Short or long sales letter...

18 replies
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
#letter #long #sales #short
  • Profile picture of the author David Raybould
    Hi Kim,

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

    Sorry.

    -David Raybould
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    Whatever you need, my high converting copy puts more money in your pocket. PM for details. 10 years experience and 9 figure revenues.
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  • Profile picture of the author t-wins
    Originally Posted by Kim Standerline View Post

    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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kunle Olomofe
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    • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Puddy
    Originally Posted by Kim Standerline View Post

    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
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt Bard
    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"
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  • Profile picture of the author 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 View Post

    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
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogBrowser
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    • Profile picture of the author JazzOscar
      Originally Posted by Nathan Hangen View Post

      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 View Post

      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;

      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ment-here.html

      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.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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    • Profile picture of the author 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 View Post

      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.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[647283].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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    • Profile picture of the author 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.
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      • Profile picture of the author ThePokerEconomist
        Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

        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.
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    • Profile picture of the author 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 View Post

      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.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Peters Benn
    Dan, that is a gold tip.
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  • Profile picture of the author 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.
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