The
most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, no business can exist for very
long.
All
sales begin with some form of advertising.
To build sales, this advertising must be seen or heard by potential
buyers, and cause them to react to the advertising in some way. The credit for the success, or the blame for
the failure of almost all ads, reverts back to the ad itself.
Generally,
the "ad writer" wants the prospect to do one of the following:
a) Visit the store to see and judge the product
for himself, or immediately write a check and send for the merchandise being
advertised.
b) Phone for an appointment to hear the full
sales presentation, or write for further information which amounts to the same
thing.
The
bottom line in any ad is quite simple:
To make the reader buy the product or service. Any ad that causes the reader to only pause
in this thinking, to just admire the product, or to simply believe what's written
about the product - is not doing its job completely.
The
"ad writer" must know exactly what he wants his reader to do, and any
that does not elicit the desired action is an absolute waste of time and money.
In
order to elicit the desired action from the prospect, all ads are written
according to a simple "master formula" which is:
1) Attract the "attention" of
your prospect.
2) "Interest" your prospect in
the product
3) Cause your prospect to
"desire" the product
4) Demand "action" from the
prospect
Never
forget the basic rule of advertising copywriting: If the ad is not read, it won't stimulate any
sale; if it is not seen, it cannot be read; and if it does not command or grab
the attention of the reader, it will not be seen!
Most
successful advertising copywriters know these fundamentals backwards and
forwards. Whether you know them already
or you're just now being exposed to them, your knowledge and practice of these
fundamentals will determine the extent of your success as an advertising
copywriter.
CLASSIFIED ADS
Classified
ads are the ads from which all successful businesses are started. These small, relatively inexpensive ads, give
the beginner an opportunity to advertise his product or service without losing
his shirt if the ad doesn't pull or the people don't break his door down with
demands for his product. Classified ads
are written according to all the advertising rules. What is said in a classified ad is the same
that's said in a larger, more elaborate type of ad, except in condensed form.
To
start learning how to write good classified ads, clip ten classified ads form
ten different mail order type publications - ads that you think are pretty
good. Paste each of these ads onto a
separate sheet of paper.
Analyze
each of these ads: How has the writer
attracted your attention - what about the ads keeps your interest - are you
stimulated to want to know more about the product being advertised - and
finally, what action must you take? Are
all of these points covered in the ad?
How strongly are you "turned on" by each of these ads?
Rate
these ads on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best according to the
formula I've given you. Now, just for
practice, without clipping the ads, do the same thing with ten different ads
from a Wards or Penney's catalog. In
fact, every ad you see form now on, quickly analyze it, and rate it somewhere
on your scale. If you'll practice this
exercise on a regular basis, you'll soon be able to quickly recognize the
"Power Points" of any ad you see, and know within your own mind
whether an ad is good, bad or otherwise, and what makes it so.
Practice
for an hour each day, write the ads you've rated 8, 9 and 10 exactly as they've
been written. This will give you the
"feel" of the fundamentals and style necessary in writing classified
ads.
Your
next project will be to pick out what you consider to be the ten
"worst" ads you can find in the classifieds sections. Clip these out and paste them onto a sheet of
paper so you can work on them.
Read
these ads over a couple of times, and then beside each of them, write a short
comment stating why you think it's bad:
Lost in the crowd, doesn't attract attention - doesn't hold the reader's
interest - nothing special to make the reader want to own the product - no
demand for action.
You
probably already know what's coming next, and that's right. Break out those pencils, erasers and scratch
paper - and start rewriting these ads to include the missing elements.
Each
day for the next month, practice writing the ten best ads for an hour, just the
way they were originally written. Pick
out ten of the worst ads, analyze those ads, and then practice rewriting those
until they measure up to doing the job they were intended to do.
Once
you're satisfied that the ads you've rewritten are perfect, go back into each
ad and cross out the words that can be eliminated without detracting from the
ad. Classified ads are almost always
"finalized" in the style of a telegram.
EXAMPLE: I'll arrive at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon,
the 15th. Meet me at Sardi's. All my love, Jim.
