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Is Copywriting Dying?

by svedski
18 replies
I know this question has been raised before, but there's something I still can't wrap my mind around.

As we're getting more and more into videos etc. every day, my gut feeling is that writing sales letters in the traditional sense will be dead sooner than later.
I mean, traditional newspapers are dying out and I don't even know how long the postal services are going to keep sending regular letters. I think we're moving over more towards email.

And what's going on with email by the way? I believe, because of all the spam that is being sent out, that it's going to be heavily regulated in the near future. Forget auto responders etc.

So, now you might give me the argument that "Who is going to write copy for the video sales letters?". Well, then I say to you: It's not the same thing as writing letters!

Because in a text-based letter, you use a completely different language to when you're speaking. Or am I wrong here?

What worries me is that I've just spent the last year studying copywriting pretty much full time. I've copied now over 100 letters by hand etc. and I have become pretty damn decent at it. The question is just, shall I continue working on it and reach "mastery level" or should I just drop the whole thing? I don't want to be great in 5 years and realize that the need for copywriters have completely dried up.

Your thoughts?

And negative comments like "Who do you think you are, bitch?" "You suck and you're never going to get on my level" etc will not be responded to. There is no reason to write such things when you haven't even seen what I write. Let alone, it has nothing to do with the question. So trolls who think they are something like "The Copy Nazi" can kindly stay away from this thread, you will be ignored.
#copywriting #dying
  • Profile picture of the author shawnlebrun
    Honestly, a sales pitch is a sales pitch... no matter the medium.

    Sure, you may have to adapt your pitch to the shorter attention spans that are online these days... but whether you're using a letter or a video... it still has to go through a certain sequence of getting attention, highlighting a problem, offering a solution, showing proof, asking for the order.

    Whether written or video... certain selling points just have to be covered. You gotta build trust, credibility, cover objections, etc...

    It's the unchanging nature of human psychology. We all want sex, food, shelter, more sex. Some things never change.

    Regardless of the different mediums... you're always going to rely on proven tactics of salesmanship... no matter if it's written, video, etc...

    Watching the TV show "The Pitch" recently... a certain ad agency suggested that advertising as we know it would soon by dying off... and replaced by more "entertaining" forms of selling. Things like viral video.

    But as most savvy marketers will tell you... going viral doesn't necessarily mean sales.

    Even today, in 2013... I have several sites that make a VERY decent amount of money... and they're nothing more than long sales letters with a paypal button at the bottom.

    Not very "2013"... but because the sales pitch is solid, I'll take the cash it makes me.

    Give me a GOOD written sales pitch over a shitty video sales pitch any day.

    It's all about the pitch, man, and not as much about the medium...
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  • Profile picture of the author Cam Connor
    Copywriting includes all forms of sales writing, yes, including VSL's, so the proper question is, are long-form salesletters dying? No, not really. But yes, VSL's are generally more effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    Originally Posted by stolpioni View Post


    And negative comments like "Who do you think you are, bitch?" "You suck and you're never going to get on my level" etc will not be responded to. There is no reason to write such things when you haven't even seen what I write. Let alone, it has nothing to do with the question. So trolls who think they are something like "The Copy Nazi" can kindly stay away from this thread, you will be ignored.
    Just when I thought things seemed calm around here...
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
    Regular long copy will always convert - when done right.

    Videos will continue to become a preferred medium.

    And no, copywriting is not dying. It's simply adapting. Like it always does.

    Here's the bottom line:

    People will always respond to well-positioned, emotionally-charged copy - IF it resonates with them (i.e. knowing your target audience.)

    I will say...

    Asking questions matters. And it's natural to wonder how copywriting will shift - as different mediums convert better than "just copy."

    At the end of the day...

    Copy is about emotion. And triggering the right emotions will always be effective - no matter what medium.

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author James Clouser
    I second the notion that copy is copy, regarding of the media used to deliver it. Video has its pros and cons, just like every other form of media.

    I like how Dan Kennedy frames it. He says that no media is inherently better than another, and that your choice of media should be based strictly on how you can best reach your target market.

