Short or long sales letter...

[Kim Standerline]

I'm about to be launching some products quite soon, and to be honest I'm not inclined to write hugely long sales letters which folks will probably skim over to get at the price any way. (Better uses of my time). So I'm going to make them very short and succint.

Has anyone done any testing on writing shorter sales pages I'd be really interested to know the results if they have

Thanks
Kim

[David Raybould]

Hi Kim,

There are studies, can't remember them offhand, but long copy wins just about every time.

Sorry.

-David Raybould

[t-wins]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

Has anyone done any testing on writing shorter sales pages I'd be really interested to know the results if they have

If your content is not very useful or informative, it doesn't matter if it's long or short. If you know how to use headlines and subheadlines to catch readers' attention, and how to create good solid info, you should write long letters rather than short ones. Some master marketing gurus always use long sales letter because people DO read as long as you give them good stuff to read. Long letters have more substance and can be more convincing.

[Tom Ryan]

I really think it is niche dependent. Some niches will convert better with a shorter sales letter and some not. I think your best bet is to test. See how well it converts with the short letter, if it doesn't convert like you thought test with a long style sales letter.

[Nathan Hangen]

I've never read a long sales letter from start to finish...even when purchasing. I read the headline...browse the page for about 10 seconds, and then hit the price. If the product will fulfill my desire at a price I can afford, then I buy.

[artwebster]

I love long sales letters!

If I see that tiny little button in the scroll bar I just know that I will waste my time if I try to read the sales letter because it will be full of a made up life story, far too many testimonials from people I have never heard of, don't know and am never likeley to meet, repetitions and recaps galore of the one or two points of note, redundant superlatives and verbal vomit.

They save me lots of time.

[reynald2790]

Hi Kim,

Sales Letter does not need to be longer. It should be more content filled. Because some sales letter that are very long sometimes it will have more mistakes and couldn't be understand at all. Shorter sales letter the lesser mistakes it could have.

Regards,
Reynald

[Robert Puddy]

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

I'm about to be launching some products quite soon, and to be honest I'm not inclined to write hugely long sales letters which folks will probably skim over to get at the price any way. (Better uses of my time). So I'm going to make them very short and succint.

Has anyone done any testing on writing shorter sales pages I'd be really interested to know the results if they have

Thanks
Kim

I was going to write a log post about why this is exactly the reason long copy works, but i lost the will to type

[Matt Maiden]

It should be as long as it needs to be to get them to take action.
If it's a complicated product with bells and whistles then you need to make sure they have all of their questions answered.

On the other hand, if it's something already known then go immediately for the close.

"Hot Coffee $2 You Buy"

[Jesus Perez]

Kim, don't forget about multi-page salesletters. They convert really well with some niches.

Sample site (no affiliation)

Originally Posted by Kim Standerline

I'm about to be launching some products quite soon, and to be honest I'm not inclined to write hugely long sales letters which folks will probably skim over to get at the price any way. (Better uses of my time). So I'm going to make them very short and succint.

Has anyone done any testing on writing shorter sales pages I'd be really interested to know the results if they have

Thanks
Kim

[JazzOscar]

Originally Posted by Nathan Hangen

I've never read a long sales letter from start to finish...even when purchasing. I read the headline...browse the page for about 10 seconds, and then hit the price. If the product will fulfill my desire at a price I can afford, then I buy.

I won't say that I've never read a long sales letter from start to finish, but I very rarely do. I usually make a quick scan for the important points, then search for the price. If the price isn't clearly spelt out, and in a font that makes it easy to find, I often get the feeling that it's done that way intentionally. That immediately reduces the chance of me buying the product.

Originally Posted by BlogBrowser

In my opinion, I prefer short, straight to the point, and with a clear presentation video of what the product/service is about.

Nothing explains what your site is about than a concise video. My time is valuable and there's no chance I will weed through a pitchy verborrhea and dozens of dubious testimonials.

I agree, I don't like all the unnecessary filler information.

Take a look at this thread;

Let's Have A Little Experiment Here...

You can more or less see from the posts how the OP's sales page started out. After he had listened to the comments, and totally changed his page and tactics, it ended up as a page that at least I liked. Short and to the point.

[DougBarger]

Hi Kim,

Congrats on moving forward and I hope it goes well for you which I'm sure it will.

As one poster fedback, it's a good idea to keep the "dual readership path" in mind

so that those who are going to opt for the "skim, scan and scroll" method for

viewing your offer (instead of reading the entire letter ) can see sub-heads that

break up the text and build the desire all the way to the push order button

for immediate relief climax.

[Kim Standerline]

Thanks for the replies folks, I really appreciate it.

I think what I'll do to start with is use a smaller page plus a video overview and see how it converts. I'm going to be using the RAP script because I want to give 100% commission to affiliates and if I remember rightly I do believe you can use 2 versions of it (still getting to grips with it)

Looking forward to tracking and testing

Cheers
Kim

Originally Posted by DougBarger

Hi Kim,

Congrats on moving forward and I hope it goes well for you which I'm sure it will.

As one poster fedback, it's a good idea to keep the "dual readership path" in mind

so that those who are going to opt for the "skim, scan and scroll" method for

viewing your offer (instead of reading the entire letter ) can see sub-heads that

break up the text and build the desire all the way to the push order button

for immediate relief climax.

[Steve Peters Benn]

Hi Kim, kind of sounds like you have already made your mind up and are proceeding with that. It might suit you better but as I have found out to my cost, you kind of need to suit your product and market place, and that can only be done with testing IMO.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

When using video, I'd suggest using a player that allows people to skip ahead in the video.

That way, people can skim it like they do long text. Or, watch the whole thing if they want.

There are some players that don't allow skipping ahead and force you to watch the video in its entirety. Odds are very good that, if I have to watch the whole video, I'm leaving the site and looking elsewhere.

[Steve Peters Benn]

Dan, that is a gold tip.

[ThePokerEconomist]

I suggest leave the reading to a minimum and demonstrate with video. If you decide to go w/ video, however, make sure it's not half-assed. Make sure you spend your time and effort making sure it looks great, as it will be your visitors first impression.

If this isn't really applicable to your product, then maybe a short version in which if you click it a pop up windom appears w/ more information. To better explain what I mean try checking this out:
animoto - professional video. ridiculously easy.

click on the right side - those 'links' when you click them, more detailed info shows.

I think the traditional splash page is getting outdated... and is earning a reputation of being 'scammy'

just my understanding. Hope I helped.

[ThePokerEconomist]

Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert

When using video, I'd suggest using a player that allows people to skip ahead in the video.

A variation of this, for example in my current project I'm building, the video presentation is going to include a table of contents. You can add one if you are using Camtasia.

Idea is so that viewer can skip ahead to interested parts... i.e. product functionality etc...

Most people these days prefer video over reading. me personally, I like a nice mix.

[Kim Standerline]

Hi Steve

No I'm going to do both and test them, (At least for the first couple), my apologies that I didn't make myself clear.

Kim

Originally Posted by Steve Peters Benn

Hi Kim, kind of sounds like you have already made your mind up and are proceeding with that. It might suit you better but as I have found out to my cost, you kind of need to suit your product and market place, and that can only be done with testing IMO.