One of the earliest questions I had as a copywriter was “How long should my copy be?”
I mean, yeah, I knew an email was shorter than a sales letter. But how long? What should the approximate word count be?
After all, I had recently graduated from college.
All my writing experience had been oriented around hitting word or page counts. The 5-paragraph essay, the 10-page paper, you know what I’m talking about.
People tossed out all sorts of numbers. But you shouldn’t take those numbers as gospel.
Otherwise, you force extra words into a piece or risk removing copy that actually helps make the sale.
So…
What’s the answer?
There’s an old saying I heard from Ben Settle that answers “How long should copy be?” far better than any academic explanation:
“Good copy is like a woman’s skirt: Long enough to cover the subject, short enough to keep it interesting.”
So true, Mr. Settle!
That’s the Golden Rule.
The copy’s goal is to make the reader act (often place an order), so however many words are needed to achieve that is the “proper length.”
Every word must earn its place.
So copy that’s too long doesn’t fail “because it has too many words.” Rather, it’s full of unnecessary words.
Those words delay the point, go off on tangents, or try to “warm up the reader” rather than move them forward.
“Too short” copy fails for the opposite reason. Words that should be there… aren’t. The reader reaches the CTA before they have enough reason to act. They still have objections, hesitations, or questions.
Yes. It’s not as satisfying as giving a solid word count. But you know what length to shoot for based on your customer and product research.
But What About Format?
Yeah, format matters. A VSL will be longer than an email. An email’s probably longer than a Facebook ad. Heck, a tagline is super short. Like 4-5 words.
Don’t compare formats, though. Length differences aren’t relevant, as they’re inherent to what each form of copy does.
A VSL or sales letter must convey a lot more information than an email (in fact, many people write entire email campaigns by pulling angles out of sales letters/VSLs).
Which comes down to product awareness. A colder audience needs more copy, hence why sales letters tend to be longer (also, they need to appeal to more people since it’s a “fixed” marketing asset that sits there rather than a temporary thing, like an email).
That’s why “short vs. long” is a silly debate.
So now that you know the Golden Rule, let’s cover a few quick tests you can run to see if your copy is just right.
How to Tell If You’ve Met The Golden Rule
Knowing the Golden Rule is one thing.
Applying it to your own copy is another.
Here are a few ways to diagnose whether yours is hitting the right length.
Reading it Out Loud
People “read” things as if they’re “hearing” them. So if your copy seems to flow when writing, it may not carry over. Sentences that sound fine to you, for example, may distract the reader.
So read your copy aloud. See where it slows down, where sentences go on too long, where something seems to be missing, etc.
If you get bored reading it, your reader will too.
The “So What?” Test
Read the piece line by line and ask “so what?” after each sentence. You should be able to come up with something — advancing the argument, providing proof, adding information, and so on.
If you can’t answer “so what?”, it may not need to be there.
The Delete And Reread Test
Remove a paragraph or section and read the copy without it.
If nothing feels missing, it didn’t need to be there. That simple.
(Notice how short this subsection is!)
The Objection Checklist
Before you make the ask, have you answered every reasonable objection the reader is likely to have?
If yes and there’s still more copy after that, it’s probably too long.
If no, it’s probably too short.
Don’t bring up and address objections the reader doesn’t have. That complicates things by giving them another reason NOT to buy.
You have to know your customer like the back of your hand to pull this off properly.
The Gary Halbert Test
Legendary copywriter/direct response marketer Gary Halbert would give his sales letter drafts and ask them to read the copy.
If they said “Wow, this is great copy!” or “Wow, I loved reading this!”… Gary would rip it up and start over.
But if they said “Where can I buy this?” or “How do I order?” or “I want one of these!”… Gary knew he had his gold.
That’s because the copy doesn’t exist for the sake of itself. The whole goal is to make the reader feel the urge to order.
So try this yourself. Maybe not strangers, if you’re not feeling it, but friends, family, etc. Get a few sets of eyes on it.
If people start asking where they can get your product, you’re onto something. If not, then some portion of the copy — even if it sounds good — isn’t doing its job.
Write Until It’s Done… And Then Stop When It Is
No rule says “an email must be 200 words or less” or “a VSL cannot be under 2000 words.”
When people say this, they’re rough approximations based on format at best.
The only thing to consider is whether your copy does the job. Does it move the reader from where they are to where you want them to be? Is it free of anything the reader doesn’t need?
If yes, the copy is good — long enough to cover the subject, short enough to keep it interesting.
Speaking of good copy, Email Copy Academy is where I learned to write this way.
The lessons in there largely drive how I think about and approach writing copy today.
So skip all the other courses.
⇒ Take Email Copy Academy instead
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