Is the Long Form Sales Letter Becoming
Road Kill on The Information Highway?
Dear Web Business-Builder,
Sometimes when I’m sitting around talking shop with a few of my copywriting buddies, I’ll start raving about online video. I get the distinct impression they get a little defensive – like I had made some slur involving their mothers and army boots.
Sure, placing a video at the top of a long form sales letter to encourage readership can increase conversion, they’ll say.
And video testimonials are obviously killer.
But at the end of the day, video is just window dressing. What really sells people is the copy.
And I say that’s total B.S.
Let me ask you a question …
If you had an opportunity to meet somebody face to face in order to sell them something … would you finish your sales pitch by saying, “Great Mr. Customer, thanks for listening to me today. I’m leaving now and when I’m gone please read this 24-page report detailing what I just told you. And if you like what you read, go ahead and buy my product.”
Seriously, would you say something like that?
If you said, “yes,” then please go ahead and shoot yourself right now rather than die a slow Willie Loman-like death.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying the long form sales letter is dead. It still has its place, but NOT as the primary vehicle for persuasion in today’s world of cheap, easy video. It’s high time it took second fiddle. Something you send the people who didn’t buy the first time around.
Why am I so adamant about this?
Here are the reasons …
Passive Consumption: There are indeed people who would rather consume their info actively, reading rather than watching or listening. I’m one of them. Maybe you are too.
Personally, I would much rather be free to skim and skip and scroll recklessly through a document than be forced to take a linear route through the material. But what you and I like is irrelevant.
Most people are conditioned to consume information passively. They much prefer to sit there like couch potatoes while the boob tube carries them away. So go with the flow. Online video allows you to simultaneously stimulate all of their senses in just the same way.
It just makes no sense using a short video to inspire readership of a long sales letter when you can use a long video to close the sale. Why force the majority of your prospects to wade through a long form sales letter before asking them to buy in order to appeal to the much smaller minority of readers? That’s like selling the majority something in the first five, 10, 15, or 20 minutes and spending another half hour buying it back from them.
The solution? Skim the sales cream off the top by appealing to the audio-visual majority with a long form video that presents your full sales story. And use just a little bit of positive acceptance copy to close the sale. Then cycle back with a long form special report (read sales letter) to appeal to the minority who like to read.
Rapid Emotional Induction: One of your prime objectives as a seller is to activate the emotions of those you wish to persuade. Emotions play a dominant role in every aspect of the sales process.
They help you to seize attention, maintain that attention over an extended period of time, inflame desire, and inspire action. And speed is important …
The faster you can induce an emotional state (assuming it’s the right one), the more traction your page has. Full motion video has this magical ability. It wraps its perfumed petals around your prospect’s emotions like a jungle plant – the kind that traps insects and eats them.
Psycho-physiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television, the brain begins to produce ALPHA WAVES, indicating an over-stimulation of the emotional right brain … and a corresponding hyper-receptivity to suggestion.
In less than a minute in front of the TV, you literally slip into a trance-like state where your mind becomes incredibly open to influence. Online video has this same effect … allowing you as a marketer to take your persuasion to a whole new level.
Being able to infect your sales audience with your own enthusiasm, anger, concern, etc. through facial expression, voice inflection, and body language, in addition to your words … being able to tightly coordinate moving pictures with your words … and being able to leverage the mood-altering magic of music allows you to activate people’s emotions instantly. And at a depth that’s simply impossible to achieve without thousands-and-thousands of words of static copy. Advantage video …
Novelty Factor: This is, of course, the most superficial and fleeting reason for using a selling video instead of a long form sales letter. But let’s face facts …
Driving people to your sales page is a huge hurdle, and getting huger. And in most markets, the promise of video beats the pants off the promise of text.
Even in markets where people do read, more people will click through to a video than a long form sales letter, no matter what you call it.
In some markets, there are people who actively go out of their way to avoid long form sales letters. Just the sight of one sends them running.
So video gives you a huge consumption advantage. It helps you to get visitors to your sales page. And as we all know, if they don’t visit, they don’t buy.
Seeing is Believing: And of course, there’s no denying the additional realism and believability video brings to any demonstration of product claims.
