Paypal screen shots and Fancy graphics unecessary?

[Josh Anderson]

I am seeing more and more sites that start their copy with a series of screen shots of their ecommerce sales reports and stats etc.

The copy often rambles on hyping in general terms about how their product is going to make someone oodles of cash and change their life.

Additionally many of these sites have huge headers and graphical templates that add to the load of the page and slow it down and distract from the main message.

What I find is odd is that many of these sites are selling software or web based services...

The focus as much as 75% of the copy on bank account shots that have absolutely no relevance at all to what the client will actually do with the solution and the copy goes on forever about stuff that has nothing to do with what it does and how to use it.

There seems to be an uptick in this style of copy lately... maybe everyone is hiring the same copywriter or reading the same copywriting manual or something

At any rate... while the effectiveness of copy is subjective and this approach may work in some markets where people are used to that crap it really is not necessary in other markets...

People are smarter than you think and they do not care how much money you make they only care if the thing will work for them.

I suggest spending a little more time focusing on the WIIFM and how it works and less on showing off bank statements and the new Toyota Corolla you bought.

Also I got the most ridiculous email I think I have ever received in IM... some guy mailed me an offer to mail his list of 40k + subs for a couple hundred dollar payment.

He said that each time he mails his list of 40k subs he makes an average of $406 dollars!

Not only that but he had the crappy stats screen shots to prove it complete with miserable open rate tiny conversion rates and ity bity sales totals.

To top of the irony the list he was mailing this offer to was his list of 40k that he advertises to.

I suspect if people treated their clients like they had intelligence and if they did not act such fools with hype and screen shots of their bank accounts on every sales letter it might positively impact their business

I'll trade a good headline and maybe a video over some bulky graphics any day of the week.

I'll trade personality, facts, and quality copy over wimpy financial screen shots any day of the week.

I am sure that my clients like myself like to be communicated to like intelligent people and not pitched to like some hyping carnival worker calling to people trying to bilk small children out of their allowance.

My copy sells. I have over the years developed my own style... but in find that simple sales pages with killer copy... sell the best.

Yeah, they can be called "ugly" at times... but I find video and text to be more effective than graphics at selling too ;-)

[Eric Lorence]

I never look at those PayPal graphics because first, you have NO idea what kind of businesses or promotions created those numbers.

Second: Photoshop

Best!

[sparrow]

this is the herd mentality working here with all those sales pages your seeing

at the beginnig those types of pages may of worked well but since everyone is using them, maybe

I have always tried to look at WIIFM attitude

lately its the opposite of what your seeing

all those shots with earning statements are for selling the dream I can see a little added to help the copy but I agree they don't give their audience enough credit for their intelligence

I often get emails from customers stating I wasn't going to buy another product but when I started reading your copy and this one item I found in the sales letter I couldn't resist buying your product

this is because I addressed a need for someone

I'm with you to much with these graphics

Ed

[rapidscc]

:-) Hehehe funny these people posting large graphics in their pages probably doesn't heard that it is important to grab immediately the attention of the reader in a few seconds, or else they will get bored and stop or click the back button.

I seem to have forgotten the standard number of seconds we should observe before we loose the attention span of the reader?

Or is it possible that almost all of the ppl surfing the net is using broadband these days?

As for the thought that these people are grabbing the lunch money of some grade schoolers, I might also do it but ethically, will give them valuable, step by step blueprint on making cash, otherwise I won't get repeat customers :-)

[Josh Anderson]

When I see a page that displays a bunch of bank account screen shots I skip over and ignore them looking for valid information about their product and how it works.

But then again maybe I am just at the point in my experience online where a bank shot is not important to me because I know that it has nothing to do with what my own experience will be and I can tell right away from features and demos whether something will work for me or not.

In fact for those letters that focus too much on the stuff that does not matter and not telling me about the stuff that does I just close the window or leave the site faster than a mad hornet.

[Andrew Dillon]

I totally agree, these sort of screen shots are old hat and not necessary at all. The fact is they may not have been accumulated by the product the person is trying to sell or they could even be fake.

For me it is a case of, let me know about your product, what it can do for me, how can it make my life better, if not I am out of there straight away.