Different Strokes for Different Channels

Copywriting is often treated like “copy on the go.” That is, it’s treated more like picking up fast food than relaxing over a well-balanced meal.

But when you drag copy to a Web site from the original catalog, or use it almost verbatim in an e-mail, there’s bound to be something missing — including lost sales.

Consider writing to “fit” the media. The very aspects that make each different selling channel so vital provide clues for writing more powerful copy.

The Similarities
Regardless of the media, the name of the game is selling. Keep your voice consistent for all media, and remember the following essentials are shared by catalog, e-mail and Web copy:
• don’t wait too long to start selling;
• avoid hyperbole;
• present benefits first;
• keep the language comfortable to gain customers’ trust;
• tell a compelling story; and
• present a special offer as early as possible.

The Differences: Catalogs
1. Catalogs are written in spreads, so you can present an entire story across two pages. This can lead to upsells and cross-sells, plus subheads let customers find spots they’re interested in quickly and easily.

2. A catalog’s real estate is much more constrained. There’s only so much detail you can write before it no longer pays off. Recognize that limit and point your prospect to the Web or customer service to learn more.

3. Larger images mean writers don’t need to work quite so hard to describe products’ physical aspects in a catalog. Technology allows larger images on the Web now, but most sites haven’t caught up to print.

The Differences: E-Mail
1. There’s a single-mindedness to successful e-mail that’s a little more like direct mail. Write messages simple and tight since the total e-mail should be above the fold.

2. As soon as you try to tell too much, or have too complicated an offer, the e-mail loses its potency. Too much hype, and readers will bow out in a hurry.

3. Your only goal in a sales e-mail is to get consumers to come in and click something that takes them to the landing page you’ve also written.

The Differences: Web Sites
1. Sites require shorter messages because people read and search the Web for one thing at a time. Shop enough online to learn the habits of Web shoppers, then break your sell into steps that simulate their thinking.

2. Bullet points are important for comprehension. The real estate on a Web site seems endless, but put too many details on one page, and it becomes too hard to read.

B-to-Either
These characteristics apply to both B-to-C and B-to-B. In New Pig, a B-to-B catalog of industrial safety products, a catalog spread for absorbent spill kits shows a sense of scale, as the spread shows the kits together with approximate sizes shown visually. There’s a formal introduction and diagram of a typical kit.

But on New Pig’s site, these same kits are offered in a drill-down mode that starts with all products, down to spill containment, to kits, and then to the specific kit by size. Rather than a formal introduction, the site uses a short, punchy intro that leads to a full Web page with the short intro and then a list of bullet points.

In B-to-C, a catalog with a complicated line of furniture, such as Frontgate, would be challenged to use bullet points and smaller categories. But a kitchen goods catalog like Gooseberry Patch has simpler products, so the differences aren’t as dramatic.

The copy about its cookbooks, for example, is the same on the Web as it is in the catalog. But the catalog spread enables Gooseberry Patch to include a recipe. The highly concentrated Web sell means it’s less likely to be effective on a Web page than on a catalog spread.

Your copywriters should be sensitive to the differences between Web, catalog and e-mail; intuitive about selling; and dedicated to learning as each of these media changes. This flexibility and knowledge will be key to making each channel a powerful sales tool.

Carol Worthington-Levy is partner, creative services, for LENSER, a catalog consultancy. You can reach her at (408) 269-6871 or carol.worthington-levy@lenser.com.