A sales letter is a piece of
direct mail which is designed to persuade the reader to purchase a particular product or service in the absence of a
salesman. It has been defined as "A form of direct mail in which an advertiser sends a letter to a potential customer." It is distinct from other direct mail techniques, such as the distribution of leaflets and catalogues, as the sales letter typically sells a single product or product line, and further tends to be mainly textual as opposed to graphics-based, although video sales letters have become increasingly popular.
It is typically used for products or services which, due to their price, are a considered purchase at medium or high value (typically tens to thousands of dollars). A sales letter is often, but not exclusively, the last stage of the sales process before the customer places an order, and is designed to ensure that the
prospect
Prospect may refer to:
General
* Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer
* Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team
* Prospect (mining ...
is committed to becoming a
customer
In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...
.
Since the advent of the internet, the sales letter has become an integral part of
internet marketing, and typically takes the form of an email or webpage. Unsolicited sales emails are known as
spam
Spam may refer to:
* Spam (food), a canned pork meat product
* Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages
** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages
** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
, although spam typically consists of emails which are much shorter than a normal sales letter. Offline, unsolicited sales letters are known as
junk mail.
Some relevant components
The sales letter is split into several key sections. In addition, other sections may be used, such as sub-headlines.
Headline
The beginning of a sales letter is considered to be its most important piece. In email sales letters this part is called email subject, and with webpages it takes the format of a title or headline, often followed by additional text called
sub-heading.
Body copy
This section is typically quite long, with 4, 8 and 16 page letters being common formats. This section will typically contain
testimonials from the firm's customers as well as pictures and information about the product. On the internet, the body copy may include embedded video or audio.
Conclusion
Sales Letter intended to get the customer to commit to purchasing the produ