Video is a popular means of communicating your message. Why wouldn’t it be?

Salespeople can connect with potential clients on a more emotional level. Since watching a video involves sound and vision, the prospect is necessarily engaged throughout the viewing experience.

Since watching a video involves sound and vision, the prospect is necessarily engaged throughout the viewing experience.

There are various ways to sell through video. This article will talk specifically about video sales letters.

I will cover the basics of a video sales letter, share some examples and video scripts you can imitate to land clients.

What is a Video Sales Letter?

A video sales letter (VSL) is just what the name says: a sales letter in video format.

Video sales letters are a great way to reach prospects. According to Wyzowl, 69% of consumers say they prefer to learn more about a product by watching a video. Only 18% prefer text-based content, while 2% prefer sales demos.

Here are other benefits of video sales letters:

• They allow for deeper connections
• They help build trust
• They are great vehicles for storytelling 
• They help establish your authority.

But for video sales letters to be effective, you need to create them the right way. That brings us to our next section.

How to Create Your Video Sales Letter

Creating video sales letters is a bit like copywriting.

When you write a marketing copy, you tell a story about your brand and product and how it can help your customers achieve their goals.

Let’s look at how you can tell that story through video so you can land those clients:

Consider Your Target Audience

A video sales message will only be successful if you know your audience. The best way to convince your audience to click on “Buy Now” is to be aware of their needs and pain points and create content that addresses them.  

A video sales message will only be successful if you know your audience.

Here’s where buyer personas can help you.

Buyer personas are semi-fictional representations of your target audience. They embody your ideal and existing buyers’ characteristics and give those attributes a human name and face. Here’s an example of a buyer persona:

Source: Neil Patel

Where do you get the data you need to create a buyer persona?

You can use different tools, such as Google Analytics, to see how your audience interacts with your brand and consume your content. 

For example, do they spend a lot of time searching for ways to send email in bulk?  Then you might want to highlight the bulk email sending feature of your email marketing software. On the other hand, if your “Pricing” page is getting a lot of traffic, it might be a good idea to emphasize how your product offers value for money.

You can also send email surveys and ask your audience about their pain points, interests, and preferences. However, you need to make sure that the email address you use to send those surveys sounds credible.

You may create a new Gmail account so that you sound professional. A dedicated Gmail account will also allow you to keep audience responses in one place.

Take the time to know your audience better. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor the message in your video sales letter for them.

The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor the message in your video sales letter for them.

Writing Your Script

Once you know your audience, you can start writing your video script.

Like the copy and the graphics, the script must adhere to specific guidelines for it to be effective. You don’t want to lose your audience at the start of the video because of a badly structured message.

If you lose your audience at the onset, all that researching you did about them will be for nothing.

Here’s how you should structure your script: 

• Start with a bang and capture your audience’s attention: It’s important to grab the audience’s attention at the start. You need to hook your audience so they’ll watch until the end of the video.
• Bring up the issue they’re facing: Your buyer persona will make a good reference for this part of the script. 
• Explain why it’s important to solve the issue: The aim is to show the effects of the problem and what could happen if it goes unsolved. 
• Appeal to emotions. Sharing what your audience stands to lose will spur them to act on their pain points. 
• Deliver a solution: Explain in detail how your product or service can address their pain points.
• Establish your credibility and authority: Share information about your company and the products or services you offer. What sets you apart from the competition?
• Provide evidence: Present proof that will back your claims. Client testimonials and success stories can be very effective at this point.
• Create a sense of urgency or offer incentives: You need to nudge your prospects towards making a purchase. You may appeal to the fear of missing out (FOMO) by saying your product is available at a discounted price for a limited time or offer something extra, like a free month of premium access to your product.
• Add a call to action: At the end of your video, tell your prospects how they can avail of your offer. If your email has a link to a landing page, your video should tell them where they can find the link. Your CTA should be clear and leave no room for misinterpretation.

Here’s a sample script that can inspire you:

Source: Fiverr

For your VSL script to be effective, you shouldn’t go for the hard sell the whole time. According to Sales Hacker, hard-selling tactics will only put off prospects who have not yet decided to buy. They are more effective when your prospects have decided to make a purchase. 

Putting yourself in your audience’s shoes will make you realize what they want to see – and it’s not your product’s features, even if your solution is the newest and most advanced of its kind. Consumers, in general, are more interested in knowing how your product can specifically help them, so focus on the benefits. 

