Just read an article by some crack designer (http://iampaddy.com/lifebelow600/) telling me that it’s no longer “de rigeur” to worry about keeping web content ‘above the fold.’ People will scroll without a problem; so longer web pages are fine… fine, I tell you.
I’m about to blow a gasket.
For years… years… every tin pot designer and web expert has been SCREAMING about keeping copy above the flippin’ fold. That line was Gospel. I think Jesus said as much at The Sermon on the Mount.
I ask any of you who write copy, how many times have you heard that admonition? How often have you been asked to cut a story or change a paragraph or ruin a good subhead or make the font smaller all so you could keep it above the fold?
Hundreds. Thousands.
And here’s the worst part: we were stupid enough and weak enough to do it… to let a CODER tell us what sells… to change our story to fit a nonsensical idea.
People read books and magazines… and they have no problem turning pages. Case closed. The Internet didn’t change that. Write a good story, something compelling, and people will scroll and turn pages and click mice to follow along.
EVERYONE KNOWS THAT… BUT STILL WE PUT UP WITH A DECADE OF ‘ABOVE THE FOLD’ IDIOCY. (Ooo, it’s so elegant, so intelligent.)
I guess what’s making me sore (aside from thinking of all the unnecessary things I had to do to make things fit) is that the executives (VPs of marketing, supposedly) we worked for were so damned quick to believe… and so eager to trust a CODER. (Excuse me… they had numbers! Unfortunately, marketing and selling can’t be fully quantified with spreadsheets and algorithms.)
Copywriters, how low our stock has sunk. This idea of short, above the fold copy is a big reason why people now think anyone can write. Why pay for long copy and a good story when you don’t need to? No one’s reading more than one screen. Anyone can throw together a couple of sentences!”
Ah, I can hear it now… the sound of CODERS tap dancing around this new information… “Sure, it was good advice at the time but people have changed, blah, blah, blah.”
No, they haven’t. That’s why a good story is still called a ‘page turner.’
(What next? Are you going to tell me that keywording isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?)
“Consumers want a new story... authenticity, not spin... participation, not propaganda.”
Showing posts with label liars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liars. Show all posts
Why are you still lying? Stop poisoning the water.
Marketing is about telling a compelling, unique, believable story. A true story.
Unfortunately, my generation of copywriters (over 40) missed the last bit. Instead, we were told that as long as the story was structured properly (logical, not too many errors) we could say anything we liked. In fact, we were encouraged to lie... told that the truth was too tame to sell. 'Everyone does it... so you'd be a damned fool if you didn't do the same.'
And we did and still do.
These days, advertising is dying faster than the CD -- the public knows we're lying and ignores our tall tales.
Unfortunately, we blame this lack of consumer response on changing media, not on our lies.
I swear, everyday I hear some company president say something like, "If I could only get my message on Twitter or YouTube... etc., etc., etc."
Bull -- a lie, a bad story, distributed on any media anywhere in the world is still a lie. It's not the technology that's killing you, it's the story you're telling.
As Big Daddy once said, "I smell the powerful odor of mendacity." Consumers have a better nose today than they did 20 years ago. Stop telling lies. Stop poisoning the water for all of us!
Or is your product so bad, so derivative, so unnecessary that the truth would be too painful to tell?
Unfortunately, my generation of copywriters (over 40) missed the last bit. Instead, we were told that as long as the story was structured properly (logical, not too many errors) we could say anything we liked. In fact, we were encouraged to lie... told that the truth was too tame to sell. 'Everyone does it... so you'd be a damned fool if you didn't do the same.'
And we did and still do.
These days, advertising is dying faster than the CD -- the public knows we're lying and ignores our tall tales.
Unfortunately, we blame this lack of consumer response on changing media, not on our lies.
I swear, everyday I hear some company president say something like, "If I could only get my message on Twitter or YouTube... etc., etc., etc."
Bull -- a lie, a bad story, distributed on any media anywhere in the world is still a lie. It's not the technology that's killing you, it's the story you're telling.
As Big Daddy once said, "I smell the powerful odor of mendacity." Consumers have a better nose today than they did 20 years ago. Stop telling lies. Stop poisoning the water for all of us!
Or is your product so bad, so derivative, so unnecessary that the truth would be too painful to tell?
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