Last week I mentioned that sometimes it’s better to use long copy. But in this age of soundbytes and synopses, who’s going to read it?

Lots of people. David Ogilvy, in Ogilvy on Advertising, sings the praises of long copy. To prove its effectiveness, Ogilvy points out that direct marketers–who relentlessly quantify results–use long copy. If long copy didn’t work, direct marketers wouldn’t use it. Make sense? I think so.

David Ogilvy knew what he was talking about–besides being an advertising legend, he started his career as a direct marketer.

Mail solicitations can be extraordinarily effective. For example, requests for charitable contributions that focus on a single starving child tug at the heartstrings more and more with every passing sentence. Once you are drawn in, you must hear more.

In the same way, letters asking for political contributions can go on for pages, describing how this or that policy of the other party has destroyed the lives and livelihood of an innocent American family. Your blood begins to boil as the paragraphs roll on.

In both cases, long copy is effective because–

1. It tells a story instead of laundry-listing facts.
2. It hammers home a single, simple point.

In business communication, long copy can be used in this way for case studies, white papers, customer testimonials, and even new business solicitations. If you have a story to tell, and one or two very compelling points, there are readers who will want to hear it all.

Paradoxically, another type of person that responds favorably to long copy is the reader who doesn’t want to read. Someone will lay a 10-page case study on the desk, and this person will think–Gee, that’s a lot of words. They must know what they’re talking about.

Maybe this sounds far-fetched, but I’ve seen it happen in the sales arena many times. Long copy that is factual and accurate establishes credibility and authority with any audience.

What are some ways you have used or experienced long copy in a positive way?