Long copy vs. short copy: which one is better?
Several gurus in direct marketing say that long copy in letters normally out pull short copy. What has been your experience?
Answers (14)
Jim W
Direct Response Television (DRTV) Consultant, Founder Infomercial.com
Best Answers in: Direct Marketing (1)
Short on the outside to get attention if/when possible. Long on the inside to include offer, incentive, features and benefits.
For Web and On Screen Media short copy is best. The web is a cross between print and television. All Copy for Web should be as brief as possible leading the reader to the point quickly.
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That depends on what you're trying to accomplish, but statistics show that long copy out performs short in most instances, and most of my marketing friends that have been in the business longer than I have can back that up (see the expert below--he's been around since Ogilvy!)
It's got to be long enough to get the job done, but not long for long's sake.
If you don't target the right people, don't get their attention and then fire up their imaginations as to the benefits they'll enjoy, don't offer proof that your product does what you say it will, don't overcome objections and establish credibility, then it doesn't matter how long it is--they won't read it.
But if the opposite is true, and you have the RIGHT message to the RIGHT audience with the RIGHT medium and at the RIGHT time, they'll read every word of what you have to say. Write until you've run out of benefits. That's online AND offline, by the way.
It's all a matter of nailing your target market's buying emotions, and establishing that rapport with them. The more ammunition you have to do that with, the better your chances.
Apryl P also suggests these experts on this topic:
Hal G
President, Goodtree & Company
Best Answers in: Advertising (1), Internet Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Writing and Editing (1)
For Direct Response, long copy is almost always necessary.
You have to entice, explain and close the sale (or motivate action) all on one page.
In a series of 6 emails for a consumer protection org, the letters got progressively shorter and the offer progressively larger as we tried to dig out every last subscription.
I think it depends on the product. I work for a health care company that sells health insurance, which is a complicated product for most people. We've recently experimented with a direct mail packet that includes a 4 page sales letter and a brochure, etc. and have gotten great results from it.
Mark R
I help businesses get (& keep) more customers, become more productive, & get more from their marketing/tech investments.
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (2), Lead Generation (2), Starting Up (2), Freelancing and Contracting (1), Business Development (1), Public Relations (1), Individual Insurance (1), Small Business (1)
You could find 100 gurus and probably half will fall on both sides. Depends on who you pick.
IE: It's a trick question, though not intentionally :)
The only way to find out the right answer for the prospect in question is to TEST. Until you test for the market you're marketing to, you just wont know.
Mark Riffey
Rescue Marketing
http://www.rescuemarketing.com/blog/
Depends on your target audience and the complexity of your product as well as what medium you are using.
Mark is correct. There is no correct answer.
Test and keep on testing. By testing you can obtain priceless information about the geographic and psychographic of your potential consumer.
Fran
Yoel C
Owner, Strategic Minds - International Business Development and Creative Marketing Specialists
Best Answers in: Business Development (3), Planning (2), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Graphic Design (1), Business Analytics (1), Retirement and Estate Planning (1), Wealth Management (1), Small Business (1), Web Development (1)
Hi Alejandro,
Let not the long copy lie
Sell not a short copy sham or scam
Tell a story that sells a truth
Write the right thing right
- interestingly, in the time and space it takes
And your reader will readily, verily, let you know
Best to you and yours,
Yoel
Ja W
Owner, Music Industry Connection
Best Answers in: Events Marketing (2), Travel Tools (1), Internet Marketing (1), Writing and Editing (1), Blogging (1)
I've never tried short copy. So I'd say long. LOL
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Lisa C
Communications Strategist, Editor and Writer
Best Answers in: Writing and Editing (1), Web Development (1)
I agree that long copy tends to pull better -- if you've managed to engage a prospect enough to open the envelope, they want to be convinced it was worth their time and effort.
Keep in mind that a letter is only one part of a good direct mail package. It starts with the envelope -- where short copy is obviously key -- but may include more than the letter. Often, a buckslip or kicker with *short copy,* in combination with the long-copy letter, is what makes the difference.
There's only one way to find out what copy works for your target. Test it!
Gene Fowler said, "Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead."
The magic is to create “right-sized” copy. That’s copy that is not predetermined to be long or short, but (as Goldilocks said) “just right” to achieve the marketing mission objectives.
