The three most important elements in a winning sales letter are the headline, offer and P.S. Who would have thought the lowly P.S. would be in that list?
Yet surprisingly, the P.S. is more important than testimonials, statistics, and even envelope teaser copy.
Why? Because time is short, and your reader doesn’t want to curl up with a sales letter unless it promises to be really good reading.
Okay, she probably doesn’t want to curl up with a sales letter no matter how well it’s written. But the point remains, she wants to know whether it’s worth reading before investing any time.
The P.S. is, quite literally, the bottom line on your promotion. The headline gives her the up-front promise, but the P.S. is where she can get the final word on what your letter’s all about.
Statistics prove the P.S. is valuable
Eight in ten readers take the time to read your P.S. That makes it valuable collateral in a sales letter.
Don’t fall into the trap of tacking one on just because everyone says you need one. Plan your P.S. Consider how it can work with your letter to build the value of your offer.
Think of it as a secondary headline, but with a slightly different job. Whereas the headline must hook your reader and get him to read on, the P.S. must pull him off the fence and move him to action.
How to use the P.S.
Essentially, your letter’s postscript can be used in one of five ways:
- Restate the offer.
- Promote a premium.
- Highlight the deadline, the price or another important aspect of your offer.
- Build urgency.
- Give the reader one final push to take action.
Be strategic
When planning your promotion, deliberately use your knowledge about how people will read it. In this case, assume all readers will read the P.S. immediately after the headline, before they read the body of the letter.
That being the case, put your best sales pitch in the headline and your second best in the P.S. But do more than just plug in your pitches. Make them flow logically from one to the other.
Perhaps you asked a question in the headline. Answer it in the postscript. Perhaps you made a big promise in the headline. Build on it in the P.S.
Here’s a few other suggestions as well…
- What do you want your reader to take away from the letter? Put it in your P.S. Make sure it’s emotionally exciting and contains the big idea of your letter.
- Assume the sale. What’s true for the letter is especially true for the P.S. Help your reader see himself as the proud recipient of every promise you’ve made.
- Is your offer genuinely too good to be true? Hold something back and put it in your P.S. as a surprise premium. You won’t take anything away from your original offer, but the P.S. will add to it, increasing the overall value of your promotion.
- Have a lot of premiums? List them, with hero shots and descriptions, like a catalog of gifts for the reader who responds.
Focus on boosting responses
When you’re writing copy, you want to take advantage of every trick in the book that could move your prospects to act. What most people don’t realize is the incredible boosting power of the P.S.
Put it to work. It may be a small element of your overall package, but it could make a huge difference in your results.
What are your thoughts on the P.S.? Do you have success stories or a revolutionary way to put it to work for your product? Share your comments below.
photo credit: foilman
