[HONEST Question] Why don't big companies use long form...

7 replies
Hello,

I've been trying to figure this out.. I'm new to the online marketing world, and since I originally was trained as a web designer, I have my fair share of skepticism towards long form sales pages.

I would like to know that if long form sales pages convert that much more than short form, why don't big companies use them?

The answer my mind comes to is professionalism of branding. Thoughts?

Brandon
#big #companies #form #honest #long #question
  • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
    They do... just not in the specific form you're referring to.

    For example, assume you're in the market to buy a car. By the time you start jingling the keys, consider how many different pieces of marketing and salesmanship you've faced.

    The difference is that in a sales letter, the assumption is that you have one shot to do all of that.

    (Yes, the car salesman feels he has one shot, too, but the customer has seen countless ads as well as tons of social proof before stepping in to the dealership.)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5095886].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    As Kelly said, they actually do. They just may not be presented in the same style as an IM sales page.

    And here's one of the biggest players, with one of the biggest products, and one of the biggest one page sales letters:



    Yes, Amazon's Kindle sales page is three times taller than the Hoff!

    The bottom line is people don't like to click. The easier you make it for people to find the information they want, i.e. put it all on one page, the easier you make it for them to make a purchasing decision.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5096584].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    One of the big reasons is that a lot of these big companies have marketing teams that have been to school and studied marketing but don't actually know the first thing about real-world selling. All you need to do is turn on the TV these days and witness some of the ads. They are more concerned about being clever and pretty than actually selling.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5096691].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Welsh Warrior
    Originally Posted by burrmaster View Post

    Hello,

    I've been trying to figure this out.. I'm new to the online marketing world, and since I originally was trained as a web designer, I have my fair share of skepticism towards long form sales pages.

    I would like to know that if long form sales pages convert that much more than short form, why don't big companies use them?

    The answer my mind comes to is professionalism of branding. Thoughts?

    Brandon
    This is my take on it. As has been shown some do, in a variant way.

    BUT what is important is that 'big brands' already have trust and awareness on their side. You know them already, you will likely have no problems buying from Amazon, but someone you have never heard of is trying to sell you a new weight loss technique? then you better establish trust, in yourself and in your product

    That is what a sales letter does. It guides readers through the steps of their buying cycle in one place...and does what it can to overcome hurdles, hurdles that major players are unlikely to face themselves.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5097524].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Targeted Traffic
    I think one of the challenges of any sales page – whether short or long – is to understand what the metrics are saying. Since customers arrive at your page from some other form of advertising, they may leave again without buying and you have little idea why outside of knowing how long they were there for.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5097918].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author David Keith
    the biggest reason to use the long form sales letter is to create an emotional need to buy your product. you are trying to target various emotional triggers. most "big" companies are selling stuff thats much more comparable and tangible than the "dreams" you see being sold in the IM niche and with stuff like weight loss and such.

    its really a different type of marketing. all marketing and sales is just not the same. mcdonalds doesn't need a long form sales letter to get you to try a mcrib...they need a great looking photo.

    it really depends on what you are selling and the entire sales process and such around your marketing funnel. its not just that a longer page means more sales.

    you also have to consider that big companies are also very concerned about their "brand" and you market for branding affects in a much different way than you do when you market for direct sales.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5098082].message }}

Trending Topics