The challenge of compelling long copy
Extremely powerful, long copy is very tricky to craft and wordsmith. Highly effective marketers continually test their copy and refine their approach until they find a control that works best for their particular audience. The smart way is to test copy with an A-B split on a statistically meaningful audience segment and measure the results. Customers never lie when they vote with their click, credit cards and purchase orders. Always follow the results data and apply it to the specific list demographics. Throw away your tired, old prejudices about long versus short copy, text versus HTML or multimedia email and all the other so-called "common wisdom". At the end of the day, well crafted, right-sized copy always wins. Track the results and pay close attention to the data. Numbers never lie.
How to right-size your copy
If you want to get sensational results from your campaigns, the secret is to craft your copy so that you write something your recipient wants to read about. It's not a matter of how long or short you make the pitch, just create concise copy that is crafted to compel the reader to take action.
AIDCC makes magic.
AIDCC is the way I create copy that is always compelling, regardless of length. This 5-letter acronym describes the essential components of every sales talk, whether in print, on the Internet, over the airwaves or in person. You cannot sell anybody anything unless you address these 5 steps in the sales cycle:
ATTENTION
INTEREST
DESIRE
CONVICTION
CLOSE
The 40-40-20 Rule
The success of every marketing campaign depends 40% on the quality of the list or media, 40% on the quality of your offer and only 20% on the quality of your creative. Yet, the creative starts with your copy and is the gatekeeper of the recipient's mind. If the copy is weak, regardless of its length; it prevents people on a great list or in a hot audience from reaching a sizzling offer. So, that 20% – if it's weak – effectively wipes out the other 80% of your campaign, slamming the gate shut.
Long copy works
I know that this flies in the face of today's "common wisdom" regarding email marketing. I hear the "keep it short" mantra. Sometimes, it's actually the right thing to do but only when the sole objective is to brand a simple, powerful concept. I don't subscribe to "common wisdom". I simply go with what works and I never argue with results. Whenever I have tested long copy against short copy, the long version has won in exactly 98% of the tests done over the last three decades.
I have surveyed audiences and the results lead me to believe that people often say, "Keep it short!" is because copy in most campaigns is so poorly written that readers quickly reach a threshold of disinterest. Good copy always gets read by qualified prospects regardless of length. On the other hand, it is no coincidence that in head-to-head direct response tests, long copy almost always out-pulls short copy. It's not common wisdom, just a cold hard, measurable fact.
Say the right things to the right people
Say what people want to hear and they will listen and read. This was evident in my campaign on behalf of a major mailer who sent a very popular email newsletter to their favorite list that was producing 16-20% click-through every week they mailed. An arbitrary creative change to short, hard-sell bulleted copy shot down click-through to just 3%! What's worse, the advertiser's unsubscribe requests skyrocketed and they lost over 25% of their formerly loyal list members on their very first short copy email test. Wow! Talk about saying the wrong thing to the right people!
Marian K
Junior Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble CES HQ
Best Answers in: Direct Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1)
Hi Alejandro,
you post very good questions that can't be answered just 'yes/no'. Good :)
The best answer is - test it. Select your target group, divide it by specified criteria and test it - try it and you'll see. There is nothing better to do.
Direct marketing coms is all about testing, if you don't do it you'll find yourself 'sinking in the sea of 'what ifs''
Long copy was really usable during 1950s-1980s/90s - just look at David Ogilvy's ads. Today, copywriters tend to make it short in the beginning to grab the reader and then enhance the copy. But it all depends.
Drayton Bird, one of the best copywriters in the world, uses a technique of 'getting the nod'. If your reader agrees what you say then he continues to read (similar to dialogue). When you make him/her to nod paragraph after paraghraph, he/she will continue to read untill the end.
Test it, read Drayton Bird's book and you are good to go ;)
HTH
Marian
Kartick S
Brand Manager - UltraTech Concrete at Grasim Industries Ltd. - Aditya Birla Group
Best Answers in: Conference Venues (1), Guerrilla Marketing (1)
Stick to AIDA model. more often than not I would stick to short copy.In the current era of extreme media clutter, only a fraction of the TG actually see your ad and even lesser remember it. So the probability of them going through a long copy is extremely remote unless the creative is extremely good or the concept itself is so innovative that it automatically leads to customer interest.