“Make it shorter” is like chewing on a mouthful of screws.

A few days ago, an internet friend of mine (Eden Bidani) created an amazing post on LinkedIn about the history of Apple’s advertising.

She pointed out that most companies today can’t just “write like Apple”. Because unless you ARE Apple—and have spent 40+ years and billions of dollars teaching the market about your product—you need to do some education.

And you know what? She’s right.

Apple is well known for their irreverent, short, snappy copy. The company as we’ve known it for the last 15 years has been undoubtedly design-driven. Go to any of their web pages and you’ll see it’s about as minimal as possible (much like their products).

They’ve earned that right to be short and funny, because we know who they are.

The same isn’t true for your startup.

If you’re in the startup/scaleup mode, the fact is that most people—maybe even most people in your target audience—do not know who you are, what you do, or why you matter to their lives.

You have to tell them. And you can’t do that with conceptual copy that sounds amazing, but doesn’t tell the reader anything serious about the product or how it changes their life.

Embracing longer copy is the key.

If you look at Apple’s older ads that Eden highlights in her post, you’ll notice that they’re pretty meaty on the copy, especially when you compare them to Apple’s ads today.

The reason why is because Apple knew they needed to help people understand the problems that Apple computers solve. And a pithy little headline wouldn’t do.

In these beginning stages, your copy has a lot of work to do:

💗 You have to show empathy for the problem the reader is experiencing (to show you know what you're talking about!)

🧑‍🏫 You need space to educate people on who you are and what you do (to show you have a product, not a concept!)

🚧 You have to overcome objections (which there are LOTS of in B2B deals that involve lots of stakeholders and money!)

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 You have to incorporate persuasion tactics, believability-boosters, and risk-reduction sections (to make sure the reader feels confident!)

None of that ^ is possible on a tiny 300-word landing page by itself.

Startups and scaleups today should take note of Apple’s historical strategy of moving people through the 5 stages of awareness…and start building websites and landing pages that do the same thing. By embracing longer copy that takes people on an emotional journey, educates them, and gives them the power to make better decisions for themselves, you’ll create better-fit buyers in the long run.

Pluuuuuuuuuussssss longer landing pages give you more opportunities for SEO: keywords, scroll depth, and time on page are all factored into The Algorithm™.

Long copy isn't bad if it makes sense for the reader. And if it's written well, it can be beautiful brand experience. 💯