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Long Copy Works Better - Or Is It Short Copy?
Author: Karon Thackston
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.
About the AuthorKaron is Owner and President of KT & Associates who offers
targeted copywriting, copy editing & ghostwriting services.
Visit her site at http://www.ktamarketing.com
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