EDITED FOR SENDING: Arrive 2pm
- 15th - Sardi's.
Love, Jim.
CLASSIFIED AD: Save on your food bills! Reduced
prices on every shelf in
the store! Stock up now while
supplies are
complete! Come on in today, to Jerry's
Family Supermarkets!
EDITED FOR
PUBLICATION: Save on Food!
Everything bargain
priced! Limited Supplies! Hurry!
Jerry's Markets!
It
takes dedicated and regular practice, but you can do it. Simply recognize and understand the basic
formula - practice reading and writing the good ones - and rewriting the bad
ones to make them better. Practice, and
keep at it, over and over, every day - until the formula, the idea, and the
feel of this kind of ad writing becomes second nature to you. This is the ONLY WAY to gain expertise in
writing good classified ads.
DISPLAY
ADVERTISEMENTS
A
display or space ad differs from a classified ad because it has a headline,
layout, and because the style isn't telegraphic. However, the fundamentals of writing the
display or space ad are exactly the same as for a classified ad. The basic difference is that you have more
room in which to emphasize the "master formula."
Most
successful copywriters rate the headline and/or the lead sentence of an ad as
the most important part of the ad, and in reality, you should do the same. After all, when you ad is surrounded by
hundreds of other ads, and information or entertainment, what makes you think
anyone is going to see your particular ad?
The
truth is, they're not going to see your ad unless you can "grab"
their attention and entice them to read all of what you have to say. Your headline, or lead sentence when no
headline is used, has to make it more difficult for your prospect to ignore or
pass over, than to stop and read your ad.
If you don't capture the attention of your reader with your headline,
anything beyond is useless effort and wasted money.
Successful
advertising headlines - in classified ads, your first three to five words serve
as your headline - are written as promises, either implied or direct. The former promises to show you how to save
money, make money, or attain a desired goal.
The latter is a warning against something undesirable.
EXAMPLE
OF A PROMISE: Are You Ready To Become A
Millionaire - In Just 18 Months?
EXAMPLE
OF A WARNING: Do You Make These Mistakes
In English?
In
both of these examples, I've posed a question as the headline. Headlines that ask a question seem to attract
the reader's attention almost as surely as a moth is drawn to a flame. Once he's seen the question, he just can't
seem to keep himself from reading the rest of the ad to find out the answer. The best headline questions are those that
challenge the reader; that involve his self esteem, and do not allow him to
dismiss your question with a simple yes or no.
You'll
be the envy of your friends is another kind of "reader appeal" to
incorporate into your headline whenever appropriate. The appeal has to do with basic
psychology: everyone wants to be well
thought of, and consequently, will read into the body of your ad to find out
how he can gain the respect and accolades of his friends.
Wherever
and whenever possible, use colloquialisms or words that are not usually found
in advertisements. The idea is to shock
or shake the reader out of his reverie and cause him to take notice of your
ad. Most of the headlines you see day in
and day out, have a certain sameness with just the words rearranged. The reader may see these headlines with his
eyes, but his brain fails to focus on any of them because there's nothing
different or out of the ordinary to arrest his attention.
EXAMPLE
OF COLLOQUIALISM: Are You Developing a
POT BELLY?
Another
attention-grabber kind of headline is the comparative priced magazine headline:
Three For Only $3, Regularly $3 Each!
Still another of the "tried and proven" kind of headlines is
the specific question: Do You Suffer
From These Symptoms. And of course, if
you offer a strong guarantee, you should say so in your headline: Your Money Refunded, If You Don't Make
$100,00 Your First Year.
How
To headlines have a very strong basic appeal, but in some instances, they're
better used as book titles than advertising headlines. Who Else wants in on the finer things - which
your product or service presumably offers - is another approach with a very
strong reader appeal. The psychology
here being the need of everyone to belong to a group - complete with status and
prestige motivations.
Whenever,
and as often as you can possible work it in, you should use the word
"you" in your headline, and throughout your copy. After all, your ad should be directed to
"one" person, and the person reading your ad wants to feel that
you're talking to him personally, not everyone who lives on his street.