As infomercials have clearly shown, the power of the demonstration is king. Watching a before-to-after transformation taking place literally before your very eyes is easily ten times as convincing as a simple before-and-after shot … twenty times as convincing than the same story told in mere text on a page.
People can doubt your story told in cold text … they’re often skeptical of pictures easily doctored with photo shop … but full motion video is just too real and expensive to fake, especially if your video is a little raw looking.
And there’s nothing wrong with ghetto video that’s rough around the edges. Part of the beauty of online video is that it doesn’t have to be slick and perfect. It just has to be convincing.
Will online video obliterate copy and copywriters?
Mark my words: Over the next couple of years you are going to see less and less long form sales letters and more and more online video doing the heavy sales lifting.
And you might be wondering what this means to copywriters. Are you studying this trade for naught? Will your copywriting gigs dry up like an old nun as marketers migrate to online video?
Not on your life …
Video is NOT a magic pill. Being able to put together a video is no guarantee of sales success. The people who have the technical know-how to put together a video today are very much like the people who had the technical know-how to put together a Website ten years ago. They know a lot about the mechanics of getting the job done. But they’re clueless about selling.
That’s where copywriters come in …
If copy on a Web page is salesmanship in print … then online video is salesmanship in video – only more so …
Heck, it’s like you’re right there talking to the customer man! Saying the same things a salesperson would say to clinch the sale.
Scripts are needed. Creative angles, themes and concepts are needed. Aptitude for persuasion is needed. And it’s only natural that copywriters fill this role.
But it’s a different kind of copy you’ll be writing – less telling, more showing …
Maybe you’re familiar with that famous study that claimed to prove that only 7% of meaning is conveyed through words … 38% through voice tone and inflection … and 55% by body language.
And while I think trying to quantify a phenomenon like this with statistics is dumb as a bag of hammers, it’s certainly true that when the voice and body are used effectively as communication tools, the emotional content of words can become clearer and more impactful.
Think about how easy it is to misinterpret the emotional meaning of an e-mail that somebody carelessly types up and fires out. And think about how much easier it is to trust someone when you can hear their voice inflection and see their facial expression and body language.
For these reasons, video requires much plainer language, less exposition and explanation, and far less bombast than a long form sales letter to keep people engaged and to create the desired emotional effect. There’s so much more for the prospect to go on.
My advice … widen your study of persuasion to include the subtleties of non-verbal communication and simple screen play. Master these disciplines. Consider specializing in creating killer video scripts. And watch your budding career as a direct response copywriter blossom in the years ahead.
Until next time, Good Selling!
Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE
Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto, Canada and publisher of the world famous copywriting anthology Masters of Copywriting featuring the selling wisdom of 44 of the “Top Money” marketing minds of all time, including Clayton Makepeace, Dan Kennedy, Joe Sugarman, John Carlton, Joe Vitale, Michel Fortin, Richard Armstrong and dozens more! For a FREE excerpt visit http://www.SellingtoHumanNature.com.
He is also one of the leading Web conversion experts operating online today, and originator of the 5R System (TM), a strategic process for engineering enhanced Internet profits. For a free overview of Daniel’s system, click here.
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18 Comments »
Join the Discussion!
Let us know what you think. Or ask us anything. Or offer your own sage advice.
The only rule: RESPECT THIS HOUSE! Postings that contain abusive language and/or personal attacks will be cheerfully VAPORIZED. One cross word and – POOF! – your well-thought-out post will be gone in a puff of smoke.
– Clayton
Comment by Doberman Dan — March 3, 2010 @ 11:01 am
As an old school direct mail copywriter, I’ve dabbled in video but for the most part have kind of had a resentment to it. After all, I cut my teet on long form sales letters.
But this statement got my greed glands flowing:
“Psycho-physiologist Thomas Mulholland found that after just 30 seconds of watching television, the brain begins to produce ALPHA WAVES, indicating an over-stimulation of the emotional right brain … and a corresponding hyper-receptivity to suggestion.”
That’s a dream come true for us’ns, isn’t it?
But only use your new persuasion powers for good, never evil, OK?
