Long Copy Sells

Long Copy Sells.

Get Over It and Start Writing!

longcopyillus

This may come as a shock to all of you “give me more bullets” copywriters, but long copy sells! It has always been true. Certainly we are all busier than ever before. Certainly we have less time to browse, skim, scan and peruse–unless we find something interesting.  Then we CRAVE information! We absorb the details like a sponge. We can’t get enough.

If Youre Interested, Youll Read It

When readers complain about advertising what do you suppose is high on the list? Too many words? Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the number two complaint about advertising is “lack of information” (”feeling deceived” is the number one complaint).  Good advertising gives enough information for readers to take some action–make a phone call, visit a web site, send in a coupon, make a purchase.

If It Was Easy, Anyone Could Do It

If writing a long copy ad was easy, anyone could do it–and everybody would. Who purposely creates an ad knowing that it won’t bring in a decent response? Nobody does. The real test in creating a long copy ad is not “can you write that many words” but “can you write that many words that people will read?” There are precious few copywriters who can do the job.

How Do You Hold the Interest of Your Reader?

Step One: Know your audience
Know who you are writing to when you create that brilliant ad campaign. Keep that picture in your mind as you write. Say things that will be important to your audience. Don’t waste any words on self-serving fluff. Give your prospect the information he or she needs to make a decision. Tell how your product or service will benefit your customer. Rarely, if ever, will that involve how long you’ve been in business, how many awards you’ve won or how many square feet in your manufacturing facility.

Step Two: Tell a story
Good copywriters are storytellers. That doesn’t mean that your next ad needs to be a novel, just make it interesting. If your copy tells a compelling story people will read it. There is no magic “word meter” in your customer’s brain that automatically shuts down after 100 or 200 words. If your copy is engaging, it will be read. If not, even a 50 word ad won’t help.

Step Three: Use Subheads Liberally
Break up your copy with subheads that help tell your story. One thing that the graphic designers have correct is that your ad needs to look easy to read. It needs to have some white space, an attractive and readable typeface and subheads that hit your main points even if the ad isn’t read all the way through.

Step Four: Build a Case
Take the advice of Stephen A. Covey, the “Seven Habits” guy, and “begin with the end in mind.” Decide what you want your prospects to do and build your case to convince them to take that action. Start at the beginning and don’t stop until you’ve finished.  You need to be specific and compelling. Make sure you give your prospect a reason to take the action you desire. Look at the action from your prospect’s point of view. What will it take to get the prospect to act? Give your prospect ALL the reasons needed to take that action.

Finally: Be Clear–and Realistic– About What You Expect Your Prospect to Do
Building a case can be complicated if you try to get your prospect to take too big a step after reading an ad. For example, if you’re selling a multi-million dollar piece of equipment or complex enterprise software, you will probably only expect your prospect to ask for more details, make a phone call, visit a web site, etc. Build a case that results in the action you want–even if it’s only an intermediate step in the sales process.

Dont Confuse Branding with Direct Response Advertising

The number one goal of branding is to increase awareness of a product or brand. Direct response advertising is designed to get the prospect to take action. So if you’re doing branding and expecting the phone to ring or web hits to increase, you’re in for a shock. Sure, branding has its place, but direct response advertising is what makes the phone (and the cash register) ring.

Listen to What the Experts Say

In a well written article on the subject of long vs short copy ads, George Demmer collected a series of quotes from the writings of advertising legends. These professionals built their successful careers by bringing in results for their clients. Here’s what they have to say about long copy ads:

David Ogilvy in “Confessions of an Advertising Man”
There is a universal belief in lay circles that people won’t read long copy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Claude Hopkins once wrote five pages of solid text for Schlitz beer. In a few months, Schlitz moved up from fifth place to first. I once wrote a page of solid text for Good Luck Margarine, with most gratifying results.

Every advertisement should be a complete sales pitch for your product. It is unrealistic to assume that consumers will read a series of advertisements for the same product. You should shoot the works in every advertisement, on the assumption that it is the only chance you will ever have to sell your product to the reader—now or never. Research shows that readership falls off rapidly up to 50 words of copy, but drops very little between 50 and 500 words. In my first Rolls Royce advertisement I used 719 words—piling one fascinating fact on another. In the last paragraph I wrote, “people who feel diffident about driving a Rolls Royce can buy a Bentley.” Judging from the number of motorists who picked up the word “diffident” and bandied it about, I concluded that the advertisement was thoroughly read. In the next one I used 1,400 words.

