Do long, cheesy sales pages actually convert?

In my experience (as an affiliate, having promoted and still promoting large numbers of ClickBank products in 9 different niches) they can convert well, but their conversion-rates seem to be roughly in inverse proportion to their "cheese" content.

Perhaps not surprisingly?

The old-fashioned "screaming headline in bright red with every word starting with a capital letter" tend not to convert for me.

Fake scarcity and fake urgency don't convert for me.

Income claims and cancer-curing claims don't convert for me.

Hype doesn't convert for me.

But more subtle ones of the same overall, single-long-page design can convert very well. (And way better than video!).

Mostly, it depends on their content and on the copywriter's skills.

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post2161932

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I'd say it all depends on the type of list you have, or the type of the traffic you buy/send etc
if the list you have , is built fom these type of offers, it will convert faily well...
but as Alexa mentioned above, "Mostly, it depends on their content and on the copywriter's skills"

Thanks very much for your quick response. Also bookmarked your linked to comment about selecting the product. I have also sent you a PM - hope you dont mind!

I get where you are coming from. Even as new or intermediate internet marketers our scam alert goes up when we come across these cheesy sales pages but think about it, why would so many people be doing them if they didn't convert. I guess there is a middle ground reached by the successful sellers where they don't do too much but just enough copywriting to get people to buy.

I have been copywriting, creating and testing my own long form copy and web pages for over 10 years now, in many different markets.

First a couple of comments.

The market generally decides which form of presentation it will respond to. I saw the conversion results from a long and comprehensive golf market test last year. The golf market - it would seem from the test results - prefer the long form sales letter type of presentation rather than the same information presented in a video.

The shorter the space to present your message the more you have to smack the reader between the eyes with your message. So, in classified ads for example, you need to have a very powerful message in a short space. This makes perfect sense, and is backed up by results.

These are my general results.

1. "Cheesy" copy is different from powerful copy. Powerful copy is emotive but believable. Cheesy copy is just that. It makes you think "Yeah! Right?"

2. Presenting "Proof" is the thing that converts. Your proof MUST be believable. In the past I have actually reduced the claims in the sales letter for clients and gained a larger conversion. This is because the original product test worked spectacularly well and the results were just ... well, unbelievable.

3. The market you are in decides what kind of presentation it wants.

The IM market (that is, the "make money online" market) is very special. Never in history has there been a market that has been so exposed to every imaginable form of copy and presentation. And, never in history has there been a market that has been driven to be so jaded and cynical so quickly.

There are so many people in the IM market who are unskilled at copywriting and immature in marketing. They think like this. "If 'X' converts then 'More X' must convert better." We have seen this time and again. If a bonus ebook worth $20 dollars increases conversions, then 200 ebooks worth $40,000 must convert more. If a webinar of 30 minutes converts, then a webinar of 3 hrs must convert more. If a free course worth $47 dollars gets sign ups, then a free course worth $850 must get more sign ups.

This has happened time and again in the IM market, and speaks volumes against the skill, maturity and experience of those who poison the market with this kind of thinking.

I think a lot of people like yourself are becomaing very suspicious when a sales page throws exaggerated claims in your face like that. That's why i really believe that these type of sales pages have decreased conversion rates than some years back.

I think people really want proof these days something works, not just words.

The result of that is that retargeting is becoming very popular. People hardly buy anywmore the first time they get to a sales page and first look for reviews, proof, maybe even case studies on forums etc.

Actually the conversion ratio depends on many variables not only on length of the salespage or the amount of cheesy it is. some of them are in no particular order

Describe Benefits Clearly
Include Real Testimonials
Make It Easy for People to Contact You(after sales service)
Offer a Guarantee(refund)
convincing Call to Action
Your Unique Selling Position
Photos an A/V media
Killer Headlines
Bonus

and many more like how targetted your traffic is, etc.

I asked this question in another forum over 10 years ago ... and they're still being used a lot, so I guess the answer would be a yes, to a large degree.

The longer time a visitor spends with you, the more chance you have of him buying from you.

But this doesn't mean to just hype something for the sake of having a long sales letter.
If you can provide a lot of proof, then do so.

People will search for reasons not to buy, so you as skilled copywritter must answer all their concerns and questions in the sales letter.

What do you call cheesy? Outrageous claims like, Ninja strategies? Dirty little secrets? Done for you? No heavy lifting? Legally steal? Weird tricks. I've noticed one of the new adjectives describing MMO stuff these days is "weird." Bikini babes standing around a Ferrari with cash swirling in the air?

This stuff still works. It may have been watered down some from the glory days of cheesy sales pages but it still works in certain markets. Stroll over to the WSO section and have a look around. I saw an offer recently where the vendor was promising some ungodly reward for only 15 minutes of work per day. I clicked and there were lots of responses and lots of sales. The copy was as cheesy as it comes.

