Bonnie Lowe of Best Career Strategies asks:
Some say 18-25 year-olds don’t read; they search YouTube vs. Google, etc. Does this mean copywriting is doomed?
This is a great question. After all, video killed the radio star way back in 1979…
Couldn’t video also kill the copywriting star?
On the surface, it seems like a plausible course of events. And yet I believe copywriting will remain just as relevant as it’s ever been.
Here’s why:
1. Some of the best buyers are also insatiable readers. Certainly, a fool and his money are soon parted, but the best long-term clients and customers are usually highly literate. They may even prefer a print letter over an online video.
2. Good sales videos require good video scripts. And good video scripts require… words! Let’s assume for a moment video becomes a better medium than the traditional online sales letter. Even if this happens, copywriters will still need to write sales copy for the video script.
Good sales copy — whether it’s in print, on video, or spoken in person — is at the heart of every sale.
And that’s why I believe video can’t kill the copywriting star.
Au contraire…
Video can only make the copywriting star more famous. ;-)
-Ryan M. Healy
P.S. Have you joined my Copywriting Code membership site yet? I can’t promise it’ll make you a copywriting star, but I can promise it’ll make you a better copywriter.
About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
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thanks for sharing this blast from the past…uh oh- “I’m on a Mexican Radio…”
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it, Barton. :-)
Love seeing music videos in blog posts!
My theory since the beginning is that a combination of both will win in the end. And if you get to know your customers and track their interests like smart businesses do, you could direct them to either video or long copy based on their past actions.
New customers are a blank slate that you have to figure out. Looking at the Truth About Abs sales page that’s been very successful, they link to the video at the top next to pictures and drawings.
There’s quite a bit of text below this, however. People who read farther down the page then see links that direct to the long copy. Seems like they’ve been perfectly pre-screened for long copy!
I agree with your theory, Stephen. I think a combination will ultimately become the best way to maximize conversions. Every launch I do there’s a combination of video, copy, and sometimes audio.
That’s pretty funny in a sad kind of way. :-)
You can tell he’s reading a script. Whoever wrote it knew EXACTLY who the target audience was.
Thanks for sharing, Sheila.
Two things: it’s a little difficult to pause a video an go over a point again.
Also, Videos are a little hard to skim. And come back a couple of days later to go over a certain part?
Nah… don’t think so.
That said, I have a couple clients who insist that video’s the way to go. And after their video bombs, they ask me to write a script for them.
So in some respects, there’s really no difference for the copywriter.
That’s probably the thing I most dislike about videos… I can’t skim or scan!
Of course, that may also be why they convert so well in some situations. The people watching those videos are fully engaged.
P.S. Thanks for the comment, Kevin. Good to “see” you again. :-)
Great post Ryan! I know I will trying to further my video education in 2011. In fact, just yesterday I purchased the book “Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business” by Steve Garfield to read on my Kindle.
Any other suggestions for good books on video marketing? Or script writing, videography, visual storytelling, etc.?
I actually haven’t read any books on script writing yet. I recommend watching infomercials to see how they’re structured… to get a feel for the words that are used and the offers that are made.
For visual storytelling… I just outsource that part to a video editor. So I write the script, the talent records the script, then the video editor makes it look good. :-)
Thanks so much for answering my question here, Ryan! I’m a writer myself, so I totally agree with your logic. :-)
But since “video” is definitely very popular, I just did a little survey of my ezine readers.
One of the questions I asked was, “What other types of resources might you use?” The choices were: videos, audios, reports, online discussion forums, and coaching.
I expected videos to be the #1 answer, but that came in third. #1 was REPORTS (followed by coaching & forums). Only 177 people completed the survey, but I found these results to be quite interesting.
I’ll probably still start doing videos, but I’ll make written reports my first priority. :-)
Videos are WAY over-rated.
I don’t care how many “guru’s” say it’s the best thing since sliced bread… I do a ridiculous amount of split-testing – and it’s simply NOT as good as people make it out to be.
And great point – it’s mostly all about the copy – NOT the media. I still advise clients to test out both… video standalone, text standlone, and several variations of mixing them together.
So no… video did NOT kill the copywriting star :)
Great post bud!
Jeremy Reeves
If anything, video has increased my work as a copywriter, for sure.
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