If you've ever been to Disney's Hollywood Studios, you've probably experienced The Tower of Terror.
As soon as you enter the ruins of what appears to have once been a magnificent and glamorous hotel, you are immersed in a story.
It's a stormy night in 1939. A group of people are in the hotel elevator when lightning strikes the Hollywood Tower Hotel - and they vanish into thin air.
You experience that fateful elevator ride and feel the terror. And then the ride is over, and you're quickly led out a door into the bright sunshine of the park, right?
They purposely extend your experience and lead you through a passage that replicates the hotel's service tunnel and through what feels like the hotel's original gift shop so that you can buy momentos of your ride to remind you of the fun and thrill you had every time you look at them.
Disney knows that the longer they can keep you interested and in the moment, the longer they can keep you actively involved and invested in the experience they are creating for you...the more likely it is that you will make a purchase.
And the more likely that the amount of the purchase will be higher.
You're probably thinking, "But what about..."
Today’s buyers have shorter attention spans.
And younger buyers have even shorter attention spans.
And I've been told that videos shouldn't be any longer that 90 seconds and long sales letters no longer work.
Videos, sales letters, emails, blog posts - the medium doesn't matter - that are compelling will get watched, read, and digested.
Otherwise, the 2-hour specials of the mega-hits Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor wouldn't get the ratings they do.
When I sold mortgages, I quickly learned that the longer I could keep someone on the phone, the better my chances of closing them were.
I listened to my prospects and what was causing them to stay awake at night. I heightened the pain or stress they were experiencing by pointing out what their lives would be if they didn't move forward. And I showed them how things would change exponentially for the better if they took the next step sooner rather than later.
And I learned what many sales titans know: that the likelihood of closing goes up in 15-20 minute increments. If I have their attention for 1 hour, I'm not twice as likely to close than if I have their attention for 15 minutes. I'm three to four times more likely to close.
That's why the FAO Schwartz store in Las Vegas is spread over three floors of specialty stores within a store...and connected by slower than normal moving elevators.
It's why personable, charismatic door-to-door salesmen hawking encyclopedias or pots and pans spread their ware all over the place.
It's why car salesmen take you on test drives.
It's why home parties are still around.
They all keep you engaged. Longer. It's planned. It's strategic.
So the next time you write an email or shoot a video or create a sales page, don't make your primary focus on how short you can make it...focus on how compelling you can craft it.
Give your visitors an experience they'll remember.
Make 'em stay.
Seize the day!