    Also, ExactTarget has been doing researching on a theory which says that forms of media never actually die. Their first case study was done with email from the 1990s to 2012. The idea is that new forms of media never actually replace old forms. They simply integrate with the existing forms.

    Maybe that will help you (as it did for me) wrap your mind around the role of innovation in media.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
      The OP's question makes me wonder if he actually understands what direct response copywriting is.

      After writing out 100 sales letters by hand, you'd think he would.

      Because in a text-based letter, you use a completely different language to when you're speaking. Or am I wrong here?
      You are wrong.

      Write sales copy like your talking one-on-one with your prospect.

      Yes, VSLs are written differently than long-form web sales letters. Just as long-form web sales letters are written differently than mailed print sales letters. But the differences are minor. Any of the formats can be easily converted to one of the other formats with a minimum of effort.

      Direct response sales copy is written to persuade prospects to take an action.

      Anyone who understands this doesn't ask, "Is Copywriting Dying?"

      Alex
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      • Profile picture of the author svedski
        Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

        The OP's question makes me wonder if he actually understands what direct response copywriting is.

        After writing out 100 sales letters by hand, you'd think he would.

        You are wrong.

        Write sales copy like your talking one-on-one with your prospect.

        Yes, VSLs are written differently than long-form web sales letters. Just as long-form web sales letters are written differently than mailed print sales letters. But the differences are minor. Any of the formats can be easily converted to one of the other formats with a minimum of effort.

        Direct response sales copy is written to persuade prospects to take an action.

        Anyone who understands this doesn't ask, "Is Copywriting Dying?"

        Alex
        Originally Posted by Alex Cohen View Post

        This is a sincere question. Do you have paying clients? That will tell you how advanced you are. And as far as "in a text-based letter, you use a completely different language to when you're speaking." That's a common mistake....writing in a different language then how you speak in person. Your sales letter should be how you would speak in person. Maybe a better way to say it is that your reader is hearing a voice in their head as they read. You want that voice to sound like a real person. Granted, maybe a person with a tad too much caffeine..but a real person.
        Now when I think about it...you're probably right. You could actually talk pretty much exactly like you write out a sales letter. Actually, how you write is more or less exactly like you talk. When I wrote that yesterday I just thought about headlines.

        Anyway thanks for the answers. Yesterday was just one of those "What am I doing with my life?"-days. I'm back on the saddle now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alex Cohen
      Originally Posted by James Clouser View Post


      I like how Dan Kennedy frames it. He says that no media is inherently better than another, and that your choice of media should be based strictly on how you can best reach your target market.
      Truth is, some media IS "inherently" better than other.

      For example, TV is inherently better than radio. It touches two sense gates... sight and hearing. Radio only touches one... hearing.

      Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
    As long as prospects remain human, copywriters will continue to write persuasive messages influencing them to take desired action.

    Prospects will continue to encounter and respond to these messages on their computer screens, in their hand on a piece of paper, on their digital devices, on TV, on the radio, on billboards, in magazines, in their mailbox, on the products they buy, etc. et al.
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  • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
    Originally Posted by stolpioni View Post

    Because in a text-based letter, you use a completely different language to when you're speaking. Or am I wrong here?

    What worries me is that I've just spent the last year studying copywriting pretty much full time. I've copied now over 100 letters by hand etc. and I have become pretty damn decent at it. The question is just, shall I continue working on it and reach "mastery level" or should I just drop the whole thing? I don't want to be great in 5 years and realize that the need for copywriters have completely dried up.
    This is a sincere question. Do you have paying clients? That will tell you how advanced you are. And as far as "in a text-based letter, you use a completely different language to when you're speaking." That's a common mistake....writing in a different language then how you speak in person. Your sales letter should be how you would speak in person. Maybe a better way to say it is that your reader is hearing a voice in their head as they read. You want that voice to sound like a real person. Granted, maybe a person with a tad too much caffeine..but a real person.


