You have a product. You want to sell it. You pick your target. You write a letter. Simple.

Or is it?

Like an email, a marketing letter can only work its magic if it's read. And even technically perfect letters are often tossed after the first three seconds of reading. So what gives?

Too many letters ignore the reader. The letter is written because of the product but it's about the reader. Here is a five-part formula that will help you keep your letters focused on the reader.

1. Get their attention. Ask a question. Use a surprising statistic. Say something meaningful (yes, this means you've researched your target). Tell a story. Offer a benefit. Surprise them.

2. Summarize their problem. Don't launch into a description of what your product or service does. Replace it with a scenario of a problem your service solves that is relevant to the reader.

3. Introduce the solution. Here is where you first introduce your company and your product. In your eagerness to introduce yourself make sure you emphasize reader benefits.
One tactic I occasionally use is to highlight a benefit then mention a very brief (like one sentence) general feature about the product or company as a way to offer proof. But take heed. Without the benefit, the feature is completely meaningless.

4. Offer proof. Here is where you emphasize your qualifications and your unique selling proposition.

5. Give the call-to-action. If your readers have made it this far then they're interested. Ask them to call you, go to your Web site or even visit your store. Just make sure to give them an action they can follow.

How effective is this formula? Very. It's the foundation to every piece of marketing material I produce. So use it to make sure you are focused on the reader. They just may decide to return the favor.


Want to use this article in your e-zine, newsletter or Web site? You can as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

On Wednesday MarketingSherpa sent an article outlining five lessons learned from marketing to small and medium-sized businesses.

When I read numbers two and three I almost fell out of my chair. That's an exaggeration, but my pulse definitely picked up. I wanted to just beam the information right into the heads of my entire network.

I'm not a Vulcan nor a Jedi so here is the next best thing: your personal link to this very insightful information. You don't even have to bother reading the entire article. Just the summary and points two and three are sufficient. Four minutes, max.

Sherpa closes access to this article on March 11th. So hurry!

Is it possible to increase your visibility while increasing the trust and confidence prospects have in your area of expertise? Yes.

How?

With content marketing. Content sells. It works.

And I'm doing my best to help.

I am currently working on a collaborative presentation sponsored by the Rochester Womens Network. It will introduce content marketing strategies with emphasis on leveraging the marketing power of an article. Participants will walk away with: 

• simple content marketing strategies (by the way, you get that through Copywriter Conduit),
• easy-to-use guidelines on how to write an engaging article (headline templates, bullets, paragraphs, etc.),
• a plan of what to do with your article once it's written,
• a list of online sources that will accept your article,
• a step-by-step process on how you can leverage one article as a marketing tool to increase your visibility (listen to that podcast), and
  
• a working document with your content (we'll provide some open workshop time to get ideas out of your head and onto paper with professional mentors available to help you).

When: 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11th.
Where: Lilac Room, Cornell Cooperative Extension Bldg. 249 Highland Ave.
Cost: $10 for RWN members. $20 for non-members
How to Register: Go here under the event calendar section to register on-line at the RWN site.
More info.: Call Sandy Richardson at 271-4182