These days, general marketing wisdom is that short copy is better than long-form copy. And therefore, the goal is to use the fewest amount of words between the headline and the call-to-action. This is true in many cases.
However if your product or service requires the prospect to form a deeper understanding to make a meaningful decision, a compelling case can be made for long-form copy. In some cases, longer messaging has been found via A/B testing to produce leads/conversions rates up to 6x higher than short-copy approaches. Here are a few things to consider when deciding whether you need to keep it short or go long:
How complex is the decision process?
Is your product service something fairly straightforward such as a cleaning solution, a food item or a piece of clothing? Or is it a far more complex proposition with greater potential risk for the buyer, such as selecting an IT solution or choosing a health plan? The answer to this question is key to deciding how extensive your messaging needs to be.
How much buyer risk is involved with a purchase decision?
If you’re merely asking the visitor/prospect to click through to make a simple purchase — the kinds of e-commerce transactions that have become a commonplace occurrence in our lives — a succinct and clear idea of the product/service will do. For more complex products and services, you’ll need more detailed messaging that creates a comfort factor by establishing credibility and building trust for your company.
Is a live connection needed for effective nurturing?
For products and services that carry substantial personal and life-affecting factors, visitors/prospects really need to connect with a live person at some point. The messaging needs to convince them that doing so will be valuable to their decision process — and key to choosing the right solution for their particular needs. This will be comforting for people who already realize they need to have a one-on-one dialogue. While getting others over the common hump of resistance to “getting involved” with a live representative.