Best,
Dan
Comment by A J Hodgetts — March 3, 2010 @ 11:08 am
Truly excellent post, Daniel (though of course, you should have done it as a video
).
Wanted to highlight *at least* 3 paragraphs for emphasis!
As an extra, I’d personally add the importance of *rhythm and timing* to the essential skills for creating action-inducing (and entertaining) video…
…both of which the best copywriters already have in their word-flow repertoire (and both of which are often overlooked by almost all the ‘also rans’).
Best,
Adam
Comment by David Coyne — March 3, 2010 @ 11:10 am
Daniel,
Great article. As a copywriter who started his career in the video business, I know it can be powerful medium to persuade. My only caution is to choose carefully when using an on-camera spokesperson. Nothing kills rapport faster than a mumbling, stumbling entrepreneur or CEO in front of a camera and has all the charisma of soggy toast. Don’t cheap out. Hire an on camera pro or get some broadcast coaching if you decide to stick yourself in front of the camera.
Comment by Ken Ca|houn — March 3, 2010 @ 11:15 am
Excellent points, Daniel. As someone who’s sold millions using online video with long-copy salesletters, since 1999 (I was a pioneer using video long before the latest crop of ‘em surfaced); I can say the good news is, most videos are very poorly done and it’s easy to compete against the masses.
From a copy standpoint, the key is, study infomercials and see which hooks translate best, with direct response and credibility (like multi-video product launches spread out over time), to fit niche demands.
You make excellent points re meeting needs of those of us who like to read, in addition to video. Benefits of long copy are that the objection turnarounds and visual hooks are instantly visible, while in video they have to be playback-bar scrolled through to access, which is tough (in fact the latest crop of gurus is now advising to hide the scroll/playback bar, to force the reader to watch the whole thing vs skimming/skipping; interesting thoughts).
As always the key is to test which combination works best, for both things like initial cold lead-gen work, product launches, low vs high price point sales, and the many other variables to take into account. I’ve found wide disparity in test results with video, based on niche, price point, warm vs cold lists and other factors, so those need to be meticulously split tested out to find optimal conversion thresholds.
Video done well, is powerful. Market positioning and credibility are also critical/overlooked from many marketers, so those also need to be addressed.
Regards,
Ken Ca|houn
Comment by Wes — March 3, 2010 @ 11:21 am
Howdy Daniel!
You… my friend… are absolutely… positively… 100%…
RIGHT!
How can I say that? Here’s why:
I own a ‘brick and mortars’ pet business.
And I’ve tested long copy vs. video… on my website.
And by far… the video gets my phone ringing much more!
Now, that could be because ‘Google’ (and the other search engines) like video.
So, maybe my video just gets me more ‘hits’.
However…
The video… also… gets me fewer “price shoppers”.
Maybe that’s because a video of me… the owner… is more personal and warm.
And when a prospect watches my video he feels “like he knows me”. And is less likely to tighten his wallet.
Either way… Daniel… you are dead-right about this.
And to anyone (especially those with a brick and mortars business) I HIGHLY recommend you get a video on your site — ASAP!
Just don’t do it if you’re my competitor!
Thanks for a great article!
Comment by Bill — March 3, 2010 @ 11:21 am
Why didn’t you use video? I agree that you need to use multi-media in short and long form, and split test to see what works best.
Comment by doug hartley — March 3, 2010 @ 12:13 pm
Daniel,
I found your comment on producing longer videos great but I do wonder what you mean by longer. I had understood that most people zone out after around 14 minutes for a live presentation, is this about right for a video as well. I am currently working on a project that has testimonials from actual users (not actors) and a longer video would be tough on them, any suggestions anyone. Would a video montage work?
Comment by Daniel Levis — March 3, 2010 @ 12:18 pm
Don’t fear the long video. I just used a 40 minute video at the top of a page with just a little bit of positive acceptance copy underneath that produced a 5% conversion rate on a $250 product.
Pingback by Drayton Bird just sent me a link | CreationVideo | a London video production company blog — March 3, 2010 @ 12:23 pm
[...] Bird just sent me a link to this article by Daniel Levis, that encourages copywriters to sharpen their video scriptwriting skills….. [...]