Personalize,
and be specific! You can throw the
teachings of your English teachers out the window, and the rules of "third
person, singular" or whatever else tends to inhibit your writing. Whenever you sit down to write advertising
copy intended to pull the orders - sell the product - you should picture
yourself in a one-on-one situation and "talk" to your reader just as
if you were sitting across from him at your dining room table. Say what you mean, and sell HIM on the
product your offering. Be specific and
ask him if these are the things that bother him - are these the things he wants
- and he's the one you want to buy the product...
The
layout you devise for your ad, or the frame you build around it, should also
command attention. Either make it so
spectacular that it stands out like lobster at a chili dinner, or so uncommonly
simple that it catches the reader's eye because of its very simplicity. It's also important that you don't get cute
with a lot of unrelated graphics and artwork.
Your ad should convey the feeling of excitement and movement, but should
not tire the eyes or disrupt the flow of the message you are trying to present.
Any
graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, it's use and/or
the copy you have written about it.
Graphics should not be used as artistic touches, or to create an
atmosphere. Any illustrations with your ad
should compliment the selling of your product, and prove or substantiate specific
points in your copy.
Once
you have your reader's attention, the only way you are going to keep it, is by
quickly and emphatically telling him what your product will do for him.
Your
potential buyer doesn't care in the least how long it's taken you to produce
the product, how lone you have been in business, nor how many years you've
spend learning your craft. He wants to
know specifically how he is going to benefit form the purchase of your product.
Generally,
his wants will fall into one of the following categories: Better health, more comfort, more money, more
leisure time, more popularity, greater beauty, success and/or security.
Even
though you have your reader's attention, you must follow through with an
enumeration of the benefits you can gain.
In essence, you must reiterate the advantages, comfort and happiness
he'll enjoy - as you have implied in your headline.
Mentally
picture your prospect - determine his wants and emotional needs - put yourself
in his shoes, and ask yourself: If I
were reading this ad, what are the things that would appeal to me? Write your copy to appeal to your reader's
wants and emotional needs/ego cravings.
Remember,
it's not the "safety features" that have sold cars for the past 50
years - nor has it been the need of transportation - it has been, and almost
certainly always will be the advertising writer's recognition of people's wants
and emotional needs/ego cravings.
Visualize your prospect, recognize his wants and satisfy them. Writing good advertising copy is nothing more
or less than knowing "who" your buyers are; recognizing what he
wants; and then telling him how your product will fulfill each of those
wants. Remember this because it's one of
the "vitally important" keys to writing advertising copy that does
the job you intend for it to do.
The
"desire" portion of your ad is where you present the facts of your
product; create and justify your prospect's conviction, and cause him to demand
"a piece of the action" for himself.
It's
vitally necessary that you present "proven facts" about your product
because survey results show that at least 80% of the people reading your ad -
especially those reading it for the first time - will tend to question its
authenticity.
So,
the more facts you can present in the ad, the more credible your offer. As you write this part of your ad, always
remember that the more facts about the product you present, the more product
you'll sell. People want facts as
reasons, and/or excuses for buying a product - to justify to themselves and
others, that they have not been "taken" by a slick copywriter.
It's
like the girl who wants to marry the guy her father calls a "no good
bum." Her heart - her emotions -
tell her yes, but she needs to nullify the seed of doubt lingering in her mind
- to rationalize her decision to go on with the wedding.
In
other words, the "desire" portion of your ad has to build belief and
credibility in the mind of your prospect.
It has to assure him of his good judgment in the final decision to buy -
furnish evidence of the benefits you have promised - and afford him a
"safety net" in case anyone should question his decision to buy.
People
tend to believe the things that appeal to their individual desires, fears and
other emotions. Once you have
established a belief in this manner, logic and reasoning are used to support
it. People believe what they
"want" to believe. Your reader
"wants" to believe your ad if he has read it through this far - it is
up to you to support his initial desire.
Study
your product and everything about it - visualize the wants of your prospective
buyers - dig up the facts, and you'll almost always find plenty of facts to
support the buyer's reasons for buying.
