Long Copy Works Better - Or Is It Short Copy?
Ahhh! The never-ending battle. I'm sure you've heard both
statements made with passion. Those that believe you must walk
your customer through each and every benefit preach, "Long copy
sells better!" Proponents of this copywriting method say
customers need to be "lead" or "teased" into reading the next
paragraph and the next. Finally, when you have them drooling,
you reveal the punch line.
On the other hand, advocates of short copy state that consumers
today have extremely short attention spans. Copy that's
"to-the-point" is a necessity in order to make a sale at all.
According to these experts, the long, drawn-out copy gets tossed
right out the window by busy, impatient readers. Feed it to them
fast or you'll lose them to the competition. So exactly who's
right? They both are!
No, I'm not being politically correct and I'm not avoiding the
issue. The honest truth is that all people in the world do not
communicate in the same way. Due to this fact, no one
copywriting approach will work with every single product or
service. As with every other aspect of advertising, you must
look to your target audience for the answer.
I've used this analogy for years... when you begin to write a
letter you do not sit down and write then decide who you will
mail the letter to. Before you put pen to paper you know who the
recipient of the message will be. You know their communication
style and how to best phrase the information so it will be well
received. The same applies to copywriting.
Let's say, just as an example, that your target audience
consists of small business owners. These business owners happen
to all be Certified Public Accountants. Just from this tiny bit
of information I can tell you the target group is extremely
busy, is very detail oriented and has a bottom line mentality.
These people are generally analytical thinkers. Based on these
facts, I would not write copy to this target audience in long
form. Why? It would most likely not be read.
The group above communicates in short, precise bursts. They are
looking for the bottom line first and an explanation afterwards.
The most effective way to get the attention of this group (in
writing) is to keep it short, sweet and to the point. Otherwise
you will lose them in what they consider to be a "bunch of
fluff". These folks are definitely members of the short copy
group.
So who belongs to the long copy group? People making an
investment for one. I don't mean an investment in the stock
market (so to speak). I'm talking about people who are going to
make a large investment of time or money in anything. People who
are thinking of joining an affiliate program or multilevel
marketing program would be receptive to long form copy. Those
who are going to invest many hours in a self-help process would
appreciate long copy. Let me explain.
When people are going to invest time or money (or both) in
something they get nervous. Customers need to be reassured that
they are making the right decision. They need to be reminded of
why they need to purchase this product or service. A wealth of
information makes these prospective clients more secure about
their decision.
Yes, there are other target groups that would benefit from both
long form and short form copy. There are a multitude of them to
say the least. As the advertiser, your job is to discover which
type of communication style will be received well by your
prospects. (A company named Myers-Briggs offers an excellent
course on defining communication styles. I've participated in
their training and found it to be highly beneficial.)
So what about the writers who swear their copywriting approach
will cause major increases in response rates? What about the
writers who say their method works for any product or service?
"But this guy said his copywriting style caused a 50% increase
in the direct mail response rate of a jewelry store." I've heard
this at least a hundred times. Maybe it did. However, I've never
been a real fan of statistics when used to prove a point such as
this.
There are two items in the above statement that cause me
concern. The first is the percentage. We don't know how many
direct mail pieces were originally mailed. Perhaps on the first
campaign 50 envelopes were sent. Direct mail normally provides a
1-3% response rate. If we allow the 3% in our example, that
would mean the original campaign received 1.5 responses. A 50%
increase means the mailing using the new copywriting style
received 2.25 responses. Technically, that is a 50% increase
even if only 2 people responded.
The second alarm that goes off is the phrase "response rate".
Most advertisers don't understand this statement. Response rate
does not equal sales. Response rate equals responses. Literally,
if a person calls to ask a question in relation to the mailing
it is considered a response - even if that person never
purchases. I caution you to beware of those with "one size fits
all" copy- writing approaches.
Yes, there are big names out there that will tell you that one
particular style of copy works to sell each and every product
and service. Again, technically, I suppose they are right.
However, it does not sell to each and every target audience
member. If you don't get through to the target audience, the
copy - regardless of who's style it is - is a waste of time and
effort.