Blog Republic

The long sales page - does it close more sales?

by Darren

Internet marketers are big fans of the “long sales page”. In fact, you see it almost every time someone’s selling a product for over $60 or so. I personally cannot stand the long sell page, but I know there are a ton of them in use for a reason. The long sales page is used to wear down the potential customers, which in some ways raises concern about the product.

I’m sure the “sophistication” of the user is important. I would assume technical type people and people with business backgrounds would be less likely to buy from a long sales page, but I can’t find any data to support my supposition.

The long sales pitch gives you a chance to answer almost all customer objections. This is the key advantage to a long sales page and the reason I assume it’s used on “more expensive” products. As the amount of money of a product costs goes up, so do logical objections. These objections all can be answered on one long sales page, but I feel it’s done at a cost of clarity. The image it projects is of a smug salesman who has all the answers, and is a bit smug.

This debate isn’t new, and I doubt it can be solved on this day. It’s basically a matter of approach, but I do think there’s an occasion when the long sales page isn’t appropriate. When you sell a technical product that requires frequent upgrades, a long sales page shows the potential customer that you’re only interested in selling the product, and not servicing it for the long haul. This screams of a temporary situation, and doesn’t build up any customer loyalty.

I think there are some strong arguments for using the long sales page, but they have to be weighed against your need to present a certain image. Joe Robson wrote a nice piece promoting the long sales page and he made a great point:

Sales Copy should be as long as it needs to be to SELL the product. No more - and certainly no less.

This of course is common sense, which really can’t be argued with. Your primary job is to move product, so if you have to go long to do it, then you have to go long to do it. I still have a negative view more or less of the long sales page, but I figure I would use it if the situation called for it. If your product or service requires a hefty payment, you may need to use this form of copywriting to get the job done. What do you think of the long sales page?