The answer to your question is yes, in some markets cheesy not only works, the target audience expects it. Though they don't think of it as cheesy.

I would like to know how these strategies can apply to real product, real services. Not just another E-book. Don't get me wrong, they are nice, and very informative, quite helpful. But Can a cheezy squeeze landing page bring profit to a brick and mortar company?

I can't stand those long sales pages. They are a complete turnoff and I never understood why so many people like them. I find that it's much more effective to just get to the point.

Yes long "cheesy" sales pages convert. They're not cheesy though. Imagine that you ran a large company with a bunch of sales reps. The sales reps that make you the most money are the equivalent of the cheesy sales letters that get you the most sales... and that have hype and flamboyancy within them. It's all about style and how you come off to people.. Copywriting helps too.

Ok here is my 2 cents...

I'm do copy (sometimes) I can tell you that the word "cheesy" is very subjective.

I find that when you start to get to a "chessy" level, its mainly because some copywriters often
stray from conveying their message and start to use an excessive amount of hyped up words
to try to sell you on the product. However not all long form salespages are cheesy.

Long sales pages work when you are following a formula and using that formula convey the message
of 7 second headline, what this is, why you need it, what it will do for you, closing, CTA.

I have wrote sales pages in long (20 pages) and short format and seen both models works but it's
all about staying on that flow that keeps your eyes following the text.

When it becomes "chessy" is when the copy isn't engaging anymore..

Here you are grouping a FORMAT as meaning "scam" and I'm sure
you have your reasons. But infomercials also follow a format, are
they all scams?

Long sales letters do work and always will--as a FORMAT. What makes
the difference is the CONTENT.

-Ray Edwards

Ian is right: the biggest, most important component is your audience. THEIR needs, THEIR expectations, THEIR wants, THEIR level of skill and sophistication will drive what works or doesn't work.

Whether or not something is "cheesy" is purely subjective. What's cheesy to you may not be cheesy to someone else. That's why it's so important to focus on your market and ignore your own beliefs about a particular sales page. The real question is: "Does it convert?" Meaning, does your audience find it believable and your product or service attractive enough to buy?

That's all that really matters.

Also, IM is a bit unique: we're mired in this stuff all day long so it's even harder to convince us. The IM market is incredibly incestuous: IMers selling to other IMers and nobody believes anybody! So it's quite a feat for someone to sell to this market successfully and believably.

The very same type of copy and sales devices that may not work on us would work in almost any other market. Obviously, the copy has to push the right buttons and be believable, but as long as it focuses on something your market WANTS, it will work.

I've bought from sales letters in different markets that I might not have bought from in the IM market. In other words, the letter used nearly identical language, format and copy devices, but because it wasn't the MMO market/info, I was less skeptical and bought immediately.

We tend to over analyze IM and MMO info and sales letters in a way we wouldn't in any other market.

I despise the incestuous nature of IMers selling to other IMers. So I got out. (Actually, I was never in that market to begin with.) And life is much better!

Michelle

When I was a n00b back in the day, I used to get sucked in by sales pages and bought several products I thought would help my problems. However, I was young and didn't know any better. After learning IM techniques and Madison Avenue advertising, I learned people tend to believe what they are told and yes these pages do convert to certain groups of people.

Yup those type of pages work but aren't very evergreen. They tell you "You must purchase now or the praise will raise to XYZ" and usually the product owner doesnt actually increase the price. Its fishy and scammy but sadly it works, people are bought into those crazy schemes, and purchase.

I would say it all depends on the visitor. If the visitor thinks he can find use only what the sales page is promoting it is his risk to see weather or not it is worth the money. But remember. At the end of the day what matters is , did YOU take action on the actual project itself or are you looking for an excuse?

I guess it depends on the niche and where the sales page is seen. Look at the WSO section for example. Almost every good WSO needs a good design with a long form cheesy sales page... If you were to advertise the same page on say Bing PPC. I could imagine the conversion dropping heaps due to scepticism

I would say yes and no, and agree that it depends on the offer and visitor. What sells for some offers or some audiences, doesn't sell for all. That's the beauty of A/B testing. A lot of A/B testing advice will recommend that you change a button color or a CTA. I recommend that opposite. Test a short form versus the long, cheesy sales page and see which performs better.

i only use long copy when I want to actually make sales...

-k

Great copy sells. Period.

If it's in a long form, yes, it works.

If it's in a 12-min VSL video sales letter, yes, it works

Not about the length about the hypnoticism of it

And frankly - if the right eyes have landed on the sales page and you're speaking to their deepest desires and outcomes- they will be more likely to buy.

I guess if it's done right, then you'll see good conversion. I've designed many sales pages and the best ones have a great story, that are well written and have a lot to offer. There's a lot of rubbish posted about the warrior forum - the products with great value are the ones that always do the best.