Long sales copy versus short sales copy.

[newsguy]

I am a believer in long sales copy. The long sales copy I've used on my site has worked much better at converting visitors than the short sales copy. But then I have a higher ticket sales item ($99).

I'm starting to see, though, sales copy that goes beyond the description "long"--ENORMOUS would be a better world, or NEVER-ENDING.

Honestly, I -never- read all of that copy and almost always get bored and leave the site.

Does this super-ultra-long copy work for anybody?

[LocalMarketingGuy]

As a consumer and a marketer, no. But to each his own, every industry and product is different. For example, *some* higher ticket items, commiting programs, seminars, and especially fundraisers ect.. they pride themselves on copy, testimonials and not leaving any guess work to the consumer. How long are we talking here? 1 page? two pages? a paragraph? there is a such thing as too long.

[gorillaboy]

We've tested long, medium and short.

For "products", medium lenghth copy (around 600 characters) or so works best (for us). It's very important to include bullet points or specs as well. Some people will skip the copy and look for the technical aspects or features.
(We sell items that range from $2.00 - $10,000. The average item is about $65)

For "programs", (something you want people to sign up for), the long (ultra-long) copy works best for us. We offer a newsletter customization program. We have over three pages of text explaining the program. Of the people that look at this area of the site, 47% click all the way through to the last page. And of those people, 14% actually sign up and pay for the program. I think that's pretty good. It's a $600 - $1,000 enrollment fee. Overall, we have an 8% conversion rate for this program.

One thing to remember; when you're using long copy be sure to ask for the order many times. Explicitly ask them to buy the product in places throughout the article.

[imaginemn]

It really depends on the media on where you sales copy will be. If it's a magazine, newspaper, flyer then long copy usually can work to your advantage. If it's email, ads, promos then a short teaser with a reference where to get more information works best.

I get several requests by my clients to send out monthly email newsletters. Before we used to send a "long copy" email and most people would ignore the emails. But now we send out a "short teaser" email that just highlights the offer with a link to the "long copy/details" of the offer and we have seen a much higher return.

The way I see it is that YES it's an extra step to get to the REAL information BUT those people clicking to the EXTRA step are much more willing to buy than those who don't. Not only that it help ME as the "marketing firm" to give my clients some additional information like.

We sent out 1000 emails. 50 of them clicked on the more info and only 1 bought. What went wrong? Do you see where I'm going with this?

imaginemn

[gorillaboy]

Good points imaginemn.

In my post, I was referring to web site copy. Specifically product and program descriptions.

[younghistorians]

SvN Discussion

[WordArtist]

I'm lover of short copy. Small sentences. Sharp words.

[Johan007]

It depends on the product. For an e-shop with lots of products then its not length that matters but giving the person as much relevant information as possible about a product in a quick to use way. I like detailed tables so I know just what I am getting without reading loads of text. Just check out comet: http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/320_220884.html

However for 1 product websites then you need titled paragraphs and/or bullet points eg: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ or http://www.basecamphq.com/

[Raydal]

There is no such thing as long copy only boring copy.

Ever seen the 800 page books that some Harry Potter
fans read? Why? Because it interest them. If you
make your writing interesting and the prospect is
interested in the product they cannot have too much
information about this product.

Normally higher prices items (requiring bigger commitment)
will require longer copy. Smaller price items will take
shorter copy as a rule of thumb.

Just think about it. You'll want to know more about
a house you're about to purchase than a bicycle.

99% of marketing tests show that long copy will
ouptull short copy everytime. This is especially
true when you give as many bulleted points as
possible.

Even a reader doesn't read all the letter the long
leeter gives the impression that this product has
a lot of benefit. That's why you should list every
benefit possible, even the obvious ones.

King Regards,

Ray Edwards
"the gets results copywriter!"
http://www.webcopy-writing.com

[smrtmny2]

I love to read and I love to be sold. If the copy is well written, and I'm interested in the product, I'll read it all the way through. Sometimes if it's particularly well done, I'll just skip to the end and buy. Most of the time, I like to read it all and observe what makes it good.

If it's boring or repetitive, I'm out of there. I usually save a copy of the sales text that makes me buy, in a special folder. When I go to write copy, I'll study these successful letters and try to use some of the same techniques.

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