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Is Video Sales Letters ... New Sheriff in Town?

by The Niche Man
15 replies
Is it me or has the Video Sales Letter become the New Sheriff in town, especially among top dog marketers?

Most of Click Banks top gravity products are now Video sales letters.

So does this mean the traditional sales letter days are now numbered?

Or will there be room enough for both?

And how will this change the Copywriting landscape?
#letters #sales #sheriff #town #video
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
    http://www.warriorforum.com/search.p...rchid=11449691
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    • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
      Originally Posted by Ken Strong View Post

      Thanks for the link. But most of the post deal with a pro or con stance when it comes to video sales letters and the reasons why. But I haven't read many that dealt with my 3 questions specifically.

      Does this mean the traditional sales letter days are now numbered?

      Or will there be room enough for both?

      And how will this change the professional copywriting landscape?

      What ever a persons answer or opinion, this stands to go down as one of the hottest debates - and test cases in the coming months.

      Videos has rocked every other industry to its core, copywriting might as well be the next one.
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      • Profile picture of the author Studio13
        Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

        Thanks for the link. But most of the post deal with a pro or con stance when it comes to video sales letters and the reasons why. But I haven't read many that dealt with my 3 questions specifically.

        Does this mean the traditional sales letter days are now numbered?

        Or will there be room enough for both?

        And how will this change the professional copywriting landscape?

        What ever a persons answer or opinion, this stands to go down as one of the hottest debates - and test cases in the coming months.

        Videos has rocked every other industry to its core, copywriting might as well be the next one.
        I think it's simple math really. People are programmed to expend the least amount of energy possible to get what they want. Path of least resistance type of thing, right?

        It takes more energy to read a letter, and compose the images in your mind, than it does to simply be fed images and ideas predigested and composed on the screen.

        Entertainment, and education are paramount. Mixing the two, and you have a hypnotic synergy -- likely well worth the time it takes to master.
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        • Profile picture of the author Cam Connor
          Originally Posted by Studio13 View Post

          I think it's simple math really. People are programmed to expend the least amount of energy possible to get what they want. Path of least resistance type of thing, right?

          It takes more energy to read a letter, and compose the images in your mind, than it does to simply be fed images and ideas predigested and composed on the screen.

          Entertainment, and education are paramount. Mixing the two, and you have a hypnotic synergy -- likely well worth the time it takes to master.
          Interesting point... the flipside to this is that people who actually DO take the time to read a long sales-letter are far more INVESTED in the page than someone who just watched a video, and so are more likely to buy the product at the end...

          I'm not saying written Copy > video Copy, BUT it's an argument to consider, and written copy may be more effective afterall, even though it's counter-intuitive to say so.

          I'd actually like to see some real statistics on this.
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          • Profile picture of the author EricMN
            Originally Posted by Cam Connor View Post

            Interesting point... the flipside to this is that people who actually DO take the time to read a long sales-letter are far more INVESTED in the page than someone who just watched a video, and so are more likely to buy the product at the end...

            I'm not saying written Copy > video Copy, BUT it's an argument to consider, and written copy may be more effective afterall, even though it's counter-intuitive to say so.

            I'd actually like to see some real statistics on this.
            We value our time and our resources and like to justify that value when we spend it. Good point. It's also why when people spend $100 for something with the same ingredients as the $50 one, it tastes so much better.

            On a side note, a good progression of subheads for writing of any kind should be able to tell the story without having to read the entire body. It makes the piece cohesive, easy to understand and streamlined. This saves time on the video.

            A concept I learned writing neuroscience papers but never really valued until I started writing copy
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeHumphreys
        Originally Posted by The Niche Man View Post

        Thanks for the link. But most of the post deal with a pro or con stance when it comes to video sales letters and the reasons why. But I haven't read many that dealt with my 3 questions specifically.

        Does this mean the traditional sales letter days are now numbered?

        Or will there be room enough for both?

        And how will this change the professional copywriting landscape?

        What ever a persons answer or opinion, this stands to go down as one of the hottest debates - and test cases in the coming months.

        Videos has rocked every other industry to its core, copywriting might as well be the next one.
        Ken's right.

        This is a topic that's been frequently tossed around in the main forum and this one for several years now. My answer is the same today that it was a year ago... two years ago... four years ago.

        You'll get more answers from doing the legwork with the searches like Ken suggested and see what most of us have already said... instead of asking us to answer the same questions again.

        Good luck,

        Mike
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        • Profile picture of the author ericmartinez
          Taking the time to post a reply with only a link is very disrespectful.

          This forum is supposed to be for people to help people out..
          If you called customer support for a product and they merely recited a link and hung up you would file a complaint to the BBB.

          The fact of the matter is that the answer changes all the time, market to market. It is not the same as it was several years ago. The ubiquity of high speed internet has changed. The mobile landscape has changed. Most mobile devices are being used on 3G or worse connections. This means that high quality video is not easy to stream.

          My answer:

          In our market it is important for people to sell themselves as people since they are selling a promise. They are selling you a business opportunity. Many times it requires a little bit of demonstration so a video is necessary.

          In other markets it is not safe to assume that you should use video especially if it does not add anything that could be said with pictures or text more efficiently.

          This market promises a work-from-home promise so it is safe to assume that many "advanced" practitioners are working from home so have the time to watch a sales video.

