The most important piece of every sales letter you write is the headline. The headline is the first thing seen by the reader, and it must immediately draw them into your sales message. The job of the headline is to convince the reader to read the next part of your sales message, the sub-headline, so be sure it promises a big benefit that you know you can deliver.

Use your headline to arouse the reader’s curiosity. Your goal is to make them ask “Really? How do you do that?” or “Wow, I’ve got to see what they’re talking about.”

Another effective technique to use in making your headline compelling is using the word “you.” When your prospective client can imagine your product or service helping them, you’re on the right path. Most people care about what’s in it for them – so tell them.

Some marketing professionals teach that your headline should be a long paragraph, full of benefits, that gradually points the reader to the sub-headline. Others denounce this headline structure and say it’s just fluff and you only need a short headline. As with all of your marketing efforts, the only way to know for sure is to test.

Your sales letter headline should be formatted in a font that is larger than the rest of the your message. It should jump out from the page and draw the reader’s eyes. When the headline blends in with the rest of the page, the prospect has no idea what they’re looking at, and will likely stop reading.

Take advantage of things like color and style to really make your headline stand out. Many of the most effective headlines are red; this really catches the eye. Make your strongest points noticeable with things like italics, bold, and highlighting. Also, enclose your headline in quotes and capitalize the first letter of each word.

Testing your sales letter headlines is critical. Often, when your sales letter is not converting well, simply changing the headline can have a major impact. Split testing is very helpful in showing you how well one headline does versus another.

Your sales letter serves as one of the salesmen of your business, and putting together a powerful sales message can mean the difference between success and a going out of business sale.