How long should a headline or a sales letter be?
A lady in Brooklyn, New York, wrote to her boyfriend, a private in the U.S. Army, serving in Korea a really long letter… The big site of amazing facts website claims that instead of using regular writing paper, this ingenious lady used the narrow tape that is found on adding machines, 3,200 feet of it!
Apparently, the letter took her one month to write! Imagine that. Do you think he read every single word of it? Well, chances are that if she was the one making his heart race like a jack rabbit every time they met together then he probably did. Provided he didn’t get shot before receiving the letter. Here’s another interesting story…
Max Hart (of Hart, Schaffner & Marx) was arguing with his advertising manager George L. Dyer about long copy. Max was a typical get-to-the-point quickly kind of a guy who believed that people were too busy to read anything that’s too verbose.
Dyer wasn’t really in favor of long or short copy but he had a point…
“I’ll bet you ten dollars, said Dyer, I can write a newspaper page of solid type and you’d read every word of it.” Naturally Hart scoffed at the idea. “I don’t have to write a line of it to prove my point,” Dyer replied. “I’ll only tell you the headline:
THIS PAGE IS ALL ABOUT MAX HART.”
Now I’m guessing that back in those days ten bucks was worth making the bet. But, here’s a question… when you look at a photo of a group that you are part of, who do you look at first? Interesting… Why are we so protective, so interested and even so paranoid about our personal things, matters and belongings?
I think that’s another conversation. What we need to understand is that people are concerned about “me-myself-and-I” more than anything else.
So, make sure your ads, sales letters and emails talk about relevant and specific things your reader is dying to know more about.
So, how long should your sales copy be? Well, do you think the commando complained about the 3,200 feet long letter? If the lady was important to him he certainly didn’t.
Bottom line…
Every advertisement should be of absolute importance and interest to your reader, and it should present a COMPLETE sales pitch for your product. People are primarily interested in themselves, their families, or their businesses. So make sure you explain how your product or service is of benefit to them.
As long as your sales copy continues to focus on their self-interest, it will keep their attention.
Copywriting, Marketing, Mindset, Persuasion Architecture, Words That Sell