Comment by Ana I YourNetBiz — March 3, 2010 @ 2:58 pm
I absolutely agree that video is taking over the market. I am also one of those people who prefers to read rather than passively listen.
However the sales letters have gotten so long and pointless that I rarely spend much time on them.
In the end, video works better for me.
Thanks for the great post.
Best,
Ana/YourNetBiz blog
Comment by Shanika Journey — March 3, 2010 @ 3:10 pm
As an animator, I most certainly agree.
People are more drawn to a video presentation than the long copy nowadays.
People are skimming more and more through these long online letters.
And with the increase popularity of such sites like Youtube, Hulu, Ustream, even Netflix, and more, the TV generation is migrating over to the Internet for their info entertainment.
Do I believe long copy is dead? Not by a long shot. All it’s got to do is adapt to the consumer’s playground.
I think video and copy can still go hand in hand. Copy can be used more with video to clinch the deal or put emphasis on a point made in the video to intensify the urge to buy.
A copywriter is a salesman, a persuader with words.
Video is nothing more than another tool, another angle to get the message across to the prospects.
So, to me, it should not be treated any different form the other mediums used to market to others.
Except that everything has to written in more simpler terms as Daniel stated.
Comment by Glenn — March 3, 2010 @ 4:24 pm
Thanks Daniel for the insight. Will start incorporating videos in my offering.
Comment by Hans — March 3, 2010 @ 9:30 pm
Thanks for the article, Daniel. You are, truly, a visionary!
Comment by Sharon Hayes — March 4, 2010 @ 2:54 am
Great article and bang on. I’ve got over a decade of email copy experience behind me. My own gut has been saying that longer videos would produce better results but I haven’t worked enough in video yet to have any data to back this up. This has given me an incentive to give it a try for my next campaign.
Comment by Test — March 4, 2010 @ 4:29 am
Does this mean there will be Vlog posts to
replace the blog posts?
What’s next, I grab my box o’ pop-tarts and press “play”
then see and hear how to put ‘em in the toaster?
Walk out to my mailbox, open it and see the postperson
has delivered some dvds that begin playing when the lid is opened?
Sickening!
Finish my meal and when the check comes,
it’s no longer on paper but there’s an infomercial with a
touch-screen keypad to type in my debit card numbers.
I’m still not switching from toilet paper to video to wipe my posterior with this fickle industry
and nat-sized attention span market you new-fangled bleeding edge whippersnappers.
Gimme my refund! You said I’d be on the beach with my laptop with more time to spend with my friends and family!
This was just last year or have you forgotten?
Lifetime guarantee and I’m not dead yet.
What am I doing making videos if I’m spending time with my friends and family?
Where do I make these videos on the yacht exactly
oh oracle of doomsday video domination?
So after the years it took to master crafting the long form sales letter (and I mean years) (and I mean master)
word gets out and they’re runnin’ scared.
Priceless.
Comment by Dave Stephens — March 4, 2010 @ 11:09 am
Maybe I’m being too simple here [I'm not a copywriter by trade - just a small businessman] but how about both video and long copy on the page - They can then choose…
The first few seconds on the video “Hi I’m John Smith and I’m about to tell you about XYZ … If watching video isn’t your style, just read on below…”
Or a similar text disclaimer above the video.
Just a thought.
Thanks Daniel
Comment by Walter Daniels — March 4, 2010 @ 8:14 pm
A big part of video’s appeal is the closeness. It’s easy to lie with the written word, but harder to do it where they can see you. Of course, you can lie in person, but most people can’t; therefore, it builds trust between the seller, and the buyer. That trust is what you’re after, without it there is no sale.
Comment by Robert Lehrer — March 5, 2010 @ 3:18 am
I concur with Dave Stephens’ suggestion. Daniel, what are your thoughts about presenting both video AND copy so the viewer can select which method he or she is most comfortable with?
Personally, I’m uncomfortable when I click onto a website and I suddenly hear this voice coming out at me. It’s especially annoying if I’m on the phone at the same time that I go onto a website.
But like you said Daniel, what you and I like is insignificant. Great article that makes great points.