Long Copy v Short Copy

[Mark Pocock]

Was talking with a marketing director the other week and he had the belief that short copy was better than long copy in marketing. And he had 10 years experience in marketing.

But he's wrong!

The more you tell the more you sell.

You wouldn't send out your sales person and tell him or her to do half a pitch. That they could only talk for five minutes. And after that they had to shut up.

Same with the copy on your web sites, sales letters, brochures, etc.

If you've targeted your prospect correctly he'll soak up your copy like a 15 year old reading Playboy magazine.

After you all know copywriting is salesmanship in print. Don't you?

Your words are your salesperson. They target your customers' wants , needs and desires. They persuade. they provide proof.

And finally the great Gary Halbert (who wrote the most mailed sales letter in history - 600,000,000 times) said that anyone who believed short copy out sells long copy should be slapped publically in the face!

[LindseyMHC]

I expect the marketing director you spoke to meant 'less is more'.

Good marketeers generally work to the K.I.S.S. principle - that of Keep It Simple Stupid!!

Writing shorter copy means you are more succinct rather than waffly. However, it depends on what you are doing. A short newsy piece can grab attention just as much as a longer feature-style article - it depends on the medium and the audience.

In effect, you are both right, but my advice is always to lean towards shorter succinct copy rather then longer more waffley copy.

Lindsey.

[Rob Holmes]

I'm of the view (and I've been influenced by people who have tested this and produced stats) that good long copy out-pulls good short copy.

Of course theres good and bad of each which is a variable.

Heres one of my favourite forums - great for getting to the bottom of copy-writing issues..

http://copywritersboard.com/index.php

Hope this helps,

Rob

[creospace]

Less is more is the way to go and also you leave the customer with (hopefully) a nice taste in their mouth and one they want fulfilling so they will take the next step and contact you.

Once they contact you and providing you have good interpersonal skills you can make a good pitch.

Gary

[Rob Holmes]

Less is more is the way to go and also you leave the customer with (hopefully) a nice taste in their mouth and one they want fulfilling so they will take the next step and contact you.

Once they contact you and providing you have good interpersonal skills you can make a good pitch.

Gary

You say that as a general statement Gary and might be right when you're selling sweets to kids but there are some market places that more is proven to outsell yes.

Rob

[creospace]

OK well of course it's relative and contextual but I think my words go a little deeper than selling sweets to kids!

Gary

[MinuWeb]

I would opt for less is more.

If I read sales copy I want to know what it is, why I need it, benefits of buying it and how much it costs and not pages of blurb, if I am interested I will then investigate further.

[multilingual]

I don't want to sound like a parrot and keep repeating myself from other threads, but marketing strategies need to vary depending on whether it is consumer marketing or B2B.

There are some similarities but a consumer will react better to a short copy and the business will need more substance to gain trust.

In my opinion, copy can never be too long, just too boring. :)

JB

[creospace]

like a good sermon a, it should make you dwell on eternity, not feel like it!

Gary :)

[Rob Holmes]

This is an age old debate.

Here are some actual test results..

http://michelfortin.com/archives/2004/10/long_copy_or_sh.htm

Rob

[directmarketingadvice]

I think the key quotes from that article are:

"Be long for the sake of providing as much information as is needed to make the sale -- and not one word more."

"The person who says 'I would never read all that copy' makes the mistake of thinking they are the customer."

Steve

[Rob Holmes]

like a good sermon a, it should make you dwell on eternity, not feel like it!

Gary :)

I will forward that quote to my brother who is a pastor :)

@Steve

Very true - how would you gauge whats too short/perfect and too long?

Rob

[Cornish Steve]

More important is the nature of the content. It must convey your most important message in terms that resonate with the target audience. If the message is not succinct, or if you try to make too many points, you'll lose the audience.

The following facts must be in order before even considering marketing materials:

- What is your unique value proposition?

- Who is your target audience?

- How best can you reach that target audience?

- How can you relate your message to the audience's needs?

