#004 - Dissecting "the American" sales page
Everything is bigger in America. Including sales pages.
Is there only one way to sales page?
If you're in a service-based business, and sell things on the internet, you'd be forgiven for thinking the answer is yes. Especially if you've ever looked into products and programs by any of the big names in online coaching - the Tony Robbins', Jenna Kutchers, Marie Forleos, or any number of coaches created in their image.
There's a particular style to these sales pages - what fellow business strategist and copywriter Nadia Amer and I call "the American".
I'm from regional Ausrtralia. She's a Lebanese Londoner. And while we’re just out here seeing a common trend and giving it a name, we’re also ensuring that our Instagram DMs are full of Americans telling us that our name choice is just a little bit mean.
Just like McDonalds and Coca-Cola, “the American” is a cultural phenomenon (and style of writing) that has spread across the world.
If you've taken the time to read this far, you probably already know what I'm talking about.
Long pages. Oh so long. Rivalling novellas.
Lots of copy up front dedicated to really agitating pain points.
A tendency to introduce and escalate problems you didn't even know you had.
A startling array of bold, italics, and different heading styles for emphasis (often a readability and accessibility nightmare).
All these things alone?
Not a problem.
All these things together?
Maybe also not a problem.
But when a page like this is created based on a standard template or formula - rather than through an audience-first approach - we start to run into some unintended consequences.
Does this sound like you?
Maybe this sounds familiar?
Does this resonate?
Can you tick off these boxes?
Finding a sentence like this - usually in the top third of a sales page - is an easy win on your “the Amercian” bingo card.
Sometimes, using a copywriting template is like signing a contract with Ursula the Seawitch. You’re going to lose your voice. Sentences like this might serve a structural or bridging purpose, but they can be a trap, marking a sameness across different businesses, niches, and audiences.
Other unintended consequences of a templated approach are,
Expanding your website beyond something that is manageable or necessary.
Do you actually need that page, in that format, on your website? Where does it fit into the bigger picture audience journey with you and your business? More content isn’t always the answer. Remember: every page you add is a page you have to manage and keep up-to-date.
Burying the detail and calls to action.
Following someone else’s template doesn’t account for your audience’s relationship with your business, or how much they do/don’t know about your product before landing at the sales page. Not all journeys are linear, and many long-from sales page templates assume a linear journey.
Often, information like pricing or even the buy button, are pushed toward the lower portions of the page to encourage you to at least skim through the information. If you’re ready to buy, why would I want to stop you? If not, you’ll either keep reading or leave the page anyway.
FAQs are poorly deployed.
I love a good “FAQ close”, that is, when content is presented in question and answer format at the end of a sales page, to reinforce information that the reader may have missed, or wants to double check. In the case of an “FAQ close”, the content is already on the page. The FAQ section is being used to reduce the cognitive load on the user, as they do their final checks and decision making.
But, on many sales pages, you’ll see important detail presented in the FAQs only. There is a reason the questions are asked frequently. Your audience aren’t mind readers. If they have a question, it’s likely that you’ve missed telling them something.
Increasing anxieties.
Visually, length alone can overwhelm an audience.
Layer on a variety of fonts and typefaces, multiple different coloured sections, and you're increasing that overwhelm. Often, the visual standard for long-form sales pages don't consider accessibility or readability. For example, using all-caps or italicised text for emphasis can disadvantage some readers, and excludes people using screen readers from accessing content with the same emphasis and meaning.
Pair this visual overwhelm with a tendency toward salesy, shame-inducing language, “the American” can be a hotbed for sleezy sales tactics. There is a difference between acknowledging the pickle someone is in to create a common ground, and "agitating the pain points" so much that you're creating new, unknown problems for them.
The beauty industry is famous for creating problems that we didn't know we had, from body hair to the wrong shaped lips. What sort of business do you want to be?
But people skim content, what's the harm in it being long?
You can find a lot of evidence for the fact people don’t read online. In 1997 we learned that people “always scanned any new page they came across.”
In 2008 we learned that people only read about 28% of a webpage (and this is the key statistic you’ll still see floating around when you search for information on how people read online). In fact, it’s probably more like 20%.
The answer isn’t to add more words so that the 28% is a larger number overall.
(It’s also not to cut down all the words so there’s less to skip)
People don't skim because they're lazy. They skim because they're tired, overwhelmed, busy, distracted, struggling to see, have a headache, multi-tasking, used to satisfying content delivered in smaller doses.
There is no such thing as the ideal length for any given webpage.
In the case of a sales page, the main consideration will be how complex the "offer" is, and how much room you need to explain it. That’s why - typically - the higher the price point the longer the page. The offer is usually more complex, and the audience needs more information to make a decision.
What we need to do, is make that information easily scannable.
Clear headings, guiding your audience through the information in a way that helps them have a good time.
As Yun Xuan wrote in their article, ‘How people read on the web influences content design’:
“Users do not usually read text unless they want information. A successful scenario of information-finding looks like this:
I have a question
I can find the page with the answer easily
I have understood the information
I trust the information
I do not need anything else/I know how to proceed to the next step.
Therefore, an effective website should enable users to find what they need quickly, complete their tasks without making them think too hard about it.”
Respecting your audience means respecting their time, access needs, and environment (as much as you know what that might be).
Empathy, clarity, ease
Instead of starting with a template, this is where we should start instead.
Empathy with our audience.
Clarity on the offer.
Creating ease for the user.
First, get clear on your message.
I always like to walk clients through an exercise of mapping transformations. What does your audience experience today, and how will that change after they purchase your product (go through your course, experience your coaching)?
Mapping these transformations is going to help you get clear on the benefits, but these have to be balanced with the detail.
I've read my fair share of sales pages that go deep on the benefits, but neglect the specifics. They fail to answer the question, what am I actually paying for? For example,
If there are calls, what times are they, can I even make them work with my schedule?
What's the timeframe? 90 days is great, but what are the actual dates?
There are online resources, cool! What format will they come to me in? Do I need to sign up to something new?
One of the benefits of a template can be that it forces people to focus on the details of their product. But I’ll assume that most of you reading this probably buy things online. It’s likely that you can think of, and write down, all the different, small questions someone might have before they decide on a purchase.
This information should be on the sales page.
When it comes to length and structure, the most important thing is to respect your audience's time.
Are you answering their questions in the order they might ask them, in a way that is clear and scannable?
Or are you filling space because that's what *insert digital leader here* said to do?