What Goofus and Gallant Can Teach Us About Writing Better Sales Letter Copy
by James Palmer
I’ve got a neat trick to show you that can really help you structure and spice up your next sales letter or ad, while overcoming what is probably the number one objection your prospects have to your product or service…
Price.
Yes, like it or not, for many of your prospects, this is what it comes down to when they are making up their minds whether or not to buy your next doodad. And while you shouldn’t compete on price alone, there are ways to take the focus off of it. Here is one I picked up from my childhood.
Now before you think I’ve gone off the deep end, hear me out. Remember Goofus and Gallant? This is a little comic strip that runs in the magazine Highlights: Stories for Children. I loved that magazine as a kid, and Goofus and Gallant was my favorite feature. In it, these two boys, Goofus and Gallant, were compared and contrasted. Gallant was the good boy, always doing his chores, being polite, and finishing his homework, while Goofus was always being a jerk, making a mess, and lazing around. Basically, it was a strip all about how you should behave.
But what does this have to do with copywriting?
Quite a lot, actually.
You see, you can adapt this method to your next ad or sales letter. In fact, it has already been used in the past (which is why you should gather and study ads and sales letters)!
The Wall Street Journal has used this tactic many times in their sales letters over the years, which tells the story of two college graduates. One of them is successful, one not, and the only difference is that the successful grad subscribes to the Wall Street Journal.
You could easily adapt this technique to almost any other product or service. I’ve seen it work exceptionally well for lawn services, vinyl siding (“Does your home look like this? With A Plus Vinyl Siding, your home could look like this…). Use your imagination! But there are a few keys you need to really make it hit home with your prospect:
1. Two Prospects, Both Alike in Dignity
Oops, sorry about the Shakespeare reference. As an English geek, I couldn’t help myself.
What I mean by this is both of your subjects for this fictional situation should be as alike as possible, and should closely resemble your target prospect. The only difference being that one uses your product or service and the other does not. Your target prospects should see themselves in your characters, so that they identify with them.
For example, if you’re doing an ad for a lawn service, describe two neighbors living side by side, one of them hosing down a lush, green, beautiful, insect-free lawn while getting a compliment about it from the gorgeous blond who lives down the street and jogs by it every day just so she can admire it, while the other guy is hunkered down over a scraggly lawn full of dead, brown patches, bare spots, and weeds, pulling out dandelion shoots and nursing fire ant bites.
That may be a little cheesy, but you get the picture. And if you set it up just right, your prospect will too.
2. Be a Storyteller
Which brings me to number two, be a storyteller. People love a good story. Fiction routinely outsells nonfiction at the bookstore. Try to use a few storytelling techniques in your copy.
Now you’re probably thinking, “How do I do that?” Well, you don’t have to put as much work into it as Stephen King writing his next blockbuster. Just study your favorite author or authors. Note how they paint a scene, create characters. Marketing guru extraordinaire Dan Kennedy even suggests writing down neat little turns of phrase you find in your favorite novels to use later in your ads and sales letters. Not a bad idea! Give it a try.
See how this works?
By comparing two almost identical people who are like your target prospect, you’re showing the importance of your product or service. Who out there doesn’t want to be more happy, more successful, more admired? The Wall Street Journal ad shows that the paper will help this college grad be more wealthy and successful in his career. The lawn care product makes the weed-puller want to be just like his neighbor. Who doesn’t want to keep up with the Joneses? These are powerful, universal emotions that you can tap into and profit from. So what are you waiting for?
Go get em!
James Palmer is a freelance copywriter who creates Websites, press releases, sales letters, and other print and online marketing materials that help large companies, coaches, and entrepreneurs communicate their business in a way that is easily understood by their target audience. He is co-author of the books Networking Like a Pro! and How to Overachieve W/O Overcommitting, and author of the e-book Social Networking 101: How to Market Yourself and Your Business Using Social Networks and Media. For more articles like this one, sign up for his free monthly newsletter by going here.