Internet Marketing Digital_marketing_for_dummies | Page 169

are a few to get you started:
Discover How Quickly You Can [desired result]
Learn How Easily You Can [desired result]
You, Too, Can Have [desired result] in [desirable time period]
What Everybody Ought to Know about [blank]
How [authoritative person] Got [desired result] in [time period]
For example, the last headline formula might be used to write a subheadline that reads:
How Serena Williams Got in The Best Shape of Her Life in 14 Days.
You made a claim or promise in the headline you created in Step 1. Your
subheadline should support the headline. It shouldn’t introduce a new claim or
promise, and it certainly shouldn’t conflict with it.
Step 3: Write the opening
By the time your landing page visitors are reading your opening, they have read the
headline and subheadline. Some readers have even scrolled to the bottom of your letter to
see the price and offer. In other words, they are interested.
If you’re just getting started, try the classic “Problem/Solution” opening to a sales letter. In
the first step of the opening, you identify the problem that the prospective buyer has.
Your visitors are wondering whether you truly understand their problem. As the
marketer, your job is to establish common ground between you and your visitors.
Show empathy for the problem and be specific about their state of discontent.
Next, you want to reveal that a solution to this problem exists, and it is your product or
service (of course!). You don’t need to go into great detail about the product or service at
this point; you do that later.
For example, if you’re selling tax preparation services, you might open your sales letter
with the following:
It’s that time of year again. April 15th is drawing near, and you’ve got an entire
weekend circled on your calendar to dig up all those receipts and tax documents.
Let’s face it, preparing your own taxes is frustrating at best.
If you’d rather spend that beautiful spring weekend with friends and family, let our
firm handle your taxes this year.