Here’s a quick story of two different local businesses that mailed out sales letters to potential clients in their city. They both offered the same service to their clients, but…

Company 1 talked about how great the company and the service is, and included a decent offer to get the reader to respond.

Company 2 took a slightly different tact. Their letter had an attention-getting headline and described a problem the reader most likely had.

Then…they included a quote by John Doe from XYZ Company, a well known local business, explaining how Company 2 had recently solved their problem by reducing expenses by 32.5% in less than 60 days.

They talked about how their service would help reduce expenses and the benefit it would have. And two paragraphs later, they included another testimonial from a happy client.

The letter from Company 1 didn’t include even one testimonial.

Think about it – if you received a letter from 2 companies selling the same thing, assuming you needed their service, which one would you respond to?

The one that talked about themselves, or the one that included “proof” from actual satisfied customers that their service was great?

These days, advertisers can say anything, which makes people super skeptical. But the testimonials are the proof that people need. And many times, that proof is what’s needed to convert your prospect to a customer.

So the moral of this story is this:

Always include specific, actual testimonials in every marketing or sales copy you write.

Any thoughts? I’d like to know.

To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.

And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter