Internet Sales Letter and Marketing Techniques
Using an Online Sales Page to Generate Repeat Sales through a List
Sep 8, 2009
This article is designed to help budding web entrepreneurs get the word out about their product, and then benefit from the sales process:
- Obtaining the customer;
- Satisfying the customer;
- Establishing an ongoing relationship.
Sales is not a dirty word, and nor is marketing. They have perhaps had some bad press due to the proliferation of internet marketing scams, but marketing and sales remains the lifeblood of any enterprise.
Web business is no different in that respect, except that the new media allows the marketer to follow a process that, while sharing a lot in common with traditional marketing, nonetheless has some unique aspects.
The Components of the Marketing Process
This is a much simplified breakdown of the components present in a typical series of online sales steps:
- The (Free) Offer
- The Testimonials and/or Features
- The Promise
- The Squeeze Page
- The Post-Signup Process
The first three are contained on one page, often called the Sales Letter. It is capitalized here because it is important. Following the initial Sales Letter, there is the equally important Squeeze Page, or even Pages.
Once the customer has entered into the sales process, through giving their email address in order to receive the (possibly free) offer, they enter the post-signup, or list membership part of the process. This is where the money is made.
The (Free) Offer
This is exactly what it says it is. It should also be the first thing that the visitor (potential customer) sees. The headline is the thing that draws them into the rest of the Sales Letter, and that headline has to reflect the (free) offer.
There is a whole debate as to whether a free offer is as serious as a low priced alternative, and in the end it is up to the marketer to either (a) experiment, or (b) decide based on their product.
Content for the Sales Page
This is not the place to discuss Sales Letter techniques. A good place to start for that, is the Gary Halbert Letter site, which is full of tips for the online marketer.
It is important to have, before starting the process, a list of:
- Features and Unique Selling Points;
- Testimonials (optional, but useful);
- Inspiring stories (relating to the product).
These will all need to be woven into the fabric of the Sales Letter in an attempt to engage, and persuade the reader that they should choose this product rather than one of the others they might find on the internet.
The customer will leave the Sales Letter having parted with their email address, at the very least, and the whole page is driving to that end.
Creating the Squeeze Page
The Squeeze Page is a place where the customer is sent either during the sign-up process, or afterward. The key to the Sales Letter is that the customer must provide their email address. It is to that email address that the link to the product they have bought, or are getting for free, is sent.
The Squeeze Page is designed to offer them something of value, for a low perceived price, before they can obtain their free product or special offer. Usually, the customer is made aware that the offer will not be repeated after the Squeeze Page has been left in favor of a quick download.
Post-Signup : The Membership Site
Finally, having obtained their products and bought (or not) into the Squeeze Page offer, the customers enter their most valuable phase. Essentially, they have become a member of a mailing list, and this gives the marketer the possibility to promote, in an ethical way, products to them, in the hope that they will, over time, buy enough products to make the whole process worthwhile.
All of this is for nothing, however, if the original page cannot be found, which is where search engine optimization/marketing comes in. Essentially, the key is to drive a high volume of qualified traffic to the first page of the site, and let the process described here work from then on in.
It is important that the various parts of the marketing process, including the initial SEO and research, all work together to generate business that pays.
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