Copywriting Tips

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When should your Copywriter Write Long vs. Short Copy?

When it drives more sales and leads!

  Sometimes you want your copywriter to give you short, snappy copy -- on a billboard for example.  But here are some situations where you want long copy:

  You’re marketing information products.  In this case you need to capture the imagination by telling stories and conveying ideas.

  You’re not interested in leads or inquiries. You want the sale.  Now!

  The reader is unfamiliar with how your product can help them.

  You are demanding that the prospect pay up front with a check or credit card.

  Because your product is complex, it requires a lot of explanation.

  People want your product, but they don’t need it.

 Your product is expensive, something the prospect is likely to consider carefully before ordering.


Three Proven Ways to use Copywriting to Create a Sense of Urgency 

When you encourage your prospects to act now instead of later, response rates increase.

One way to do this is to put a deadline on your offer. Copywriter David Yale recommends emphasizing that the deadline date is final by adding the phrase “it’s too late” as follows: “This offer expires December 31, 2010. After that, it’s too late.” For e-mail marketing, you can say the offer is good only if the recipient replies “today” or “this week.”

If you are not comfortable putting a deadline date on your mail piece, specify a time frame within which the reader must reply, e.g., “reply within the next 10 days.”

Or, at least make it clear that this is a time-limited offer. Copywriter Milt Pierce suggests this wording: “But I urge you to hurry. This offer is for a limited time only. And once it expires, it may never be repeated again.”