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Writer's pictureJohn Brandt

even MrBeast knows short “copy” doesn’t always work

Confession: 


I’ve never watched a MrBeast video in my life. But his wildly entertaining brand of making YouTube videos has led to 290M subscribers—with his top video getting watched more than half a billion times. 


But every once in a while, I come across an interview MrBeast does. And the man never disappoints with important lessons that are applicable to business and copywriting. 


And wouldn’t you believe what he mentioned the other day:


That short “copy” doesn’t always work. 


(No, YouTube videos aren’t necessarily “copy,” but they can be. And there are many and many-a similarities between script writing and copywriting.) 


Anyway, here’s the quote from MrBeast himself after being asked how he “slows down” videos (aka makes them longer) without boring his younger following, the same youngfolk we’re told has a shorter attention span than a goldfish: 


“If you get them connected to people, then they're interested in that person. If I just threw a random person on the screen and they talked for 12 seconds, you’re not gonna care. The retention will just nose dive.” 


That’s my emphasis on the last sentence in this quote.


And you know what?


MrBeast could’ve simply changed a few words in this quote and would’ve directly related to email marketing. 


Change “people” to “stories” for example (which is what he meant, but since it’s a different medium and has a visual component to it, he can get away with saying people—even if he means stories). 


Or the line about throwing a random person on the screen for 12 seconds: 


This is what you do every time you write a short email. 


What do I mean by short? 


Well, if you’ve been reading these daily musings for a while, then you know that the length dramatically changes from one email to the next. One email could be under 500 words, the next well over 1,000.


But most business owners, as we touched on yesterday, wrongly believe that since people have short attention spans, short copy converts better. But short copy that’s boring will be as ineffective as long copy that’s boring.


The takeaway isn’t to acquiesce to people’s short attention spans. It’s to be so entertaining, valuable, painful, haunting, what have you that their attention span grows. We have short attention spans because there’s never been more content. But we’ll still binge watch a 20-hour Netflix show in a single weekend. 


But the last sentence puts the cherry on top:


A hidden downside of only writing short copy is that retention nose dives. People start tuning out your emails. And when this happens, well, good luck making sales, cully. 


I’d argue this is even more true in email than YouTube. Email is the single most personal marketing channel on this green Earth of ours. Which means… it’s the best marketing channel to foster a relationship with your list. And that’s where the real moolah’s at. 


There are several other factors that go into building the relationship with your list. But adding variety to the length of your copy, the stories you tell, and the way you frame each email is a good start. 


Remember: Boredom is the death of the sale. 


This is true for any piece of content you create: Whether YouTube videos, emails, ads, blog posts, podcasts, the list goes on.


It won’t be easy to write longer copy. (That’s one of the “hidden” reasons everyone pretends like short copy is king—they’re lazy.)

But I can help you if’n you need it. All you have to do is hit reply, and we’ll set up a quick call and talk shop. 


Sound good? 


John

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