Why Are Sales Copy So Long?

Yes they can. Millions of TV and radio spots, newspaper and magazine ads, web impressions, you name it.

Dr,

"Do you think a short ad (I hate to say sales copy) would do better than a long sales copy?"

Not likely. Not statistically, anyway if we're talking about a visitor on the web who has less than a snowballs' chance in hell of ever seeing your webpage again.

That's why you have to take the opportunity to tell them the whole story. This has been tested to no end.

These sentances;
"I believe a sales copy should be short and to the point. Don't sell to the customers, but make an ad advertise a service or a product. If the product or service is in demand, targetted audience will purchase."

That's an ideology not a marketing plan. The difference is in the conversions you'll get. If your assertation produces a 0.2% conversion rate and yet that same product or service is marketed resulting in a 3-4% conversion rate you need to figure out what is driving the difference in conversions.

Guess what? A good portion of the increase is supported by your ability to tell your story first shot out of the gate. And guess what that usually means? That's right, a long sales letter.

You can hook 'em with Adwords or Twitter, but they're still long way from commitment. Why invite them in if you're not going to do a good job of explaining the benefits, providing social proof, eliminating objections, and a host of other triggers that convince your visitor deciding on buying your product is the smartest action they could take at the moment.

"Secondly How Often Do You Go To A Sales Copy & It's Too Long And You Leave because it is just too long? "

I leave because I don't need or want the product. Sometimes all it takes is a paragraph.

Bottom line...test your beliefs. Everybody else has.

KJ

I am not sure about it. Frankly I NEVER read whole sales pages! To be honest, when I was complete newbie to IM I though they are made that long for following reason:

the more text there is to read the easier it is to 'sell' parts of text that are bold and big, as nobody has time to read everything

I do not know about other guys but when I see long page I just scroll down and my eyes only look at those bigger elements between text. So maybe it is the way it works? It makes people so tired that they decide to buy it anyway?

This sums it up right here.

-Bill

Then, how long is long, and how long is too long? I can appreciate putting the "BUY NOW" in on a frequent basis, but some things I am not so sure about. Also, a lot I have read are reallyhard sell. Maybe in the case of ads or sales copy, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

I do this as well. I look for to many hard sales verbiage. The more hard sales wording, the less likely I'm to consider it. If the copy has good information however, then I may read it and consider the offer.

The one thing that kills it for me though is the checks and Clickbank statements claiming that a product will deliver xxxx money, then at the bottom, there's the "results not typical" type disclaimer. The copy giveth and the small print disclaimer takes it away. LOL.

Perhaps a combination of both? Some people like me, learn from reading words. Others learn from watching a demo, etc. I have never put a video in one of my blogs, etc., but some day I suppose I might. Just not of me.

Kevin,

I completely agree with you. Some copywriters are diehards when it comes to sale copies, and they will not venture other directions. Of the copywriters I have spoke to, many have never tried other techniques, just stuck to sales writing.

It's definitely not a dying form of selling, but other options are beginning to show better results. They just need to be WILLING enough to give other options a shot!

Agree.

Actually I CAN imagine that! First human reaction is to do what majority does. They do not ask if it works or not - they copy it. I would put it another way - is it easier to gain more audience by doing what everyone does or by doing something exceptional? My personal believe is that in few years sales pages will be losing their potential. There is growing number of sales pages in the internet and sooner or later there will be complete 'trash'(internet is already becoming 'trash').

When I look at offer of some CPA networks I can see 'products' like 'How to shake your hand'($42) or ' How to get up from the bad'($39). What's next? market is full of c**p. Sooner or later the best marketers will have to become different than this in order to keep the edge.

I just believe that many sales copy are full of fluff and not a lot of stuff.

I will be doing some split testing to see if my theory "short salescopy can be just as effective, if not more effective than long salescopy."

What I beleive is that If i'm selling a product or service i can simply boost sale by simply explaining to my targetted audience the benefits of purchasing the product, why the product is important to them and backing it with a Guarantee.

I think a sales copy can be short, concise and relevant.

You would think a shorter sales page would work better but thats looking through the eyes of the creator of the product. You already know what it does. A customer needs to be convinced that its the best thing ever.