Articles: The Sell Sheet: the Swiss Army Knife of Marketing Tools

If you don't already have sell sheets in your marketing toolbox, you may want to rethink that. A sell sheet is one of the most versatile marketing pieces around. Typically, a sell sheet is an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper that describes a product or a service. They're sometimes referred to as data sheets or spec sheets in technical industries.

While most sell sheets are a single page, you'll find two-sided and multi-page versions as well. Most are in full color, but you can also create them in two-color or black and white. Compared to marketing pieces such as brochures, they're less expensive to write, design, and print. When created in PDF format, they're easy for prospects to download from the web.

At its very essence, the sell sheet acts as a qualification tool for your prospect. With key information available at a glance, he can quickly screen your offering to determine whether it's a potential solution to his problem. Sell sheets are often passed along to colleagues, purchasing agents, bosses, and decision makers.

Sell sheets are best used for:
• a single product (example: a specific model of laser printer)
• a unified product line (e.g., five flavors of hot sauce)
• a single specialized service (like pediatric outpatient ENT surgery)
• an overview of related services (such as a consultant's workshop topics and individual consulting sessions)
• a package of bundled services (e.g., a personal makeover that includes wardrobe consultation, a new hairstyle, and advice on cosmetics use)
• promotion of a special event

Sell sheets are most effective when they're used to support another marketing activity. Use them as leave-behinds after a meeting, or send them as follow-ups after a phone call. Hand them out at your exhibit booth at trade shows and conferences. Have them available for download on your website. Include a sell sheet as one element of a direct mail package or as a vital piece in media and information kits. Sell sheets are usually not effective as a stand-alone mass mailing unless you already have an established relationship with the recipient and are announcing a new addition to your product or service line.

Sell sheets should include relevant elements such as:
• A benefit-oriented headline
• A short, pithy description of the product or service
• Product or data specs
• Photos or diagrams

Want to see some examples of sell sheets? I surfed the web and came up with a number of different examples. (These will download in PDF format.)

http://www.jlohr.com/pdf/pos/Estates_sell_sheet.pdf

http://speaking.eleanorsullivan.com/downloads/ESullivan_onesheet.pdf

http://www.bdbiosciences.com/discovery_labware/Products/pdf/TufRol_ez_ss.pdf

© Eileen Coale, All rights reserved.

Eileen Coale, owner of Coale Communications, is a copywriter and consultant. To sign up for her free monthly ezine, Third Thursday Marketing Tips, or to learn more about her work, visit her website at www.eileencoale.com. You can reach her by phone at 410-757-0821. If you'd like to use this article at no charge for your website, ezine, or newsletter, contact eileen@eileencoale.com for permission.