VSL… Writing Video Sales Letters

To have a video sales letter working for you, you must have a video created with the kind of text you might have on a typical text sales letter… only less of it. In fact, the text can become a voiceover script or both voiceover and visual text.

Video sales letters have in recent years been out-performing the traditional long form sales letter simply because video is so much more engaging. Who wants to sit, scroll and read thousands of words, when a video sales letter can do it all for you. Yes, we have become so lazy most of us couldn’t be bothered to read these days. We need to be spoon-fed the information and shown how it all works in pictures.

But that’s not a bad thing, especially from a copywriter’s point of view, because now we get to write video scripts instead of sales letters, which are in fact… sales letters in disguise.

There are two distinct types of video sales letters doing the rounds at the time of writing. One is the Powerpoint presentation on white background with black text and the other is the animated text on white background. With Powerpoint, you can add images, a backing soundtrack track and a voiceover. With an animated video sales letter, you can add a soundtrack, images and a voiceover but with the added visual effect of text being written before your very eyes.

We use all types in our BusyVids video production but I have to say I’m a great fan of the hand scribe/video scribe effect that can be achieved by using the software supplied by Sparkol, Doodly and others.

I and virtually all my colleagues are of the opinion that video is the way forward for promoting just about anything online because it’s just so versatile. The video sales letter can be a full-on demonstration of how to use a product or how to benefit from a particular service, with images, photos, voice, music and even video inside a video. The possibilities are endless and are limited only by the imagination.

If you can remember those Mark & Spencer ads that oozed appeal for certain types of food then you will instantly understand the potential of video advertising. So a video sales letter can simply become your video ad, and instead of having just sales copy on your web page you can have a video sales letter right up front with the text version below.

The internet and video are two of the most powerful sales vehicles ever invented. Together they represent a formidable sales machine capable of churning out millions in profits. Take a look at this video for the One Dollar Shave Club and you’ll see exactly what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUG9qYTJMsI

The last time I checked this out it had over 10.5 million views. It has obviously gone viral, which means people are telling their friends to go and watch it. Definitely not something that would happen if it was just a written sales letter. Now, what if the guy who owns the One Dollar Shave Club business made just 10% of additional sales from this 10.5 million views? Yes! That’s well over a million dollars. And so what if he got an extra 500,000 men to sign up to his club? Well, I’m sure most people would be happy with an additional half a million dollars a month in sales.

Video sales letters literally speak for themselves, and video is a very powerful sales tool… be careful how you use it.

If you would like a video sales letter to promote your business, your products or your services… contact me.