Here
is where you use results of tests conducted, growing sales figures to prove
increasing popularity, and "user" testimonials or endorsements. It's also important that you present these
facts - test results, sales view, and not that of the manufacturer.
Before you end this portion of your ad and get into
your demand for action, summarize everything you've presented thus far. Draw a mental picture for your potential
buyer. Let him imagine owning the
product. Induce him to visualize all of
the benefits you have promised. Give him
the keys to seeing himself richer, enjoying luxury, having time to do whatever
he would like to do, and with all of his dreams fulfilled.
This
can be handled in one or two sentences, or spelled out in a paragraph or more,
but it is the absolute ingredient you must include prior to closing the
sale. Study all the sales presentations
you have ever heard - look at every winning ad - this is the element included
in all of them that actually makes the sale for you. Remember it, use it, and don't try to sell
anything without it.
As
Victor Schwab puts is so succinctly in his best selling book, How To Write A
Good Advertisement: Every one of the
fundamentals in the "master formula" is necessary. Those sitting across from him at your dining
people who are "easy" to sell may perhaps be sold even if some of
these factors are left out, but it's wiser to plan your advertisement so that
it will have a powerful impact upon those who are "hardest" to
sell. For, unlike fact-to-face selling,
we cannot in printed advertising come to a "trial close" in our sales
talk - in order to see if those who are easier to sell will welcome the dotted
line without further persuasion. We
must assume that we are talking to the hardest ones - and that the more thoroughly
our copy sells both the hard and the easy, the better chance we have against
the competition for the consumer's dollar - and also the less dependent we will
be upon the usual completely ineffective follow through on our advertising
effort which later takes place at the sales counter itself.
ASK FOR
ACTION! DEMAND THE MONEY!
Lots
of ads are beautiful, almost perfectly written, and quite convincing - yet they
fail to ask for or demand action form the reader. If you want the reader to have your product,
then tell him so and demand that he send his money now. Unless you enjoy entertaining your prospects
with your beautiful writing skills, always demand that he complete the sale
now, by taking action now - by calling a telephone number and ordering, or by
writing his check and rushing it to the post office.
Once
you have got him on the hook, land him!
Don't let him get away!
Probably,
one of the most common and best methods of moving the reader to act now, is
written in some form of the following:
All
of this can be yours! You can start
enjoying this new way of life immediately, simply by sending a check for
$XX! Don't put it off, then later wish
you had gotten in on the ground floor!
Make out that check now, and "be IN on the ground floor!" Act now, and as an "early-bird"
buyer, we'll include a big bonus package - absolutely free, simply for acting
immediately! You win all the way! We take all the risk! If you are not satisfied, simply return the
product and we will quickly refund your money!
Do it now! Get that check on its
way to us today, and receive the big bonus package! After next week, we won't be able to include
the bonus as a part of this fantastic deal, so act now! The sooner you act, you more you win!
Offering
a reward of some kind will almost always stimulate the prospect to take
action. However, in mentioning the
reward or bonus, be very careful that you don't end up receiving primarily,
requests for the bonus with mountains of requests for refunds on the product to
follow. The bonus should be mentioned
only casually if you are asking for product orders; and with lots of fanfare
only when you are seeking inquiries.
Too
often the copywriter, in his enthusiasm to pull in a record number of
responses, confuses the reader by "forgetting about the product," and
devoting his entire space allotted for the "demand for action" to
sending for the bonus. Any reward
offered should be closely related to the product, and a bonus offered only for
immediate action on the part of the potential buyer.
Specify
a time limit. Tell your prospect that he
must act within a certain time limit or lose out on the bonus, face probably
higher prices, or even the withdrawal of your offer. This is always a good hook to get action.
Any
kind of guarantee you offer always helps you produce action from the
prospect. And the more liberal you can
make your guarantee, the more product orders you will receive. Be sure you state the guarantee clearly and
simply. Make it so easy to understand
that even a child would not misinterpret what you are saying.