    Originally Posted by stolpioni View Post

    And negative comments like "Who do you think you are, bitch?" "You suck and you're never going to get on my level" etc will not be responded to. There is no reason to write such things when you haven't even seen what I write. Let alone, it has nothing to do with the question. So trolls who think they are something like "The Copy Nazi" can kindly stay away from this thread, you will be ignored.
    May I suggest....not to ask someone a question and then virtually tell people what you really expect them to say?

    It's like you're asking a girl on a date and you say "Would you like to go out with me? I'm pretty fun, but don't be like those other b1tches that tell me I'm a loser because I make them pay for their own meals. And don't make fun of me because I live with my mom in the basement. Because if you say anything like that, you'll be ignored. So, should I pick you up at 8?"
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  • Profile picture of the author max5ty
    When you ask a question like this, you show you either have a long ways to go yet...or you haven't the slightest clue what you think you're getting into...or both.

    Also when you knock someone that started in this business back when you were probably still in diapers, shows you're a whiner. He's written more winning sales letters then most of the others on this forum put together. Seems to me you'd quit feeling sorry for yourself and soak up some valuable advice.

    And if you think some of the old time copywriters were nice guys to work for, you would be mistaken. For most of them, the way they talked to their trainees was pretty mild compared to what you'll get on a forum.

    When you have customers that are getting ready to spend hundreds of thousands and millions on an ad campaign you write...don't expect to get babied if things go wrong.

    Better someone is honest with you now then when you make yourself look like a total idiot later.

    Of course if your goal is to be like a lot of the copywriters on this forum that just write cheesy sales letters for some BS ebook, or another waste of time course on dieting, or some of the other nonsense I read about...you won't need a lot of skills, and you can all sit around and BS each other on how great you all are.

    I get tired of people who make copywriting seem like a work at home job to make some extra money when all else fails.

    Have a great weekend.
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  • Profile picture of the author svedski
    ^
    Exactly those kinds of answers I said not to bother with. If you are so good and have so much money, then why are you trolling an internet forum?

    Instead of trolling and playing ballsack with an anonymous name, just be real. Just admit that you suck, and that you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

    I don't know why I get so irritated.

    I get tired of people who make copywriting seem like a work at home job to make some extra money when all else fails.
    Why do you get tired of that? Is copywriting some holy witchcraft that only a chosen few has the privilege to practice or what? As long as you can sell and know how to structure your words in the correct sequence, and you know the market you're writing to, then it's not that hard to write a good piece of copy. You act like it's some secret magic.
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    • Profile picture of the author max5ty
      Originally Posted by svedski View Post

      ^
      Exactly those kinds of answers I said not to bother with. If you are so good and have so much money, then why are you trolling an internet forum?

      Instead of trolling and playing ballsack with an anonymous name, just be real. Just admit that you suck, and that you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

      I don't know why I get so irritated.



      Why do you get tired of that? Is copywriting some holy witchcraft that only a chosen few has the privilege to practice or what? As long as you can sell and know how to structure your words in the correct sequence, and you know the market you're writing to, then it's not that hard to write a good piece of copy. You act like it's some secret magic.
      God bless you, and good luck with your career.
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  • Profile picture of the author BambiFox
    Originally Posted by svedski View Post

    The question is just, shall I continue working on it and reach "mastery level" or should I just drop the whole thing? I don't want to be great in 5 years and realize that the need for copywriters have completely dried up.
    I do find it pretty amazing that you would have spent so much effort on something already and then be willing to "drop the whole thing" - if the right combination of advice and "proof" offered here might tip you that way.

    Originally Posted by shawnlebrun View Post

    It's the unchanging nature of human psychology. We all want sex, food, shelter, more sex. Some things never change.
    Thank God for that. Food and shelter are nice too.

    I personally have no doubts about copywriting being necessary and viable forever....

    Humans have it hard-wired into their psyches to be dependent on stories for decision making. Someone will write them, might as well be me, at least for some of them.

    Bambi
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  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    Check out Google Trends for the term "copywriter" and "copywriting":

    Google Trends

    You can draw your own conclusions.

    - Rick Duris
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