It seems the age-old question of most copywriters who write direct mail or web copy is about how long your copy should be.
Long sales letters DO work and it's statistically proven by many direct mail marketers and many Internet Marketers. A huge debate rages on about what really works.
The truth of the matter is that both long and short copy work, but you have to keep these three things in mind:
1. The audience
2. The platform
3. The product
In direct mail sales letters, the long copy works, because the company only has one chance to grab your attention. You're either interested in the subject, which is why you WILL read the whole letter, or you’re not, which is why you WON’T read the letter. The audience, the platform and the product matters here.
Example: Did any of you receive the Michael Masterson letter about AWAI in the mail? AWAI targeted writers from major databases and generated such a flood of responses that they are experiencing growth pains. The letter was over 12+ pages long and I read it from beginning to end. Why? Because I was interested. This is a case where the product matched the audience and they used a platform (snail mail) to contact me, which means I didn't have to go looking for them. As a result, I now work for AWAI.
On the Internet, again, long sales copy works. Most people claim they hate long sales copy on the Internet, but what they fail to recognize is that they read it all the time. Most of the cons against long sales copy online refer to the “hype” of it. The truth is, you read long sales copy online every day. And yes, you even read short sales copy online and it works too. Again, the audience, the platform and the product makes a huge difference. Let’s look at the long and short of it.
The adult and the "how-to-make-money-on-the-Internet" industries are the top two industries making money via the Internet. They have been for years.
Successful Short Copy Example: The adult industry. They don't use long sales copy. Why? Because the audience wants visuals and graphics. The platform doesn't matter. Ever seen Playboy/girl magazines? More pictures and graphics. Here, the PRODUCT and the AUDIENCE matters.
Successful Long Copy Example: Making-Money-on-the-Internet industry. They do use long sales copy, very, very successfully. Why? The AUDIENCE. People who purchase from the "get-rich-quick" marketers on the Internet typically "like" they hype and sales pitch. They emotionally "like" being "sold to." Does this fit every single person on the Internet looking to make money? Absolutely not. Does this model fit a huge percentage? I'd say at least 50%.
The only reason you see this type of "hypey" sales letter on the Internet so often is because you are looking to make money on the Internet. If you had never been looking to make money on the Internet, you never would have seen these types of “hyped-up” letters. So, these marketers were hoping you were one of the 50%. Hey, 50/50 odds are good, aren't they? They must be.
But, to shift the focus to some other innocuous industry... let's say you want to buy some software.
Another Successful Long Copy Example: Let’s say you find software A in your local computer store and it costs $299. You've seen commercials about it, you've talked to people about it - and you've probably done an Internet search for it and read everything you could about it.
Now, let's say you've been "hearing" about software B, but you can only purchase it online. It does everything software A does, but it has more features, prevents crashes and it comes with other free software AND it's cheaper. Of course, you may want to talk to some people about it. Get their opinions. Right?
Guess what? If you visit the online page for software B, they have this big long sales letter. And you know what? Because you're INTERESTED in it, and you're considering pulling out your WALLET to purchase it, you're going to read everything on that page and dig deeper. You'll read the reviews, you'll read the FAQ's, you'll read the features, you'll read the pitch, you'll read the privacy and terms page sometimes! Why? Because you want to know every single detail about that piece of software you can.
Was the sales copy long or hypey? No, probably not. But, did you read a lot? Absolutely!
Either way, if you went with Software A or Software B, the commercials, the personal reviews, the online reviews, the FAQ's, the magazine ads - all of it - conspired to "get you to buy it." All in all, you probably read a lot before you reached the point where you were willing to part with $299 or perhaps less.
So, is there one true answer to whether or not short copy or long copy works? Of course not. It all depends on the audience, the platform and the product.
Author – Shelle Castles-Melton, © 2005, The Corporate Writer,
For those interested, our last eureka poll shows an overwhelming 83% favoring short copy.
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If you’re really interested in using your e-newsletter to add value then you’re probably already measuring it in terms of conversions. You might be calling those conversions opening rate, click-through rate, seminar signups, sales, whitepaper downloads or a range of other metrics. Regardless of how you measure conversions you’re almost certainly trying to improve your results and testing is the only way to consistently do that. 
