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Ending the Long Copy vs. Short Copy Debate
By Barry A. Densa, freelance marketing & sales copywriter
Which converts better, which drives more sales,
long-form copy or short-form copy?
It's been debated since the first recorded newspaper
advertisement was published in 1704 in the Boston
News-Letter:
"At Oyster-bay on Long-Island in the Province of
N.York, There is a very good Fulling-Mill, to be Let
or Sold, as also a Plantation, having on it a large
new Brick house, and another good house by it for a
Kitchin & work house, with a Barn, Stable, etc. a
young Orchard, and 20 Acres clear Land. The Mill is
to be Let with or without the Plantation: Enquire of
Mr. William Bradford Printer in N.York, and know
further." (My thanks to Derrick Day for publishing
this ad in his blog,
Branding Strategy Insider)
Clearly, the above was a short-form ad. And yet...
"The more you tell, the more you sell," claim the
adherents of long copy.
"No one has time to read below the fold," counter
short copy partisans.
Of course both sides are right... to the degree that
each side fully understands their customer's needs
and their customer's state of awareness as to how
well the product or service in question fulfills
those needs.
In other words...
One size does not fit all
Does Campbell's Soup need an 18-page scrolling
online sales letter to sell tomato soup?
Soup is soup, and everyone's heard of Campbell's. An
18-word ad would suffice.
Most people shopping for soup are only interested in
the price of their favorite brand, be it Campbell's
or another, and whether or not there's a coupon
attached—neither of which requires a lot of
supportive copy.
But, if Campbell's brings to market an all natural,
gluten and fat-free tomato soup that helps you lose
weight, sleep better and score a raise from your
boss on Monday morning... they've got a lot of
persuading to do.
As does an investment newsletter selling 12-month
subscriptions at $2,000-a-pop.
A 2-inch-by-2-inch print ad, a one-paragraph email,
or a tear-off coupon will not have enough selling
power, information, and enticements, to lift $2,000
out of anyone's wallet.
The reader's valuable time isn't the issue
Yes, we are a frenetic, multi-tasking,
hyper-achieving, constantly on the go society.
We prefer pithy sound bites over verbose,
grand-eloquent, chest-thumping prose.
By the way, nothing decreases readership faster,
thereby killing sales, than ads with half-page long
paragraphs in eye-straining small, 10 pt or less,
fonts.
Yet, people will actually attempt to read a 48-page
letter, magalog or bookalog, even poorly formatted
and designed ones—if the headline, deck copy and
lead grabs their attention—which it will only do if
it's clearly about a topic that deeply interests
them on a visceral level.
Whether or not they will read it through to the end,
and act upon its call to action—totally depends on
the copywriter's ability to keep their interest and
increase their desire.
It's the same reason no one will put down a good
book, even if its 1,000 pages long. Indeed, who
wants a good book to end?
Bottom line, people will read as much as is
available about any subject that's important to
them, emotionally, financially or intellectually.
Convince people your product can make them richer,
prettier, younger or healthier, among other
things—and as long as they've been hungry for those
promised results for a long, long time—they'll find
the time to read every word you've got to say.
But, then again, sometimes you just don't need to
say a lot.
When short copy is enough
As a marketer, if you've got a product that in
general is like every other product of its kind,
though maybe with a few value-added
differences—there's no need to re-write the entire
history of your product's invention in your sales
copy.
For example, if you're selling acne cream—all you
need say is, "Pimples disappear over night with Acme
Acne Cream."
There's no need to explain to a teenager what a
pimple is, where they pop up, who gets them—the poor
kid just wants to get rid of his, quick.
After all, what teenager doesn't know what acne
cream is? And besides, the kid knows he needs it. So
just grab him by his oily cheeks, in a very
teenager-engaging fashion, and quickly tell him why
he should use YOUR acne cream.
And you can easily do it above the fold.
When to make it a little longer
Sixteen-year-old Samantha really doesn't suffer from
acne (the operative word here is suffer). She gets a
pimple or two only when something stressful is
approaching—a final exam or a first date, for
example.
So in this case, merely announcing the existence of
your acne cream will probably not excite her enough
to forgo a shopping spree at the mall and invest in
a 6-month supply of your really cool super pimple
cream instead.
Samantha just doesn't recognize her infrequent
flare-ups as a problem requiring her attention.
So the goal of your marketing is to actually get her
attention—and keep it—because selling her will
obviously take longer.
Offering Samantha a coupon or sending her a mobile
message will not be enough.
To get her awareness level up and her desire engaged
you'll need to paint her a picture, tell her a
story—many, in fact.
Bottom line: if the sale is worth the effort... your
online ad needs to continue below the fold... and
your print ad will need a half-page, at least.
In short, you'll need more copy.
When to fire all torpedoes
Let's say you've invented the "one application—never
see a pimple return again—pleasantly perfect pimple
cream." One small tube, one large price tag and
pimples are gone forever.
Now if you think you can sell that above the fold or
just slightly below it—you need to fold up your
marketing director, stick him in an envelope, and
let the kid down in the shipping department design
your marketing campaign.
Understand, if your pleasantly perfect pimple cream
costs your target teenager a month's allowance,
you've got a lot of serious, serious selling to do.
For one, he's probably going to ask his parents to
pay for it. So you'll have to convince them,
too—sort of like in B2B marketing—where buying
decisions are made by a disinterested,
financially-stressed, pressed-for-time committee.
Bottom line: when you're confronted with a complex
sale, brevity is not your ally.
You simply cannot provide all the information—a
compelling story, incontrovertible proof, undeniable
credibility, risk reversal, and an irresistible
offer—all of which is necessary to convince,
persuade and close a difficult sale—in a tweet.
If you're selling a first-to-market product or a
complicated and expensive service, which your target
market has little or no awareness of—yes, you'll
certainly need to grab their attention above the
fold...
But then you'll also need to sit down with them as a
friend, via the written word, and have a long and
serious chat about how you're really here to help
them.
And, you'll need to continue that same conversation
with them—for as long as it takes—until they finally
agree to shake your hand.
And to do that you'll need a lot of copy, pages and
pages of it.
---Source: Barry A. Densa is a
freelance marketing and sales copywriter. You can
reach him at 805-236-4801. To view samples of his
work and sign up for his FREE ezine
Marketing Wit &
Wisdom! visit WritingWithPersonality.com.
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