Let’s say you wrote an ebook that teaches job hunters how to get a job in 30 days. And you wrote a sales letter with the headline:

“How To Get A Job In 30 Days Or Less.”

Now, you may be able to generate some sales with that letter. But here’s a strategy that will boost your sales. It’s so simple that it’s surprising how many experienced marketers overlook it.

It’s called market segmentation.

You see, just because your ebook is a general product that appeals to a general market, doesn’t mean that your sales letter has to be general as well.

When it comes to communicating your sales message, a personalized message will always outperform a general one.

And that’s where market segmentation comes in.

Instead of writing a general sales letter that targets everyone, write multiple letters that target multiple market segments while selling the same product.

How To Segment Your Market

One easy way to segment your market is to study your keywords. If you’re advertising on Google AdWords, look at the keywords being used by your market.

Going back to the job hunting ebook example, some of the keywords that job hunters use could be:

• Sales job
• Secretarial job
• Engineering job

That’s three market segments right there.

Now, you can customize your sales letter for each market segment. So, your new headlines will be:

“How To Get A Sales Job In 30 Days Or Less.”
“How To Get A Secretarial Job In 30 Days Or Less.”
“How To Get An Engineering Job In 30 Days Or Less.”

So, when job hunters use the keywords “sales job” on Google and arrive on your sales letter with the headline, “How To Get A Sales Job In 30 Days Or Less,” they will definitely be more interested in reading the entire sales letter and eventually be more inclined to buy your ebook.

Do you see the simplicity of the strategy?

All you have to do is write a general sales letter. And then, use it as template to customize your sales message for various market segments.

And don’t worry, it only takes 5 seconds to customize each sales letter. Just use the “Find And Replace” function in your web design software and you can create a customized sales letter for several market segments easily and quickly.

With a sales letter customized for a specific market segment, your sales will increase. I guarantee it.

That’s all you get to convince your prospect to continue reading your sales letter.

And since all sales letters open with a headline, it is, by far, the most critical part of the sales letter.

Almost all advertising gurus agree that headlines will make or break your sales letters. Here are a few of their observations:

“Five times as many people read the headlines as they read the body copy.” – David Ogilvy, Ogilvy & Mather

“Headlines increase results up to 17 times.” – Jay Abraham, Marketing Mastermind

“Headline is 50 to 75% of the ad.” – Don Belding, Foote, Cone & Belding

In short, your headline must grab your readers’ attention and compel them to read the rest of your sales letter. If your headline fails to do that, you lose the sale. It’s as simple as that.

Five Tips On Writing Effective Headlines

Tip #1: Long headlines can be more effective.

Contrary to traditional wisdom in copywriting, short headlines seem less effective than longer ones. Your headlines should be as long as it takes to communicate the benefits of your product.

Tip #2: Break up your headlines if they’re too long.

On the other hand, if your headline is too long, it can be difficult to read. So, consider splitting up the headline into a main headline and a sub-headline.

Tip #3: Consider your target audience and their problems.

When you write your headlines, try to understand the person you’re writing to. Put yourself in their shoes. What is he looking for? What are his problems? How will your product benefit him?

Once you have the answers, ensure that your headline mentions your product benefits loud and clear.

Tip #4: Brainstorm as many headlines as possible.

One of the keys to writing great headlines is to write down as many headlines as you can. If you are stuck for ideas, use one of the following techniques:

• Use “How to” or “How not to”. E.g. How to become a millionaire by the time you retire. How not to worry about educating your child.
• Make bold statements. E.g. For less than $100 a month, you could have a peaceful retired life.
• Pose challenges to the reader. E.g. Discover 10 ways to save money while managing your budget.
• Ask thought-provoking questions. E.g. When is the best time to invest in the market?

Tip #5: Headlines must be clear.

If your reader has to guess what your headline means, chances are slim that he will go through the entire sales letter. So, make your headline so clear that even a 12-year old can understand it.

Now that you know how crucial headlines are, make sure you spend 80% of your time getting them right.

And in order for your sales page to be effective, there are ten critical elements you should include:

1. Powerful introduction – The opening paragraph of your sales page should be powerful enough to grab your prospect’s interest. A good introduction will draw them into the rest of your sales page. Show your prospects from the start why they should read the entire sales page.

2. Create your own USP – USP stands for unique selling proposition. Your sales page must clearly explain how your product is uniquely superior to your competition and why it is the only solution your customer needs.

3. Use your customer’s language – In your sales page, the language you use plays a vital role. You should always use the type of language that your customer uses to show empathy.

4. Bonuses – You should offer free bonuses in your sales page and they should be so valuable that customers are eager to buy your main product just to get the bonuses.

5. Make the ordering process easy and customer friendly – When creating your sales page, always assume that your customer is a complete idiot and has no experience in ordering online. Make it absurdly easy by giving them step-by-step instructions.

6. Credibility – Your credibility is very important when you are selling any product online. In your sales page, include testimonials that feature the results from using your product as well as your customer’s name. As long as your testimonials are believable, they will increase your sales.

7. Strong guarantee – We’re now living in a skeptical and cynical era. Therefore, people are very skeptical about buying any product online. The best way to reduce their skepticism is to offer an iron clad guarantee.

8. Post Script – A post script should be included to summarize your product’s benefits. It should also re-emphasize why your product is the only solution they’re looking for.

9. Emphasize benefits – Emphasizing the benefits of your product is an important rule of copywriting. Unfortunately, it is generally overlooked. Many entrepreneurs tend to focus on product features instead. Product features only tell prospects what your product does. You need to tell them how your product will save money and time for them.

10. Contact information – The moment a prospect decides to buy your product, he will look for your contact information. Therefore, your mailing address, email address or phone number must be included on the sales page. The prospect will feel at ease knowing that he can get in touch with you if required.

Once you have included these ten critical elements in your sales pages, you should see an increase in your conversion rates and sales.