Long Copy Or Short Copy?
"I want an 8 page sales letter. Mustn't have antthing too long! "
Whenever I hear those words I'm filled with the urge to put the phone down and scream. I somehow prevent myself from doing this by thinking about an obvious truth: of course it mustn't be too long.
But how long is too long?
Most business owners will tell you they think business-to-business letters should be "short and punchy", because "busy business people haven't the time to read long letters".
You might think this is true, based on your own preferences.
But it's wrong. And the statistics from over a century of testing proves it's wrong. People WILL read long copy; it's dull and uninspiring copy that turns them off.
Despite what you personally think you prefer, the fact remains on balance, long copy almost always outsells short copy. And while it's true that a busy executive won't spend the time to read a long, uninspiring letter, she will make the time to read a long, well written and inspiring sales letter that promises her and her business good benefits.
Looking at the problem in another way also shows us how ridiculous it is. Consider a sales manager sending out his best salesman to make a call. Would he really say:
"You make the appointment, you make the call,
north face jacket sale, you make the sale… but you mustn't say more than 200 words or speak for more than 1 minute".
No, of course not. Quite the opposite, in truth: you'd want him to keep talking until he'd sold something, would you not?
So why constrain your sales letters - which are nothing if not salesmen in envelopes - in this same artificial way?
A sales letter exists to get readers to take the action the copywriter wants them to take. And to achieve this the writer must get down all the required information,
asics gel strike, anticipate, meet,
nike outlet store, and overcome all objections, and so on and so forth. If the end-result is for the reader to put a cheque in an envelope,
ferragamo wallet, this can be a lot of information. Sales letters are frequently more than 16 pages long; I've heard of others that are 64 pages long and sell the product like hot cakes.
In short, copy needs to be as long as it needs to be to achieve its purpose.
No more, no less.
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