The Net VS The Harpoon (Two Ways Copywriting Works In Today’s World)

When you first get started in online copywriting you quickly realize there are two schools of thought. One flings their message at prospects with aggressive copy hoping to pierce them so they can reel them in with no hope of ever escaping. The other develops a relationship with their prospects spreading a comfortable supportive net about them until they are so involved that they will take that persons advice and suggestions without question.
Which school of thought is right?
Both.
The strategies for both sides work.
Harpooning your customer.
There are millions of people who make fun of traditional sales pages, but the fact is they work. They may not be pretty, few of them are, but the goal isn’t to look great it’s to get the customer to KEEP reading.
Readers of these pages typically arrive from an ad or a referral link. It generally only takes a prospect a split second before they decide if they’re actually going to read the message on the page. They then spend another three or four seconds deciding if the offer is what they want. That’s it. You’ve heard that opinions of a person are formed in the first thirty seconds of meeting, opinions that stick for life in most cases. With copy it’s no different except you get even less time. That’s why those headlines are so important.
Red headlines, yellow highlighting, irritating pop ups, fake handwriting and other tricks of the trade are all ways to grab a prospect and focus their attention on your offer.
Is a harpoon always the right tool?
Harpoons have their uses and work great when you need to strike quickly. But using them constantly is like hitting a screw with a hammer. You’re going to end up with a mess.
First, many people see long sales pages as gimmicks that are designed to make you buy crappy stuff that does you no good. This impression isn’t always correct. There are many items out there that are well worth your time and money, but unless you’ve already established credibility with your audience (some of the best copywriters actually do this IN their sales letter) the prospect can’t tell the difference. If the reader doesn’t urgently need what you’re selling they’ll hit the back button as fast as they can.
Second, it’s not as easy as it sounds to write a long sales letter. There is an art behind it that when not done right makes the difference between effective sales copy and miserable failure. You may find that your letters look like a pros (to the untrained eye), but they don’t work like a pros.
Third, the competition becomes more fierce every single day. Ad words that used to be a few cents are now selling for several dollars. Your competition is out there and they are vying for the same people’s attention that you are.
THE NET
Instead of hurling your single pointed communication as hard as you can, consider encouraging your prospects to wrap themselves in a friendly, supportive net of useful, relevant content.
Strong content lures your prospect back for regular bites. With every bite a little more trust is built and your reputation as a friendly authority on the matter grows.
Whether you choose to do this in the free form of a blog, the organized sequence of an email autoresponder, or a little of both, a well-crafted content net not only catches your prospect for this sale, but keeps him within your grasp for the next one.
Those long sales letters are normally the result of years of work, study, and practice. On the other hand creating a net of great content is much easier to master. Not every word has to be perfect. You don’t have to know every trick in the trade. All you have to do is figure out what your customer wants and needs, and get out of your own way.