Copy or Graphics, which one is the better option?

Daniel Scott

12 years ago

Originally Posted by ProfJannes

So, this is what I found:

Graphics plays a much bigger role than the actual text.

And would this be backed up by any facts, figures, or statistics... or is this just your untested opinion?

-Daniel

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DougHughes

12 years ago

There's a saying something to the effect of "good graphics can't save bad copy, but bad graphics can ruin good copy."

After looking at thousands of examples over the years I am inclined to believe this.

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YourZulu 12 years ago

Nothing against everyone, but posting something like this will get you a LOT of sour feedback.

That said, always remember content is king.

A graphic on a page RARELY is able to; describe the situation, command action, provide credentials, establish trust.

If you aren't drawn to the copy, it is due to poorly done copy. Ineffective headlines, and so on.

Sure the graphic may help draw attention, but the reality is:
The two compliment each other, but graphics can rarely stand on their own. Copy should always be able to stand alone.
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- Matt Ausin 12 years ago
  
  I won't comment on the graphics thing, you'll get plenty of heat for that from others..
  
  But here's what I LOVED in your post:
  
  When using text you have to be tactical and be selective, do not babble - keep it concise.
  
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BarryADensa

12 years ago

Try selling something without words.

Try selling something without graphics.

Now tell me which is critical and which plays a supportive role.

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YasirYar 12 years ago

Originally Posted by BarryADensa

Try selling something without words.

Try selling something without graphics.

Now tell me which is critical and which plays a supportive role.

Good point there! In fact it is basically the product that matters. If you are offering a great product you just need to be honest and you'll sell.
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perfectpixel

Banned 12 years ago

Definitely graphics, after all a picture's worth 1000 words. Infographics in particular get more link juice, can go viral and are memorable

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ASCW 12 years ago

Originally Posted by perfectpixel

Definitely graphics, after all a picture's worth 1000 words. Infographics in particular get more link juice, can go viral and are memorable

Definitely graphics, after all a picture's worth 1000 words. Infographics in particular get more link juice, can go viral and are memorable

Just jumping in to correct some bad info.

When it comes to squeeze pages, the copy carries the weight - not the graphics.

(In fact, copy>graphics is a good rule of thumb)

Graphics supplement the copy, not the other way around.

-Andy
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- Mark Andrews Banned 12 years ago
  
  The question is...
  
  Which connects better to the target market' emotions on an individual level?
  
  You can have a picture, every fancy graphic in the book on your site but what exactly, how exactly is this going to communicate your benefits into the mind of your readers? In short, they're not.
  
  On the other hand, if your graphics compliment your sales pitch and don't detract from your sales message, sure they can help you but comparing one against the other on their own, is like comparing apples to fish riding bicyles.
  
  Of course, given the two options to use one or the other, sales copy is going to win hands down over graphics every single time.
  
  Question...
  
  If it were so simple as to use merely a few graphics / pictures on a page to make massive conversions, don't you think all the worlds top copywriters might have cottoned on to this fact many years ago and would be advocating the tactic over and over again?
  
  The reason you haven't seen this happen ever, is precisely because text copy, hand written copy blows graphics out of the water pretty much 99.9% of the time.
  
  Whatever you're likely to hear to the contrary, 'hand written' copywriting is going to be around for decades to come. Fads will come. Fads will go but the written word will always remain the predominant choice to sell anything though most mediums.
  
  I never look at a picture, a graphic and go, "My God! I've just got to buy this now. What a pretty picture. Yeah man, this really does it for me." What I do pay attention to is the actual wording being used to communicate the product or service benefits to my current need for a solution to my present problem. They'e what matter to me the most. The actual language being used to connect with me. Everything else is just superfluous.
  
  Best,
  
  Mark Andrews
  
  Thanks
  
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John_S

12 years ago

Crazy idea. Ogilvy figured out a way to use both.

Consider using both. In the proper way, in the combination that tests out the best.

Just a suggestion, but try turning your back on the false choise of either/or and embrace the genius of AND.

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OliviaHoang

12 years ago

The answer is "it's both".

Words help them visualize the action they will take when they enter into the fantasy world you've created for them.

The pictures help them have an image of what that world looks like, and the accompanying emotions that are usually associated with that image.

Words further magnify the effect by appealing to the prospect's logic and/or emotions through further vivid descriptions/examples.

They are both powerful tools to invite your prospects into the world where your offer is THE solution to their desires/wants/pains/problems.

HTH :-)

P.S. And I agree with seeing the wisdom in the "AND" vs. limiting your vision with the "OR"

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Steve Hill

12 years ago

Originally Posted by ProfJannes

I have seen numerous squeeze pages, some good and some bad. It got me thinking, what is the best medium to present a product? I hardly ever read a squeeze page or sales page, I scroll over the page, have a good glance and decide if I want to spend time reading. So, this is what I found:

Graphics plays a much bigger role than the actual text.

