The More You Tell, The More You Sell

The debate on using long copy versus short copy never seems to

end. Usually it is a newcomer to copywriting who seems to think that

long copy is boring and, well…long. “I would never read that much

copy,” they say.

The fact of the matter is that all things being equal, long copy will

outperform short copy every time. And when I say long copy, I don’t

mean long and boring, or long and untargeted.

The person who says he would never read all that copy is making a

big mistaking in copywriting: he is going with his gut reaction instead

of relying on test results. He is thinking that he himself is the

prospect. He’s not. We’re never our own prospects.

There have been many studies and split tests conducted on the long

copy versus short copy debate. And the clear winner is always long

copy. But that’s targeted relevant long copy as opposed to

untargeted boring long copy.

Some significant research has found that readership tends to fall off

dramatically at around 300 words, but does not drop off again until

around 3,000 words.

If I’m selling an expensive set of golf clubs and send my long copy to

a person who’s plays golf occasionally, or always wanted to try golf, I

am sending my sales pitch to the wrong prospect. It is not targeted

effectively. And so if a person who receives my long copy doesn’t

read past the 300

 

th

word, they weren’t qualified for my offer in the first place.

It wouldn’t have mattered whether they read up to the 100

 

th word or

10,000

 

th word. They still wouldn’t have made a purchase.

painting an irresistible offer, telling him how my clubs will knock 10

strokes off his game, he’ll likely read every word. And if I’ve targeted

my message correctly, he will buy.

Remember, if your prospect is 3000 miles away, it’s not easy for him

to ask you a question. You must anticipate and answer all of his

questions and overcome all objections in your copy if you are to be

successful.

And make sure you don’t throw everything you can think of under

the sun in there. You only need to include as much information as

you need to make the sale…and not one word more.

If it takes a 10-page sales letter, so be it. If it takes a 16-page

magalog, fine. But if the 10-page sales letter tests better than the

16-page magalog, then by all means go with the winner.

Does that mean every prospect must read every word of your copy

before he will order your product? Of course not.

Some will read every word and then go back and reread it again.

Some will read the headline and lead, then skim much of the body

and land on the close. Some will scan the entire body, then go back

and read it. All of those prospects may end up purchasing the offer,

but they also all may have different styles of reading and skimming.

Which brings us to the next tip…

Write To Be Scanned

Your layout is very important in a sales letter, because you want your

letter to look inviting, refreshing to the eyes. In short, you want your

prospect to stop what he’s doing and read your letter.

If he sees a letter with tiny margins, no indentations, no breaks in

the text, no white space, and no subheads…if he sees a page of

nothing but densely-packed words, do you think he’ll be tempted to

read it?

Not likely.

If you do have ample white space and generous margins, short

sentences, short paragraphs, subheads, and an italicized or

underlined word here and there for emphasis, it will certainly look

more inviting to read.

When reading your letter, some prospects will start at the beginning

and read word for word. Some will read the headline and maybe the

lead, then read the “P.S.” at the end of the letter and see who the

letter is from, then start from the beginning.

And some folks will scan through your letter, noticing the various

subheads strategically positioned by you throughout your letter, then

decide if it’s worth their time to read the entire thing. Some may

never read the entire letter, but order anyways.

You must write for all of them. Interesting and compelling long copy

for the studious reader, and short paragraphs and sentences, white

space, and subheads for the skimmer.

Subheads are the smaller headlines sprinkled throughout your copy.

Like this.

When coming up with your headline, some of the headlines that

didn’t make the cut can make great subheads. A good subhead

forces your prospect to keep reading, threading him along from start

to finish throughout your copy, while also providing the glue

necessary to keep skimmers skimming.

The Structure of AIDAS

There’s a well-known structure in successful sales letters, described

by the acronym

 

AIDA.

AIDA stands for:

•

 

Attention

•

 

Interest

•

 

Desire

•

 

Action

First, you capture your prospect’s attention. This is done with your

headline and lead. If your ad fails to capture your prospect’s

attention, it fails completely. Your prospect doesn’t read your stellar

copy, and doesn’t order your product or service.

Then you want to build a strong interest in your prospect. You want

him to keep reading, because if he reads, he just might buy.

Next, you channel a desire. Having a targeted market for this is key,

because you’re not trying to create a desire where one did not

already exist. You want to capitalize on an existing desire, which your

prospect

 

may or may not know he already has. And you want your

prospect to experience that desire for your product or service.

Finally, you present a call to action. You want him to pick up the

telephone, return the reply card, attend the sales presentation, order

your product, whatever. You need to ask for the sale (or response, if

that’s the goal). You don’t want to beat around the bush at this point.

If your letter and AIDA structure is sound and persuasive, here’s

where you present the terms of your offer and urge the prospect to

act now.

A lot has been written about the AIDA copywriting formula. I’d like to

add one more letter to the acronym: S for Satisfy.

In the end, after the sale is made, you want to satisfy your prospect,

who is now a customer. You want to deliver exactly what you

promised (or even more), by the date you promised, in the manner

you promised. In short, you want to give him every reason in the

world to trust you the next time you sell him a back-end offer. And of

course you’d rather he doesn’t return the product (although if he

does, you also execute your return policy

 

 

as promised

).