David Ogilvy in “Ogilvy on Advertising”
All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short. [He then goes on to give numerous examples of successful long copy ads.] I could give you countless other examples of long copy which has made the cash register ring, notably for Mercedes cars. Not only in the United States, but all over the world. I believe, without any research to support me, that advertisements with long copy convey the impression that you have something important to say, whether people read the copy or not.  Direct response advertisers know that short copy doesn’t sell. In split run tests, long copy invariably outsells short copy . . . Long copy sells more than short copy, particularly when you are asking the reader to spend a lot of money. Only amateurs use short copy.

John Caples in “Tested Advertising Methods”
Advocates of short copy say, “I don’t think anybody will read all that small print. Let’s cut the copy down to a couple of paragraphs and set it in 18-point type.”

What the advocates of short copy should say, if they want to be accurate, is this: “I don’t think everybody will read all that small print.” This is perfectly true. Everybody will not read it. But the fact is that the very people you are most interested in will read your ad. These are the prospects who will buy your product or service if you tell them sufficient reasons for doing so.

The question arises: Why wouldn’t it pay the short-copy users to make their advertising do the utmost selling job by including more sales talk? Answer: the chances are that it would pay them. Here is a solution to the problem of long copy versus short copy that should satisfy the champions of both sides of the question. Put a brief selling message into your headline and subheadings. Put your detailed message into small print. In this way, you accomplish two things: (1) You get a brief message across to glancers with your headline and subheads. (2) You give a complete message in small print to the person who is sufficiently interested in your product to read about it.

Walter H. Weintz in “Solid Gold Mailbox”
. . . a 4-page letter will generally pull twice as many orders as a one-page letter, provided that the copywriter has something to say, and says it with some skill. This isn’t just an opinion: it has been proved over and over, by tests—where a skeptical client has prepared a one-page letter, in finest prose, and tested it against a long-winded 4-pager. In fact, Meredith Publishing Company (publishers of Better Homes and Gardens and Modern Living magazines, as well as numerous books and clubs) generally prefers a six-page letter-because their tests have proved that a good 6-pager pulls even better than a 4-pager!

Craig Huey in “2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success”
Long copy works. The more you tell, the more you sell. In fact, the reason ads don’t do as well as direct mail is you don’t have the space to tell your story as strongly. In just one study, McGraw-Hill reviewed 3,597 ads in 26 business magazines. It found that ads with 300 or more words were more effective than shorter ads in creating awareness of the product, prompting action, and reinforcing a buying decision.

Jay Conrad Levinson and Seth Godin in “The Guerilla Marketing Handbook”
Don’t be afraid to use lengthy copy. It’s been statistically proven time and time again that ads with more copy draw better than those with less. You want to give the reader as much of the story about your product or service as possible. Tell a story that will compel them to buy.

So, What Do You Think Now?

Each one of the authors quoted are legends in the advertising and marketing business. They have generated successful marketing campaigns responsible for billions of dollars in sales revenue. They have built their careers on producing advertising that works. What are the chances they’re wrong? Zero.

OK, If Long Copy Sells Better, Why Doesnt Everybody Do It?

What a great question. I’m so glad you asked. I think there are quite a number of reasons and most of them have nothing to do with increasing your sales. We could do a David Letterman Top 10 on this question, but there are only two or three issues that really matter. Here’s how I see it . . .

     1. Clients arent demanding response producing ads–This means that many of you are still not holding your advertising accountable. Stop it right now! Make your agency or marketing department accountable for results.

     2. Its easier and more fun to have cute advertising. No kidding. But the real fun happens when you calculate your increases in sales. Save your fun for the stuff that really matters.

     3. Agencies and clients have been fooled into believing that long copy will not work. Occasionally we all need to be re-calibrated. I’m suggesting the time has come for some recalibration in the advertising business.

Long Copy Works, Now Get Out There and Do It!

Now you know. If you have something good to say and can say it well, your advertising will do what is supposed to do–produce results.

One Response to “Long Copy Sells”

  1. G S Meredith

    Having worked in Higher Education I can confirm that for certain products long copy out sells short quite considerably. Keeping that copy tight and relevant (in other words no repetition or rambling) is the key.

    Reply

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