What's Your Thoughts On Long Copy Vs Short Copy?

Why would you NEED 20 pages when 3 will do? It makes no sense. You've been in Facebook copywriting groups long enough to see there isn't an answer to this, other than the proverbial testing.

BUT, go back to the WHAT are you selling. And maybe choose things, products or services or software which has DEMAND, like coffee and snacks (like Little Debbie).

There are certain types of products, like Make Money Online and Guru generated products which require a lot of copy, because they have to convince you to part with your money and give it to them because you have so many choices, so many Gurus to choose from.

If you want an iced mocha latte with a cinnamon sprinkle, and you like STARBUCKS, you don't go to McDonald's to get your coffee.

Both sell coffee.

So part of the answer to your question, which I find spurious (not legit), is the WHAT are you offering in your copy?

Then, to WHOM?

As you have been told here and other places, it depends on your target market, some would say there are different stages of awareness/need/want and it might require some education. Or in the case of a lot of current FINANCIAL offers, many pages of copy to both educate and obfuscate the issue. Confusion is often a shortcut to subliminal biases.

It is a lot of the reason for so much fake news these days.

Then, there are numbers. The Math.

And this where the testing comes in. A marketer wants to know the pulling power of the copy, so both long and short may be tested toward a target market, then tweaks in both directions come into play.

There isn't any answer to long vs short copy other than FACTS and DATA, and if you don't have either to back up either assertion, then you just have opinions.

There is evidence to support the idea that the more, er, uh, bullshit... the product is, like in financial and supplement copy, the more copy is going to be needed.

Both are generally effective, when the emotional hot buttons have been pushed in any given target's mind.

BUT, why is this a concern to you? Have you written any copy at all? Are you being asked to write 20 pages by someone?

GordonJ

Multi million dollar yachts and jets are sold with not much more than a pic, a price and a bit of history, often less than a 1/4 page at that.

GordonJ

You've used the right bait?

Short copy hooks em, long copy reels em in? I don't fish, but I used to golf, and a pic or short description often got me to read...

the long copy and often then I would buy.

I could be wrong, but isn't this the whole idea of a CAPTURE page, or lead gen copy?

GordonJ

First, GOOD is relative, you can visit 15 Facebook groups on writing copy and come away with about 49 to 57 suggestions for GOOD books, courses or people to learn from.

Then, there is the why?

Why do you want resources to writing copy? What is your end game? Some learn the craft to be able to write promotions for their own products or services.

Others want to sell their time to someone who will pay them to write for them.

Some may use the skill to sell affiliate products.

The REASON I think it is an important question is...

YOUR reason for wanting to learn it, can guide you to the best path of study, it can reveal the right resources for you, which can save you tons of time and money.

Writing copy for pay is a very different path than writing copy for your own products, that is, unless you sell HOW to write copy services, then the song is always the same.

And, there are different types of copy writers too...many agency people have great graphic skills too, many mid 6 figure copy writers are employees with great benefits, while many, many, many a freelancer goes starving in the street.

IF your goal is to learn copy to SELL stuff, and make money, then maybe a better start would be to study SALESMANSHIP, or selling in general. You will find a mountain of evidence which says, good to great Copywriters come out of the trenches of face to face selling.

Sure,we can give you resources. What do you see yourself doing after a year or two of study and building your copy writing skills? That will help us to help you, OK?

GordonJ