Shhh, don't tell them that... I like the majority of Internet Marketers to still think long form is the way to traffics heart.

You are of course, completely correct - people are used to recognising long form sales letters for exactly what they are. No longer are they as effective in creating rapport with your traffic.

In fact, if you are targetting a product that will be mostly seen by people 21 or under, using long form sales letters is basically disasterous.

This is why A/B testing is important - but not many people take the time and effort.

To sell expensive products (in particular), you need to answer all the reasonably foreseeable objections in the sales copy. Those long copy pages that so many people allegedly find so distasteful seem to remain pretty popular with people who do real split-testing, don't they?

I'll be honest.. It seems like we're transitioning into that "less is more" mentality, but from my experience long form sales letter are still surprisingly effective. If they're able to be skimmed, of course.

That's why we've been seeing more video sales letters, which is just a more engaging long-form sales letter, with minimal or no copy beneath with a BUY button at the bottom.

But, also from my experience in my own niche businesses, although the IM-MMO industry may be tired of the longer sales letters, they're still ridiculously effective in the sub-niches. People in a lot of smaller niches aren't used to seeing sales letters as often as we are to develop the mentality towards them that some of us have.

Kinda like someone new to "internet marketing"... They aren't used to seeing sales letter all day and unfortunately end up buying a good few of them.

I would agree. I like smaller sales pages a lot more than those which have essays to read. I think it would be more effective overall for almost any target market because of the simplicity. People love simplicity and if they see a video and some small information on it. They may just be inclined to buy the product you are selling.
Short. Simple. To the point.

What you need to keep in perspective is that you, as a warrior, probably look at 10 times as many sales pages as the average person. So your point of view is skewed because you see it for what it is. For example, I've seen thousands of these long sales letters, so when I see one now - I immediately go straight to the bottom to get the real scoop. My wife on the other hand, would definitely read every word. So even though you may think these lengthy pages are "old school", they do still have a place and serve a purpose, but I agree with Bane, you need to do some testing of your own to decide what works best for you.

Nic, you know how many times this has been asked on WF? Beaucoup. So don't be surprised if the Mods nuke this post. For instance, here's a thread from just 4 days ago - http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...-too-long.html and if you Google "short sales pages versus long sales pages" you'll find over 8 Million Broad results.

But the short answer to the long versus short salespage is - the longer you can keep a reader on the page the better chance you have of converting him. But I hear you - some of the long sales pages bore the sh*t out of me. But you'll find people aren't reading it all anyway - they're scrolling/scanning. They read the subheads. That's why its a good idea to string subheads together that more or less tell the story. The rest is just filler.

Ho hum. Out.

A nice though, but if you are a niche like the classic "dog training" or anything else, its the info product concept- looks like you get more for your money. but as someone else- testing is key......rather than pure opinion.

The best converting sales letter is the shortest one that covers everything the reader needs to know to make his/her buying decision.

If I offer you a solution to your problem for $100 then I can increase the chance that you'll buy it by telling you that you have 60 days to make your mind up and get a refund if you're not happy.

If a friend recommended the product and you know you want one, the presence of that guarantee doesn't make it any less likely that you'll buy.

Perhaps you're the kind of person who likes to hear what other people think (yeah, yeah, you're not influenced by those "fake testimonials"). But what if you're not. Do those testimonials make you less likely to buy? Or do you just skim past them?

Maybe you're a techie type and you want to see the features list. You don't care about the long list of benefits. Do they stop you from reading the feature list and making your decision?

Make more sense now?

Hi Nic,

Let me ask you a question...

Do you want to buy my car?

That's it. That's my sales letter. It's nice and short, right?

The problem is that I haven't covered all the bases. And I haven't given you enough information to make a buying decision.

After all, you don't know if I'm selling a new Ferrari for $1 or a rusted-out, 1972 Pinto for $95,000. One of those is a good deal; the other... not so much.

So it's not about whether long or short copy is best -- it's about providing a complete sales presentation with all the information a prospect needs to make a decision to buy (or not).

Of course, good copy doesn't end there. The copy also needs to compel your reader to want to buy and then take action.

The product dictates the length of the copy. For simple products, often short copy is adequate. It depends on the product or service being offered.

Regards,

John

P.S. Over-the-top graphics/mini-site design is another issue, entirely.

Claire, its the same for me... I dont have the patience to listen to them reading the same words on the screen without any seek bar but here's the thing. even though I don't like it, I find myself glued to it. The reason IS that I am waiting for the final scoop. I dont get that till the end so I forcefully made to stick to the end, and I dont wanna miss it either because I know if I miss it, im going to have to watch the whole damn thing again... that ensures my attention to the screen.

Length should be a function of how much you relevant information you need to deliver. I don't believe in the long sales page nor in the short sales page, I only believe in the appropriate lengthy one.

Regards,
George

I always use short sales copy.

In my opinion, LONG SALES COPY = HYPE SHORT SALES COPY = To the point, and accurately describing the product, thus attracting people interested in what the product actually is.

There's no reason to have a 10,000 word sales page in my opinion, how long does it actually take to tell somebody what you're giving them?

I have an average conversion rate of 8% on my sales pages, I have two which pull in over 10%.

In my experience sales pages are best kept short, to the point, they tell the people what they're getting (rather than hyping it up), thus actually attracting people interested in your offer.

Long, hype filled sales letters are nothing but a guessing game, thus people purchase out of curiosity, rather than necessity or improvement. You know what happens when a boatload of people purchase 'out of curiosity' right? HIGH REFUND RATE!

Maybe you'll get more sales, but having satisfied customers is WAY more important. In my opinion, telling people what they're going to get, why they should get it, in a short, to the point manner builds a much more respective customers base, and much lower refund rates.

A "long" sales letter should have two parts in one:

There is the long sales letter and there is the short sales
letter built into the long sales letter.

A sales letter should be structured so that a person
who just skims the letter (the short version) will
still get the essence of what you are selling and
the person who needs more information can get
that too.

Not many writes know how to do this but it is
possible.

-Ray Edwards

Long or Short

Some great comments and points

Long copy will outsell short copy - and the reason is simple
as correctly stated by Raydal "the short sales
letter built into the long sales letter"

head and sub headlines, bullet lists bold text

Short I find works best in the Social networks.

But lets be honest. I have seen horrible long boring pull my teeth root canal bad long copy ... and no it will not sell!

I was taught that every word must earn the right to be on the page.

The psyc reasons are not for this discussion but the logic to by a cigar and the logic to by a house are worlds apart. So the sales copy must address these to be effective.

Let the final deciding factor be conversions only!

Bottom line, make the sale. Everything else is just juvenile debate.

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