Kudos to Red Hot Copywriting Expert Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero for taking on the LONG COPY VS. SHORT COPY battle once and for all, and leaving the loser in the indisputable dust.
[So as not to leave you hanging: When it comes to writing copy for the purpose of SELLING or MARKETING to a specific target market, long copy is the hands-down winner. If you're scoffing in disbelief right now, go on and read her article yourself!]
This is a battle near and dear to MY heart, personally, because of my unique history with it.
As someone who’s been writing for www.Barbie.com since 2001, I am more aware than most people of the importance of word count and how it affects your connection with your target demographic.
You see, five-year-old girls really don’t have the desire, energy, or capacity to scroll down through a sea of words to *feel* the connection between them and the world’s #1 girls’ brand. They want pictures, magical activities, inspirational themes, sparkly environments, and fun, levity-rich copy delights.
However, as these five year olds get older, their needs change.
While many still love and appreciate beautiful, fantasical images (and often the love affair is a life-long thing!), many more want to connect more deeply, uncover information that helps them discover themselves, and just get lost in a “fantasy world” more rich and real than their five-year-old selves were ready to conquer.
Do you know any 8-13 year-old girls? Have you seen what they take out of your local library? These are girls on a mission, eager to learn – and yearning to experience! - everything the world has to offer them. These girls want more.
And your IDEAL audience wants more, too.
So many times over the years I’ve worked with web designers, programmers, print designers, and a slew of very talented, passionate business folks who insist no one wants to “read a bunch of copy,” or “the ad is too busy,” or “we don’t need all that crap on our website.”
Maybe you don’t. Maybe a pretty picture, a logo, and a snappy tagline is fine for your purposes – be it an ad in your local paper, industry magazine, brochure, or even on your business card.
But chances are, you’re not thinking about the needs of your ideal audience. Your perfect target market. The one person who will want to go further with you, buy your product, invest in your service, etc.
THAT person wants to know you’re real, you care, and you’re actually doing everything you can to engage them on their own terms. They want information, insight, entertainment, knowledge, honesty…all of that, and more.
Now, you may not have a bunch of space to give it all to them in a 2X3 print ad, but you can certainly invite them to a special webpage with a dedicated link, right? You can give them something other than your phone number, or even your URL. Maybe an ecourse? Or Special Report? Or a tip sheet, an ezine, free resources, useful stats, or some sort of time-sensitive special offer that’s truly worth their time and energy to pursue?
It’s simply too easy these days not to.
So go on – keep the designs on your ads, your marketing collateral, and your websites clean and easy on the eyes. By all means, don’t “clutter” them with a bunch of blabidy-blab-blather that’s all about you and your company and how great y’all are.
But DO consider that the RIGHT eyeballs on your brochure, the PERFECT guest to your website, would very much like to connect with you, learn more, and feel like a VIP in their day-to-day meanderings.
If you could give them the gift of that feeling, you’ll be in a really powerful, and ultimately profitable, place.
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