The longest standing and never ending debates in marketing circles and copywriting is over what is better-short or long copy. The fanatics of short copy gospel believe that no one sees the need to read nowadays, and this is enough reason to avoid writing long copy.
On the other hand, the long copy adherents believe that a long copy has some secrets towards the success of sales. This means that, the more long copies they make, the more sales they register. Well, who is right between the two schools of thought?
In a way, both are right since in some instances short copy is much, much better while, in others, long copy is much better. The best way is to test the response rate of each copy to see which copy has the highest ratings. The great advantage is that you can follow certain rules of thumb, which gives you proper guidelines on when it is best to write a short copy or long copy.
First, you do not have to write more that it is necessary. Do you really have to make a point to convince customers to buy your products? If this fact holds true, you need to add it to your copy. Will a different section make one of your copies more persuasive to your customers? If this fact also holds true, do not forget to add it to your page as well.
There are times that the points that you have, do not strengthen your argument, but rather serve to make your copy longer that it is necessary. In fact, those are the points that should not appear in your copy, so do everything possible to leave them out. The others may make your copy too long and discusses many unnecessary details instead of helping customers to buy your products. If you come across such material, you should leave them out as well.
When writing copy, always be concise and to the point to make a persuasive presentation, but not make it so long that you switch the reader’s sleeping mode, who may want to turn to something better.
Ensure that you test the response rate to see which converts at the highest rate. At times, a postcard will be the most effective, whereas, at other times, a sales letter is a way to go. Sometimes, a concise e-mail is best, and sometimes, a long e-mail is much better. Although, it is a daunting task to know without having to measure the response rate, always ensure that you capture the imagination of the buyer.
