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Here's what's really happening with the long sales letter..

by Matt Ausin
12 replies
Yet another thread about the fate and future of a long sales letter?

You decide, but know that while to most of you this is obvious, the rumor about the death of the long sales letter might be slightly exaggerated.

I'm talking about the premise that "nowadays everyone has an attention span of a 5 year old with ADHD who had a huge cake and washed it down with a coke", that "everyone is used to reading chunks of information of 140 characters or less"...

Here's what's REALLY happening. And what we, as copywriters, can do.

The whole thing comes from a somewhat recent flood of articles and media coverage about Gen Y work ethic.

Without boring you with every detail about the lovely Millenials, the basic idea is that they (and by extension, everyone else must too) are living "in a world of microblogging and Twitter" and if they don't see what they're looking for right away, they're gonna bounce from your site.

So that must mean that the long sales letter is dying?

Heck NO.

Take a look what's REALLY happening.

And what you could - and SHOULD - do about it.

First...

If you look into it, you'll find that your 50 year old housewife is JUST AS RUTHLESS when sorting her mail as her son, the 20 year old Josh who owns a fixed gear bike and every Apple product is in deciding which webpage he is going to read or not.

The only difference is the medium.

And once Josh is actually hooked... interested in what he has to read (or digest otherwise, like a video sales letter)... He'll consume every last bit of a long sales letter, don't you worry about that. Just like the aging housewife.

That brings me to my second point, which is easy to guess...

Sales techniques evolve, and mediums change.

But human psychology stays the same.

Hook 'em, interest them, have something that they're interested in.. and they'll devour every single word of what you have to say. Even if it's a long sales letter.

And if you really think that there's a difference between a long sales copy and a sales video... You're wrong. Transcribe any sales video word-by-word and you'll see. Same thing.

The king is dead. Long live the king!

P.S. I do apologize for beating the dead horse yet I think that this angle hasn't been explained enough.

P.P.S. And let's not forget things that are already posted by brilliant people on other threads - I just don't want to repeat all of that again.

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...ally-work.html

http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...hort-form.html

and you'll find many more of course.
#happening #letter #long #sales
  • Profile picture of the author CharismaticMannequin
    Originally Posted by Matt Ausin View Post

    Sales techniques evolve, and mediums change.

    But human psychology stays the same.

    Hook 'em, interest them, have something that they're interested in.. and they'll devour every single word of what you have to say. Even if it's a long sales letter.


    This is the core of your post, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. People who say that long form copy is dead aren't exactly the brightest of the bunch, and certainly aren't the best copywriters.

    As you've said, if the prospect is interested in the product/service, they will read every word. Why? Because they want to know EVERYTHING.

    Hell, do you buy a TV without knowing the specs (assuming you're tech savvy)? Hell no you don't. You make sure it has HD, freeview, is 40 inches big (at least! ) and you make sure there's a guarantee with it.

    It's the same thing. If someone's interested in buying something, they want to have a full, clear picture.



    Yes, this dead horse has been beaten repeatedly, but it's a horse that people keep dragging back up, and they need to be told!


    Cheers for this post.




    Ben.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

    The proliferation of "writing courses" that teach the long form to people who wouldn't know a gerund if it crawled up their legs and bit them on the ass has made anyone who can plug and grind a "Who Else" headline into a "copywriter."
    Or worse, whilst taking a piddle in the Amazon (as you do) there you are merrily going about your business peeing as quickly as you can, eye's closed, head back... ahhhhh lurvelly...

    ...and a candiru swims up your long stream of piss and enters into your urethra with it's barb extended and gets itself well and truly stuck midway.

    OW!

    Any correlation between a long form sales letter and a long streak of piss is of course entirely coincidental.


    Mark Andrews
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  • Profile picture of the author winsoar
    It's a basic law of sales that the longer your presentation is the higher your conversion rate will be.

    If the sales letter is not converting perhaps it needs changing. I'd test every element of it, especially the headline, greeting, opening paragraph, call to action, and the PS, PPS etc.

