When long copy sells

This ad in the Sunday paper caught my eye.

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I was first alerted to the virtues of long copy by Andy Maslen.  Many of the ideas in this post are his. 

The consensus on long copy is that it doesn't work. 

And it probably doesn't work at the two far ends of the buying journey.  People with no interest in buying electric heaters will not read this.  But then, they probably wouldn't read any copy about electric heaters.  And the customer primed to buy one will probably find long copy irritating. 

But, for the in-betweeners - the prospects who are considering buying and need to know more - long copy is just what they want.

They want to be convinced (and their objections to be dispelled).  They want information.  And they want a bit of respect.

Long copy that can deliver persuasion, information and respect can be very successful.

Does your proposition have any of these characteristics?  Long copy might be the answer.

1. Expensive: When your offer carries a high price tag, you’ll sell more with long copy.  The long copy increases the reader’s commitment to part with more money.
2. Information-rich:  When selling online education or some other form of knowledge product, the more informative your copy, the more you’ll sell. 
   
3. Feature-rich: When what you’re selling has loads of features, you’ll need a lot of copy to explain them all, plus the express benefit of each feature.
4. Controversial:  If your reader has doubts or objections, long copy can dispel the doubts and overcome the objections.
5. Innovative:  If your product does something new, you’ll need to provide your reader with a lot of benefit-oriented information.

This ad has other features, beyond its length, that seem to break the rules of copywriting.

The headline, for starters, looks like a disaster.  It's not about the product, or its benefits, or even about the customer.  It capitalises randomly.  It uses shouty all-caps and then - horror! - underlines them. 

The lead-in text, too, with its inconsistent use of bold and italics, is a mess.  The picture caption is a mess.  And the body text, though not badly done, has moments of wobbly grammar and syntax.

All this, of course, might be a double bluff.  The amateurishness suggests honesty: "we overruled the we-know-best agency upstarts, and did our own thing."

And it works - kind of.  I certainly read this, from beginning to end.  So it must work.  But then, I'm just buying a new house and have a passing interest in domestic heating solutions...