No matter whether you're interested in creating video sales letters (VSL) for your business or are wondering what video sales letters even are, you've come to the right place. In this article, we're going to share everything you need to know about these powerful marketing tools: what they are, why you need them, what to include, how to create them, and even some great software suggestions to make creation easy. We'll wrap up with a few video sales letter examples to inspire you.
How to Create Video Sales Letters That Convert:
What Is a Video Sales Letter?
A video sales letter is a video that promotes your product or service to a potential customer. Great video sales letters will grab attention, appeal to the problems and pain points of your target audience, highlight your product as the answer to those pain points, and inspire your target audience to convert. For an extra boost, video sales letters will include social proof and evidence of your brand's credibility. Video sales letters can be added to your home page, a separate sales page or landing page, used as a video ad, linked from your marketing emails, and more.
Why Use Video Sales Letters?
There are several reasons why video sales letters are a great addition to your marketing strategy. While regular sales letters are effective, video sales letters incorporate video marketing which has grown in popularity and effectiveness over the past several years. And for good reason, 69% of people say they’d most prefer to learn about a new product or service by watching a short video (Wyzowl). It's no surprise that 88% of marketers report that they'll be spending more dollars on video campaigns in the future (Social Media Week). Here are some of the benefits of video sales letters that you'll appreciate:
- They're persuasive. Video sales letters make it easy to share information that will persuade your target audience to take action.
- They're engaging. Videos draw in potential customers in a way that text on a page just can't. Since tone isn't left to the imagination, you can use video sales letters to show off your brand's personality and share vital information about your brand.
- They're visually appealing. While you can add images and use fonts and colors effectively in text-based marketing, videos have the advantage of motion. You can leverage this to show your products being used in real-time and hold the attention of your audience easier than text-based marketing.
- They pack an emotional punch. Video eliminates the need for your target audience to make their own decisions about what it is you're trying to say and instead conveys the full emotional intent of your marketing campaign.
What to Include in Your Video Sales Letters
Before we jump into the process of how to create video sales letters, let's take a moment to discuss what good video sales letters should include. While your video sales letter doesn't need to include everything we're going to cover here, it's important to consider what you want to achieve with your video and what you'll need to include to make that happen.
A Strong Message
Your video sales letters need to have a strong message, and the best way to make sure you've got that covered is by creating a script for your video. Here's what your script needs to do:
- Grab viewer attention through relatable content
- State the problem or pain points
- Agitate the problem (how does this problem show up in the day-to-day lives of your potential customers?)
- Offer your product or service as the solution
- Include social proof to inspire confidence and boost credibility
- Detail the benefits of your product or service
- Inspire urgency or FOMO ("fear of missing out") to encourage action
- Include a call to action so viewers know what to do next
- Illustrate what sets you apart from your competitors
Powerful Imagery
Your video sales letters must include engaging graphics and imagery that successfully convey your message, evoke emotions in viewers, and provide additional information.
How to Create Video Sales Letters
Now that you understand the benefits of video sales letters, you're probably wondering how to create a video sales letter of your own. For such a powerful marketing tactic, it's a pretty simple process—just three steps (assuming you've already determined product/market fit).
Write Your Script
The script for your VSL should start off with a hook. This could be an interesting question, a controversial statement, or staggering statistics. Anything that demands attention immediately and is relevant to your product or service will do. If you've only ever created text-based copy before, think of the hook as your headline.
After you've hooked your audience, you need to lure them deeper with a compelling story. While you can absolutely tell a story that's complete fiction, if you have a story from one of your previous customers, use it. The purpose of the story in your video sales letter is to share imagery surround the problem. Then, once you've set the scene, tackle the pain points that your product solves head-on.
From there, it's all about establishing yourself as the solution to those pain points and offering your audience social proof to let them know that you know what you're talking about. To build credibility, you can share testimonials from other happy customers, let viewers know about your credentials, and a whole lot more. The goal with this part of your script is to establish yourself as an authority on the topic and inspire trust.
Before you wrap up your video, you'll probably want to include some sort of bonus for your viewers. This might be a discount on the purchase price, bonus content—anything that you might use as a lead magnet will work. Then, after you've given them all these additional reasons to buy, you actually tell them to buy with a compelling call to action.
