I've been following this debate for some time, and it puzzles me
that most copywriters appear to think it's an either/or situation.
That it's a choice between long copy or short copy.
For me, the beauty of the Internet, and especially the web, is the
ability to offer the prospect what THEY want... in other words, they
can select as much or as little copy as they need or want, through
intelligent use of interactivity.
As a sales manager and sales trainer, one of the most frustrating
things I see is the gung-ho seller who insists on unselling
prospects by overwhelming them with more information than they want
or need AFTER the prospect has decided to buy. They refuse to allow
the prospect to purchase until they've given them every possible
reason to buy.
I've come to the conclusion that most sites that force the prospect
to wade through reams and reams of bloated arguments and offers are
written by people who just don't get it. It's not the long copy
that's the problem.
It's the arrogance that assumes the prospect will want to read it,
and that what they've so carefully-crafted is worth reading,
regardless of what THE PROSPECT thinks.
Or they're ignoramuses who do what everyone tells them is the "magic
formula" for online selling success.
One of the worst mistakes any seller -- including copywriters -- can
make is withholding information or help from a prospect. So long
copy is often essential. But let's not make the mistake of assuming
that every prospect needs to read everything we write. Or that they
only need to read what we offer them (for the short-copy-only
protagonists). And let's not forget that withholding help applies
just as much to not allowing them to go straight to the purchase
page when THEY're ready.
It's about THEM, not us... remember?
If you're so enamoured of your own beautiful stuff that you believe
every visitor should have to read it, regardless of their readiness
to buy, you have lost the plot, BIG time.
Let's offer them ways to skip to the purchase at any time, or to
request more information, preferably in an intelligently organised
way where the prospect is in control of what information they read
next. (Navigation strategy comes to mind here.)
The real problem is not any kind of dilemma about short or long copy
and which is better. The real problem is an abysmal lack of thought
about how we can give the prospects precisely what they need and
want, in ways they can use to make the decision that will best suit
them.
The fear-of-loss that so often passes for copywriting and sales
strategy online is pretty awful for the most part. Creativity is
about problem solving, not how many different ways we can say a
thing.
"Killer copy" is too often just that... bloated, pompous,
self-indulgent, patronising hyperbolae that kills off far too many
prospective sales.
There's a reason so many sales pages are so long: it's to match the
format of the paper on which they deserve to be printed.
But at least a toilet roll has perforations that let you get to the
.. er... bottom of things.
Time to think outside the square, folks. Let's not mistake verbal
diarrhea for copywriting. It's about quality, not merely quantity.
How long should your copy be?
Like the proverbial piece of string, it should be as long as it
NEEDS to be to do the desired job. Given the flexibility of this
medium, it's time we began using it to deliver the copy that suits
EVERY prospect's needs and wants.
John Counsel
CEO, The Profit Clinic
http://www.profitclinic.com
http://www.fourthgenerationselling.com
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