When using text you have to be tactical and be selective, do not babble - keep it concise.

~ Jannes

In reading this, the question Jannes is asking is unclear. It almost looks like he is asking "which is better for grabbing attention as he glances at the page" so he'll actually want to read the ad?

If that is the case, then graphic elements will certainly draw the eye to major text elements (headers, subheaders). If the text elements are good, they will draw the reader into the copy itself.

Text elements alone can do that too, if using contrasting colors and sizes in the headers and subheaders to attract attention, but the immediate visual attraction of the eye to graphic elements will be the stronger of the two.

Graphics alone probably won't be very effective, unless he means graphic representation of text elements (such as doodles).

I can say from an instructional design perspective that directing the eye to target zones is always more effective than a homogenous presentation where the reader needs to find their way (i.e., "work"), so using highlights will be more effective.

Having said that, we also have to consider that graphics (images) can also be conceptual in nature, conveying far more in an immediate manner than a short header can do.

I'd agree with Olivia on this one - graphics and text together would be most effective, as they can complement each other. The graphics can attract attention while setting the initial emotional and/or visual tone, and the text can complement that to draw the reader into the copy itself.

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John_S

12 years ago

The graphics can attract attention while setting the initial emotional and/or visual tone, and the text can complement that to draw the reader into the copy itself.

They can. The question is do they? Do most people, in the majority of cases, just naturally pick out the best graphics?

Problem being most people pick pretty stock photos that fail to CONVERT attention. Attention is easily had. Knowing what to do with it once you have it ...not so much.

Graphic artists are like the dog that chases cars. They wouldn't know what to do with one once they caught it.

Getting attention is well known, well practiced. That attention is only a first step, or that there is a wrong way to get attention is inconceivable to the vast majority.

So you show the fifteen DVDs and binders for your imformation product ...the potential customer thinks "I'm never going to find what I'm looking for in all that" then leaves. Yet that's called creating value in infomarketer land.

It never occurs to them to mention a quick-find index. Or that the content is structured so you don't have to sit through 30 hours before you get something you can put to use.

Talk before and after photos to a remodeler or body shop, you might as well be talking about flying to the moon on a rocket ship.

Infographics? Are you kidding me. Most couldn't come up with a simple diagram showing their value proposition if you held a gun to their head.

Graphics are far less studied, understood, or used in an effective way. This upshot is this represents an opportunity to put yourself ahead of competitors, if you use graphics wisely.

Related:

This Just Tested: Stock images or real people? If the results come as a shock, you shouldn't be using graphics. Period.

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Steve The Copywriter 12 years ago

I've always found using graphics of "real" people works best.

But it does need to be a great picture - not something knocked out in a photo booth or the camera on a cell phone.

If the "pic" doesn't look good enough another way is to use a cartoon.

They can be so much more visual.

Anyone whose seen Mr Subtles work will know what I mean.

Steve
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Steve Hill

12 years ago

Originally Posted by John_S

Graphics are far less studied, understood, or used in an effective way. This upshot is this represents an opportunity to put yourself ahead of competitors, if you use graphics wisely.

There is definitely a science behind the best usage and positioning of graphics, mostly having to do with human biomechanical processes. For example, some considerations are placement (don't use eyecatchers in exit zone in lower right), colors (use warmer colors at left to increase immediate scanning area), shapes (vertical shapes attract attention before horizontal, closed circles before partially open, circles before squares, and diagonal before all of these), and captions (use them to increase attention and retention).

There is also an affinity for fractal shapes, thought to be related to the structure of the brain.

As John's link shows, direct relevancy of the graphics to the subject presented is also important. A smiling girl with a headset does not really link to a message selling debt relief, as in that example, so has limited effectiveness. A more effective image would make better use of that space and perhaps increase overall ad effectiveness.

Add typical viewer scan patterns (F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox)), scanning behaviors, other online viewing patterns, retention rates, and things start getting complicated.

For example, this paper (http://www.tahud.org.tr/uploads/sunu...c7667ee95e.pdf) explores the effectiveness of using pictures in improving health communications (they did), and cites a number of models used such as McGuire's Model of Persuasion, and various other studies.

At this point, we are getting farther and farther away from copywriting per se, yet these factors will definitely affect the performance of the entire ad piece, so it is useful to know about them (especially if compensation is linked to overall ad performance).

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OliviaHoang

12 years ago

Vic Schwab wrote about using layouts and graphics in copy a long time ago :-)

It's just too bad we forget the classics.

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Steve The Copywriter

12 years ago

Olivia,

You are so right.

Years and years ago after spending over $60,000 on various copywriting courses.