Consumers are more interested in knowing how your product can specifically help them, so focus on the benefits. 

Technical Production 

Once you have your script, it’s time to plan your campaign. 

Decide on how you will talk to your prospects. Will you be talking straight to your audience, or do you intend to use different footage and just have someone doing a voiceover? 

You have to determine where you’ll place the video sales letter as well.

• Will the VSL be uploaded to your website?
• Will you send this to your email subscribers?
• Maybe you prefer to promote it on social media?

You need to specify these things, too. Those factors will, in turn, determine your video aspect ratio, length, and the way you export the video.  

For example, if the video is for a landing page on your website or YouTube, you should export it in a traditional 16:9 widescreen format. If the video is going to be shared on social media, such as Facebook, it may be best to export it in a square format (1:1 aspect ratio). 

Your video format will determine the tools you need. 

With Wave.video, you can instantly resize your video and export it in multiple formats to use across various channels and reach more views. Also, you can easily generate a video landing page for your video sales letter and link to it from an email.

For example, The HOTH sent me the email below a few days ago. While the email itself doesn’t contain a video, it does have a button that links back to an opt-in page where you can access the training video:

Clicking on the CTA will lead you to the landing page below. When you click on “Get The Training”, the page will ask for your name and email address, then you should be able to play the training video:

The example above shows you just how effective video is at getting people to take action. That’s regardless of whether buying a product or supplying their contact details.

Copywriting Formulas for a VSL Script 

Effective video sales letters are all about using the right formulas.

In this section, let’s look at a few tried-and-tested formulas you can use for your video sales letter.

1.  The Before and After Bridge (BAB)

The Before and After Bridge is where you describe a problem, then describe a world without that problem and how to get there. Here’s the basic structure:

• Before – This is your setting.
• After – Picture what it would be like if the issues were solved.
• Bridge – Here’s how to get to the bridge.

This is a basic copywriting formula. It entails you being very descriptive so your audience can conjure up images in their minds of the issue you’d like to resolve.

2. The Problem, Agitate, Solution (PAS)

The Problem, Agitate, Solution method is where you, the communicator, present a dilemma the audience faces, use emotional language to drive the point home, and then provide a solution.

Source: Clickfunnels

It’s simple enough for even inexperienced copywriters to use, and it can turn your script into a persuasive copy. 

3. Stop, Look, Act, Purchase (SLAP)

As the name suggests, this formula aims to shock prospects into action. Here’s its structure:

• Stop the prospect
• Make them look (i.e., watch)
• Prompt them to act
• Get them to make a purchase

SLAP formulas usually leverage time-sensitive offers.

Examples of Great Video Sales Letters

Now that you know some copywriting formulas to use, here are great video sales letter examples that can inspire you. 

Keep More Money Book

The Keep More Money Book is a short video. The video takes less than a minute to watch the video. The author, Michelle Cornish, has kept the sales message succinct. Short videos are effective because your audience should stay engaged all of the way through.

Source: Keep More Money Book YouTube

Notice that instead of real-life footage, Michelle uses animation to grab her viewers’ interest. You can be as creative as you want as long as you get your message across clearly.

Frank Kern

Frank Kern’s video sales letter example is excellent because it is not excessively sales-y. The video, which aims to sell his copywriting services, wasn’t made using special equipment.

The video looks a little bit rough around the edges. It makes him seem approachable.

Source: Frank Kern YouTube

It’s also quite short. The video is less than three minutes. It follows a proven Video Sales Letter Script.

Wrapping Up

Videos have evolved into a powerful sales tool. With video sales letters, in particular, you can catch your prospects’ attention, entertain them, and get them to take your desired action.

For your video sales letters to be effective, though, you need to create them the right way. I gave you tips on how to do that. Consider your target audience, write your script, and then execute your vision. Don’t forget the technical aspects of your video. 

Just follow the tips I gave you, use the tried-and-tested copywriting formulas I shared with you, and be inspired by the VSL examples here. You’ll create that winning video sales letter that will keep your clients coming in.

About the author: 

David Campbell is a digital marketing specialist at Ramp Ventures. He helps manage the content marketing team at Right Inbox. When he’s not working, he enjoys traveling and trying to learn Spanish.