    Also check the traffic source because targeted buyers will read an entire sales letter. Testing with something like Clicktale will show this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Hoffman
    I apologize if this has already been covered.

    The design needs to change. Just like it has in the direct mail world. The reason the public has a bad perception of long form sales letters has a lot to do with the look of them. Especially on the Internet...they look like sales letters and NOT valuable content.

    It's ever more important that the look and feel of the copy has a perception of valuable content, not sales copy. And the writing needs to support that by avoiding hype and containing value within the copy itself.

    It's easier to do offline, but there is still plenty you can do online too. Most sales letters on the Internet are screaming visually. And how the prospect is setup beforehand to perceive the copy as something other than sales copy, can help as well.

    I'll admit it's not always easy, but it's getting really important.

    Also, there is an issue with a lot of younger people not being able to read or not wanting to read. As the years go by, there is a very real possibility that the sales letter won't exist...as a sales letter. But I don't think people will ever tire of watching TV. So there will always be video sales letters or sales letters in audio form. Or disguised as books (when done well) for those few left who do read. Not talking a few years, but a few decades.
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  • Profile picture of the author ASCW
    ...Oh it's this one again...
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    Cool.

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  • Profile picture of the author Wytnyt
    I've seen Ramit Sethi (iwillteachyoutoberich.com) write massive blog posts that are chock full of information and content. I've read them in the past, and if it weren't for my lack of funds at that moment, I'd have gotten his course. When I look back at those blog posts today, they look like a long form sales letter disguised as a blog post. The sneaky devil.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brooke@wadeswrittenword
    I agree, I think the long form sales letter is still the leader, however I think consumers are much more educated to keep their eyes and ears open for the triggers that set of alarm bells. With that, there are necessary changes that need to be made.

    The emotional triggers need to remain and the information still needs to get across, while not appearing to be so much of a sales letter, but instead an informative read that will somehow improve their life.

    There is also something to be said, I think, for the difference the 'hard sell' has on different groups and cultures. If your market is straight forward, this is less of a concern. However if you have an international market, it can pay to keep this in mind when considering your pitch. For example Australians and Japanese put their defenses up when they feel they are being pushed into the sale and respond better to a subtler approach.

    Likewise, men and women respond differently. Women are not as easily sucked into a hard sell in a long sales letter, but easier to draw into an emotional sale of the same type of letter, provided we see it as a high value product.

    Id be interested to hear others thoughts on this. Oh, and hello, I'm Brooke, new to the forum.
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  • Profile picture of the author new2d
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    • Profile picture of the author RickCopy
      Originally Posted by new2d View Post

      I found this to be extremely interesting. Long copy "landing" or "sales" pages piss the hell out of me. When im looking for pretty much anything on the internet Im always on the lookout for something that looks like a landing page because I know the webmaster's intent is to give me as little free information as possible and to get me to buy something.

      Headline, unbelievable promises, "hi my name is XXXX and im awesome", (insert random, made up testimonials here), then BUY IT NOW!.... so typical, so lame.

      I usually insta-click out of those pages. Coming up with copy that's going to get around this increasing suspiscion from people about these pages is going to be key I think.
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      • Profile picture of the author Doceye
        Since when is being fifty years old considered "...aging"?

        Literally taken, anyone could be considered to be aging from the moment they're yanked screaming and writhing into this crappy world.

        Which means all you 20 and 30 somethings are "aging" too.

        So there.

        Old guys (and gals) rock. You youngsters wouldn't believe what you have in front of you. And worse, even if "we" told you ... you still won't really know what the heck happened until you're, ahem ... aged.
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        • Profile picture of the author RickCopy
          Originally Posted by Doceye View Post

          Since when is being fifty years old considered "...aging"?

          Literally taken, anyone could be considered to be aging from the moment they're yanked screaming and writhing into this crappy world.

          Which means all you 20 and 30 somethings are "aging" too.

          So there.

          Old guys (and gals) rock. You youngsters wouldn't believe what you have in front of you. And worse, even if "we" told you ... you still won't really know what the heck happened until you're, ahem ... aged.
          um...ok?

          Dont think anyone was taking shots at 50+'ers....
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