It’s the debate that never ends…
Do those long copy sales pages actually work?
Do people really read that much these days?
And, more importantly, do they actually buy from them?
They not only work, they often work better.
Of course, that’s only if long copy is the right call, and done correctly.
Here’s how to figure out if long copy is right for you, and the secret to doing it right.
When to use long copy
First off, not all situations call for long copy. Here are some that generally do:
- Expensive – When your offer carries a high price tag and you want the purchase to happen online (as opposed to another sales channel), you’ll sell more with long copy.
- Information – When selling online education or some other form of information product, the more beneficial copy you deliver, the more you sell.
- Feature-rich – When what you’re selling has a ton of features, you’ll need a lot of copy to explain them all, plus the express benefit of each feature.
- Innovative – If your product does something new, or satisfies a desire in a brand new way, you’ll need to provide people with a lot of benefit-oriented information.
- Online – This may seem redundant since we’re talking about selling online in general. But because people can’t physically experience what you’re offering, long copy may be worth testing when selling just about anything online.
How to make your long copy work
So far we’ve focused on using long copy in relation to what you’re selling. But the more important element is to whom you’re selling.
In other words, the secret to giving people all the information they need to buy from you without offending their sensibilities is the same as Megamind‘s distinction between a villain and a super villain:
Here’s what that means:
- If you’re the “guru” selling an expensive online information product to “business opportunity” types, you use the garish colors, exclamation points, and yellow highlighter, because that’s what got this type of person to buy the last magic-bullet solution that allegedly requires no time, skill, or effort.
- If you’re Amazon selling the expensive and feature-rich new MacBook Air, you go into much more detail than the “product description” for a paperback book, but all within the familiar and trusted purchasing environment that millions shop in every day.
- If you’re 37signals selling the innovative and monthly-billed Highrise web service, you test and discover that long copy works a whopping 37.5% better — as long as it’s presented in the beautifully-designed and functional style that 37signals fans have come to expect.
It’s all about context
Long copy works, because people want as much benefit-oriented information as they personally need to make the purchase.
Some won’t read much of it before buying. Others will read every word.
The key is to make the presentation of this information — your copy and the visual elements of the page — context appropriate. It needs to look and feel like your audience expects content from you to look and feel.
If you have an aversion to long copy, take another look at the Amazon and 37signals examples. The tone and design are completely appropriate for each respective audience. That’s why it works.
If you try to throw garish colors, exclamation points, and yellow highlighter at your audience when that’s not what they expect to see, you lose. In more ways than one.
By the way, if you didn’t get the Megamind reference about “presentation” above (or even if you did), watch the clip from the film. It’s seriously awesome.
About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and CEO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Brian on Google+.