          Not all markets are like this.

          If you need to:
          • demonstrate a product or technique
          • show a great customer testimonial
          • highlight your appearance and/or lifestyle
          • narrate a use case
          • use video production techniques to increase perceived value

          then yes a video might be a good idea for your market.

          If not, it is worth testing because the standard sales letter works just fine and is here to stay.
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeHumphreys
            Originally Posted by ericmartinez View Post

            Taking the time to post a reply with only a link is very disrespectful.
            I disagree.

            Using the search feature for the phrase Video Sales Letter turns up 137 existing threads in the copywriting forum already. For the entire WF, it's 207 threads where it's been discussed. It's 207 threads where the OP could find EXACTLY what they're looking for without having to wait for members to see and answer the new thread.

            The OP could have easily picked one of them and bumped them instead of adding another one to the pile. Then everyone reading it would have benefitted from what was already posted without having to search it out themselves. Because the old threads have posts from a number of veteran copywriters who either no longer visit this forum or have gotten tired of answering the same questions about video salesletters and no longer do so.


            This forum is supposed to be for people to help people out..
            If you called customer support for a product and they merely recited a link and hung up you would file a complaint to the BBB.
            Customer support is offered to CUSTOMERS. This is a free online forum so it's a completely different animal. It's understandable for people in this forum to get tired of answering the same question 137 times.

            Almost every product customer support line I've called in the last 3 years has told me about getting help online at their website address. The ones that haven't are mom and pop businesses that don't have a website.

            And if I had a complaint with a customer service rep, I'd ask to talk to their manager before I went through the trouble of contacting the BBB.

            The fact of the matter is that the answer changes all the time, market to market. It is not the same as it was several years ago. The ubiquity of high speed internet has changed. The mobile landscape has changed. Most mobile devices are being used on 3G or worse connections. This means that high quality video is not easy to stream.

            My answer:

            In our market it is important for people to sell themselves as people since they are selling a promise. They are selling you a business opportunity. Many times it requires a little bit of demonstration so a video is necessary.

            In other markets it is not safe to assume that you should use video especially if it does not add anything that could be said with pictures or text more efficiently.

            This market promises a work-from-home promise so it is safe to assume that many "advanced" practitioners are working from home so have the time to watch a sales video.

            Not all markets are like this.

            If you need to:
            • demonstrate a product or technique
            • show a great customer testimonial
            • highlight your appearance and/or lifestyle
            • narrate a use case
            • use video production techniques to increase perceived value

            then yes a video might be a good idea for your market.

            If not, it is worth testing because the standard sales letter works just fine and is here to stay.
            The core answer does not change.

            Video is merely a choice of media for a particular market. It doesn't matter if it's a 30 second radio commercial... 2 minute infomercial... 15 page direct mail letter... 30 page long copy style online salesletter... all of them use the same copywriting and sales tactics and techniques.

            It's just a different delivery mechanism.

            It's matching up the market to the media that they will respond best to.

            That's copywriting and marketing 101.

            There are plenty of products and services that sold extremely well everyday without using video. There are lenty of products and services that will be sold extremely well in the future without using video too.

            As John Caples once said, "Times change, people do not."

            Take care,

            Mike
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            • Profile picture of the author Josiah
              regardless of the medium...

              good copy is behind it.

              through testing with our clients we're seeing that video sales letters are working extremely well, as well as plain video...

              but that's only because the COPY/script behind it, it's what drives it.

              Josiah
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              • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
                Originally Posted by Josiah View Post

                regardless of the medium...

                good copy is behind it.

                through testing with our clients we're seeing that video sales letters are working extremely well, as well as plain video...

                but that's only because the COPY/script behind it, it's what drives it.

                Josiah
                I agree, regardless of the medium good copy is behind it.

                But the argument for videos is the copy doesn't have to be "as good" as a sales letter. Why? ...

                Because you have the added benefit of communicating emotion through voice and body language instead having to do it all through written words.
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        • Profile picture of the author The Niche Man
          Originally Posted by MikeHumphreys View Post

          Ken's right.

          This is a topic that's been frequently tossed around in the main forum and this one for several years now. My answer is the same today that it was a year ago... two years ago... four years ago.

          You'll get more answers from doing the legwork with the searches like Ken suggested and see what most of us have already said... instead of asking us to answer the same questions again.

          Good luck,

          Mike
          I understand your point, but you're not the only one on this forum. There are new people coming on all the time. Plus, other people have different view points than you.

          This subject is a moving target, in my opinion, not a foundational principle that never changes.

          The question made it through the moderator filter, so it must still be relevant.
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  • Profile picture of the author Studio13
    Could help our hurt your offer in my opinion. Risk vs Reward ratio in play. Works wonders if you do it well.
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  • Profile picture of the author davemiz
    good copy is good copy.... if you have a video with crap copy, it ain't gonna do well.

    you still need to know how to sell.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
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      I agree with davemiz. You still have to write good copy for the video.
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  • Profile picture of the author durant0704
    Well when you think about it, video copy provides visitors with a way for them to relax and not have to read anything. They can browse other web pages, do their laundry, whatever while listening to your sales letter as you read it to them. While there are pros and cons to that in itself, I find it to be much more effective because your message is more easily transferred to the visitor. Just my thoughts...
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