[DuaneJackson]

Sitting opposite the marketing director in question, I've been following this thread with interest.

I think that long or short should be decided based upon the product/service being sold. Sometimes one is much more appropriate than the other. I think in this particluar instance Mark was right.

[Rob Holmes]

Sitting opposite the marketing director in question, I've been following this thread with interest.

I think that long or short should be decided based upon the product/service being sold. Sometimes one is much more appropriate than the other. I think in this particluar instance Mark was right.

Interesting - up till now no-one knew the context or product - except Mark - actually we still don't :?

Rob

[directmarketingadvice]

Very true - how would you gauge whats too short/perfect and too long?

That's a tough question.

The Gary Halbert letter Mark mentioned in the opening post was fairly short. Half a dozen paragraphs (2 of which were just one sentence) and a PS.

However, in a recent newsletter, Halbert published an old ad of his which was undoubtedly "long".

(http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com/Newsletters/2005/11-09-05.htm)

Both letters told a story. Just one story was (by necessity) a lot more complcated than the other.

I guess the answer to the question is "say what you have to say and then stop". However, that puts it right in the "easier said than done" category.

Steve

[Mark Pocock]

Steve

Haven't checked the link but I guess you mean the water ad.

It brought in $400,000,000 of investor's money!!
$400 million Dollars from an ad.

no wonder he calls himself the prince of print and can call his readers a bunch of s***weasels...LOL

[MorethanWords]

Surely it depends on what the copy is for, who the audience is and the medium by which it is being presented?

[hairsoup]

If applicable, I would reccomend split testing - I know thats my answer to everything but its so darn good!

[Richard Glynn]

Surely it depends on what the copy is for, who the audience is and the medium by which it is being presented?

Agree. It also depends on if the letter is the only marketing weapon being used (needs to say more) - or if it's being sent to accompany an advertising campaign - or to point people to a website etc (needs to say less).

But generally speaking if you can get your point across in 150 words - then way use 500?

(Just off to rewrite and condense my previous postings!)

[Janebert]

As has been alluded to here, how long copy should be is a function of:

1) the nature of the market
2) whether it's a product or service
3) whether it's b2c or b2b
4) what you want the reader to do as a consequence of reading your copy
5) the nature of the product/service - is it complex or very simple?
6) the marketing sequence
7) the medium the message is going in

and so on and so forth. In other words, there's no a priori right answer, because the answer is "it just depends"!

Example 1: Chocolate bars tend not to need a huge amount of copy. What the advertising needs to do is stimulate the taste buds. Chocolate can be sold with a picture and a few words. (Unless it's speciality chocolate and then more explanation might be required)

Example 2: A brand new BMW
If you were buying such a car, would you buy it on the back of 150 words (spoken or written)? Unlikely. You'd want all the specs, all the details. If you're a real Beemer enthusiast you'll soak up every bit of sales copy, every bit of data and every bit of information on your model of BMW.

Example 3: An accounting service
Can you sell accounting services off the page? Unlikely. You probably need to sell the APPOINTMENT. In which case you need to motivate your target readers to ring for an appointment, and this may not require particularly long copy.

By the way, I've been one of the main protagonists in the regular debates about long copy vs short copy on the copywritersboard.com :wink:

Jane

[directmarketingadvice]

I just started re-reading "Scientific Advertising" by Claude Hopkins and thought this was worth posting:

"Some argue for slogans, some like clever conceits. Would
you use them in personal salesmanship? Can you imagine a
customer whom such things would impress? If not, don't
rely on them for selling in print.

Some say, "Be very brief. People will read but little." Would
you say that to a salesman? With a prospect standing before
him, would you confine him to any certain number of
words? That would be an unthinkable handicap.

So in advertising. The only readers we get are people whom
our subject interests. No one reads ads for amusement, long
or short. Consider them as prospects standing before you,
seeking for information. Give them enough to get action."

Steve

[Mark Pocock]

Steve

Yep copy needs to be tight. If you deviate from what brought your prospect into reading your marketing piece then you stand the risk of losing them.