I picked up Vic Schwabs "How To Write A Good Advertisement" and John Caples "Tested Advertising Methods" (both on amazon at less than $15.00 each).

And guess what?

I learned the same stuff and so much more from them.

Steve

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OliviaHoang

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Steve Copywriter

Olivia,

You are so right.

Years and years ago after spending over $60,000 on various copywriting courses.

I picked up Vic Schwabs "How To Write A Good Advertisement" and John Caples "Tested Advertising Methods" (both on amazon at less than $15.00 each).

And guess what?

I learned the same stuff and so much more from them.

Steve

I know exactly what you mean.

I often see rehashed subjects and debates on "this and that" in copywriting...

Only to find that if these people actually internalized what the masters have taught forever, they wouldn't be fighting

A lot of the new "guides to copywriting" being sold is nothing more than rehashes of the classics with smokes and mirrors thrown in...and with the prices jacked WAY UP...

And oftentimes, their message is a watered-down version of the masters' too.

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Steve Hill 12 years ago

Originally Posted by OliviaHoang

Vic Schwab wrote about using layouts and graphics in copy a long time ago :-)

It's just too bad we forget the classics.

That's quite true - we don't really need to know the inner details of why certain layouts work, why some graphics work, or why some copywriting approaches work. The principles have been discovered and refined through endless testing, and they do work.

But...

For those that really want to know why they work, studies using tools not available in the past (such as various permutations of MRI to study brain activity in response to external stimuli) reveal some pretty interesting things about the 90-95% of our brains that operate on a subconscious level.

For example, many times the subconscious mind has the answer already figured out long before the conscious brain realizes it.

For example, we now know that the brain has short-term memory buffers, and once those fill up, people need a break. You can see that in long seminars, when eyes start to glaze over. They are no longer processing much information.

For example, we now know that certain shapes capture attention better than others, and why certain locations get attention first.

Now, we don't NEED to know any of those things - we can just blindly follow what has worked in the past, and probably get decent results, at least in the same medium. As the mediums change (internet, video, 3D marketing, etc.), knowing why things work can only help in providing effective marketing strategies with less trial and error, at least IMO.
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Jason Kanigan

12 years ago

Graphics cost money ;-)

So for my WSO, I wrote the copy (converted at 6% to start--oh and thanks to Mark Andrews for reminding me to ditch punctuation in headlines).

That bootstrapped the money to reinvest in graphics.

Then I went to find Mr. Subtle. Everything I've seen of his, I've liked.

Graphic added. Conversions immediately went up 1%--over 16% in results!!

The WSO now converts at 8%. This past week I couldn't even bump the thing and it still made money and converted at 7-8%. Way down there on page 9.

An appropriate image will impact very positively, especially if you have a great offer to start with.

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Simon Ashari

12 years ago

Originally Posted by ProfJannes

I hardly ever read a squeeze page or sales page, I scroll over the page, have a good glance and decide if I want to spend time reading. So, this is what I found:

Graphics plays a much bigger role than the actual text.

We have to look at what the majority of people will do, not just us.

I personally hate video squeeze pages... that doesn't mean that they don't work all together.

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seanmiller1

12 years ago

In my humble opinion you need the graphics as a hooker to reel the visitor in, and then work your magic with words. So as many others said, they work hand in hand.

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Mark Andrews Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by seanmiller1

In my humble opinion you need the graphics as a hooker to reel the visitor in...

Do you want to provide us with an example of this Sean? Where this is working in practice? (Graphics hooking them in first over and above a damn good main headline).
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OliviaHoang

12 years ago

Originally Posted by seanmiller1

In my humble opinion you need the graphics as a hooker to reel the visitor in, and then work your magic with words. So as many others said, they work hand in hand.

LOL.."graphics as a hooker"...**giggles like a 7th grade school-boy**

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alihs707

12 years ago

Images are worth a 1000 words as people say it. I would suggest getting a unique and proper squeeze page designed for better results. Recently, i have got better results with a responsive squeeze page

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Mark Andrews Banned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by alihs707

Images are worth a 1000 words as people say it.

Really? So since this is an Internet marketing forum and much of the information on this forum is related to information products, how to do this, how to do that etc, you think maybe a really 'cool' looking graphic of let's say an ebook is worth more literally than a 1,000 words?

Is this honestly what you're saying?

Again, would you like to share proof of this please?

Or are you simply repeating an old cliche? One which has been repeated so many times you now believe it to be true despite the fact that thousands of split tests have proved otherwise.

Given many of the extremely competent copywriters on this forum who together have generated tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars worth of sales combined through the power of their words to connect a product to it's intended audience, you still think a single graphic or graphics is going to connect better with the audience over and above salesmanship-in-print? Really?

Well, lets see some proof of this then please.

Please feel welcome to share this proof you have below...
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Copy or Graphics, which one is the better option?

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