Produce Your Video
Once you have your script nailed down, you'll need to actually produce your video sales letter. Now, we have video production as a single step in the process of creating a VSL, but you probably already know that video production is a multi-step process. You can always hire a video production company to handle this piece for you, but many smaller brands have opted to do their own video production to save time and maintain stricter control over the process.
So, what goes into video production? The answer, as with most things, is "it depends." For starters, it depends on when and where your video is going to be used. If you're creating a landing page or sales page for the video sales letter, or if you're using it directly on your home page, you'll want to make sure it's polished. If your VSL is going to be shared on social media, you can be a little more relaxed with video production. Beyond that, there's the question of whether or not you'll be using all or part of your VSL in your email marketing. If that's the case, you'll probably want to personalize parts of the video to reach particular segments of your email marketing list.
You'll also need to decide how you want the video to look and feel, where you're going to host it, and how much you can afford to spend. Video production can get pretty expensive (we're talking upwards of $50,000), but you could also end up spending on $50–$350 depending on the answers to the questions we've posed here and the platforms you use to create your VSL.
Promote
Once your VSL is done, you have to promote it. We've found that three of the best ways to promote a video sales letter are by creating a stand-alone landing page, building an email campaign, and using paid ads.
Landing pages are probably the most common way businesses promote their video sales letters. It can be as simple as creating a page, adding a headline, embedding the video, and wrapping things up with a call to action. There are also platforms like ClickFunnels that you can use to create an entire marketing funnel for your VSL.
Email marketing is the next step after creating a landing page. When your landing page is ready, you can share it in your email marketing campaigns to drive traffic to your landing page and your VSL. With email marketing, you have the added benefit of being able to personalize your subject line, email copy, and even add dynamic content for specific segments. And, including the word "video" in your email subject line can boost open rates by up to 6%, according to Super Office!
Finally, don't be afraid to create Google or Facebook ad campaigns to drive traffic to your VSL landing page or use your VSL itself as a video ad.
Software to Create Your Video Sales Letter
Creating video sales letters is a whole lot easier when you have the right tools to do it. In this section, we're going to share four of our current favorite tools that you can use to create awesome VSLs without investing days of your time to do it.
1. Promo.com
Promo.com has already been used to create more than two million scroll-stopping marketing videos. It includes 2500+ video templates, over 23 million premium HD videos and photos, and award-winning customer support. If you want to create video sales letters that make an impact, Promo.com can make it happen.
2. Biteable
Biteable also comes with tons of professional-quality templates you can use to create high-powered VSLs in minutes. You can add photos, record voiceovers, include screenshots, and add your logo to create a branded experience. The platform also lets you include live-action footage, claymation, and animation in your video sales letter.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is a wonderful tool to create, manage, and host your video sales letters. The video hosting tool lets you create and share videos directly from your CRM so you can track your VSLs and make sure your leads are watching them. Plus, HubSpot can record your screen during sales calls so leads can refer to the recording after your meeting.
4. Wyzowl
Wyzowl is another excellent choice for creating video sales letters to increase your sales and convert more leads to customers. With Wyzowl, you can create live-action, demo, or animated videos. The platform has its own animated graphics that you can add to your videos. If you're looking for something to really wow your prospects, Wyzowl lets you create interactive videos so your leads can sit in the driver's seat.
Video Sales Letters Examples
Here are some examples of video sales letters that we absolutely love. These VSLs are entertaining, engaging, and make an impact—everything you need your VSL to do.
1. Squatty Potty
This video sales letter example from Squatty Potty is, well, pretty wild. However, it does follow the format you'd expect from a VSL (Problem, Agitation, Solution), and with more than 39 million views on YouTube, it's clear that this VSL hits the mark when it comes to entertaining viewers.
2. Keep More Money Book
This video sales letter appeals to us because of the awesome animations. As you watch the VSL, you'll notice that it focuses on the pain points of the target audience and how the book will help overcome those problems.
3. Frank Kern
This video sales letter example from Frank Kern is great because it's not slick and polished, nor does it feel overly salesy. While the VSL includes everything you would expect to see in an effective video sales letter, the video itself is a bit rough which makes it a bit more personable.
