving him a solution through the product presented and;
3. Urging him to buy.
The writer should remember that the buyer does not buy the commodity or the product, per se; instead, he often buys because of the satisfaction he thinks he can get.
People often buy things because of promises to provide satisfaction. For instance, people are drawn to promises that they can get more money, enjoy better health, protect their families, gain popularity, and have more comfort or leisure. Other things that appeal to people’s need to feel satisfied include keeping up to date with fashion, maintaining or enhancing beauty, going along with trends, and simply satisfying curiosity.
It is therefore important that, aside from creating a strong mental picture of the product, you incorporate this psychological approach. Physical descriptions are also important because they communicate the features of the product that may attract the target market.
In a sales letter, there must be a skillful blending of psychological appeal and the physical description of the product. It is important that the piece communicate the customers’ potential pleasure, satisfaction and advantages when using the product. It is often said that people buy because of emotion and not logic when making the majority of their buying decisions, so use that.
There are of course variations in terms of making a psychological appeal that will depend on the product being introduced. For example, when a product caters to women, an appeal to beauty would be more appropriate than making an appeal to durability or utility.
It is therefore important to know and study the four basic instincts of human beings:
- Appeal to safety – the instinct of self-preservation.
- Appeal to luxury – the instinct of self-indulgence.
- Appeal to economy – the instinct of acquisition.
- Appeal to vanity – the instinct of domination.
Calling on any of these basic human instincts will spark your readers’ interest in the products you offer. Again, for the product to attract a prospect, it should bring about a sense of satisfaction to one of the basic instincts of the target market. The more you use these instincts in your marketing, the better sales and conversions you will see. Capisce?
Warm regards,
