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copywriting :: Internet Marketing :: Copywriting
Long Sales Letters vs. Short Sales Letters
The following article presents the very
latest information on content,marketing and sales letters. If you have
a particular interest in content,marketing and sales letters, then this
informative article is required reading.
Everywhere I turn, I'm being asked to weigh in on the issue of
whether copy should be long or short in a sales letter. I receive
countless newsletters on copywriting and marketing, and they are all still debating the issue.
I doubt that the question will be answered definitively, but after
hearing from other Internet copywriters and after considering the issue
myself, I've learned that if you follow three guidelines, the issue of
length will become almost irrelevant.
Guideline #1) TELL PROSPECTS WHAT THEY WANT AND NEED TO KNOW TO MAKE A BUYING DECISION.
Interested prospects will read even a sales letter of several pages
long if they are interested and if your sales letter has good content.
Many of us are more interested in telling prospects what WE want them
to know. But we should all be telling prospects what THEY want and need
to know.
Guideline #2) OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS.
This guideline is actually Rule #17 from Strunk & White's
famous little book on writing, _The_Elements_of_Style_. (If you write,
you really should read this small but influential book.)
Anything that doesn't have a direct purpose or work toward
winning over your prospect should be cut out. I don't care how much you
want to tell them about what a great reputation your company has and
how successful you were last year. Unless that information takes the
reader one step closer to buying (admittedly, sometimes it does), cut
it.
Do the research and know your target audience. Then, write with
their needs in mind. Write everything your prospects want and need to
read, but write ONLY what they want and need to read. Cut the rest.
Guideline #3) TEST. TEST. TEST.
This is the best indicator of how long your sales letter should be.
If you don't like to test, you have to rely on luck. Not a good idea.
Put together the best sales letter you can with everything a prospect
needs to know to make a buying decision, cut out anything that's not
essential reading for your prospect, then run it. Record the results.
Rewrite a portion of the letter. Test again. Record the results. Keep
doing this until conversion rates improve and you'll know how long your
sales letter needs to be. Of course, this kind of testing is much
easier online than in offline direct mail, but it needs to be done.
(Offline direct mail will probably require a split mailing.)
Although many people will tell you that "research has shown longer sales letters pull better," the only research you should be paying attention to is your own. Long sales letters don't pull well for everyone.
There's an easy way to answer to the question of how long or short
a sales letter should be. (It's the same for other similar questions of
tone, diction, and how much text you should emphasize.) Determine the
needs and desires of your readers and you'll have your answer.
About The Author
Matthew Cobb is an independent copywriter/consultant. Contact him at contact@cobbwriting.com or learn more about sales letters by Matthew Cobb by visiting his Web site at www.cobbwriting.com/salesletters, and sign up for his free monthly e-publication, The Seductive Sales Letter Clinic.
Now that wasn't hard at all, was it? And you've
earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an
expert's word on content,marketing and sales letters.
We hope you found the information on this page useful and will return often to browse
the many articles throughout our site. We will be adding new material on an ongoing
basis in order to keep our visitors up to date on the latest promotion and marketing
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internet.
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