The
action you want your prospect to take should be easy - clearly stated - and
devoid of any complicated procedural steps on his part, or numerous directions
for him to follow.
Picture
your prospect, very comfortable in his favorite easy chair, idly flipping
through a magazine while "half-watching" TV. He notices your ad, reads through it, and he
is sold on your product. Now what does
he do?
Remember,
he's very comfortable - you have "grabbed" his attention, sparked his
interest, painted a picture of him enjoying a new kind of satisfaction, and he
is ready to buy...
Anything
and everything you ask or cause him to do is going to disrupt this aura of
comfort and contentment. Whatever he
must do had better be simple, quick and easy!
Tell
him without any ifs, ands or buts, what to do - fill out the coupon, include
your check for the full amount, and send it in to us today! Make it as easy for him as you possibly can -
simply and dirert. And by all means,
make sure your address is on the order form he is supposed to complete and mail
in to you - your name and address on the order form, as well as just above
it. People sometimes fill out a coupon,
tear it off, seal it in an envelope and don't know where to send it. The easier you make it for him to respond,
the more responses you'll get!
There
you have it, a complete short course on how to write ads that will pull more
orders for you - sell more of your product for you. It's important to learn "why" ads
are written as they are - to understand and use, the "master formula"
in your own ad writing endeavors.
By
conscientiously studying good advertising copy, and practice in writing ads of
your own, now that you have the knowledge and understand what makes advertising
copy work, you should be able to quickly develop your copywriting abilities to
produce order-pulling ads for your own products. Even so, and once you do become proficient in
writing ads for your own products, you must never stop "noticing" how
ads are written, designed and put together by other people. To stop learning would be comparable to
shutting off from the rest of the world.
The
best ad writers are people in touch with the world in which they live. Everytime they see a good ad, they clip it
out and save it. Regularly, they pull
what makes them good, and why they work.
There's no school in the country that can give you the same kind of
education and expertise so necessary in the field of ad writing. You must keep yourself up-to-date, aware of,
and in-the-know about the other guy - his innovations, style, changes, and the
methods he is using to sell his products.
On-the-job training - study and practice - that's what it takes - and if
you have got that burning ambition to succeed, you can do it too!
QUESTIONS
& ANSWERS
1. WHAT'S THE MOST PROFITABLE WAY TO USE
CLASSIFIEDS...
Classifieds
are best used to build your mailing list of qualified prospects. Use classified to offer a free catalog,
booklet or report relative to your product line.
2. WHAT CAN YOU SELL "DIRECTLY"
FROM CLASSIFIEDS...
Generally,
anything and everything, so long as it doesn't cost more than five dollars
which is about the most people will pay in response to an offer in the
classifieds. These types of ads are
great for pulling inquiries such as:
Write for further information; Send $3, get two for the price of one;
Dealers wanted, send for product info and a real money-maker's kit!
3. WHAT ARE THE BEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR TO
ADVERTISE...
All
twelve months of the year! Responses to
your ads during some months will be slower in accumulating, but by keying your
ads according to the month they appear, and a careful tabulation of your
returns from each keyed ad, you will see that steady year round advertising
will continue to pull orders for you, regardless of the month it's
published. I've personally received
inquiries and orders from ads placed as long as 2 years previous to the date of
the response!
4. ARE MAIL ORDER PUBLICATIONS GOOD
ADVERTISING BUYS...
The
lease effective are the ad sheets. Most
of the ads in these publications are "exchange ads," meaning that the
publisher of ad sheet "A" runs the ads of publisher "B"
without charge, because publisher "B" is running the ads of publisher
"A" without charge. The
"claimed" circulation figures of these publications are almost always
based on "wishes, hopes and wants" while the "true"
circulation goes out to similar small, part-time mail order dealers. Very poor medium for investing advertising
dollars because everybody receiving a copy is a "seller" and nobody
is buying. When an ad sheet is received
by someone not involved in mail order, it is usually given a cursory glance and
then discarded as "junk mail."
Tabloid
newspapers are slightly better than the ad sheets, but not by much! The important difference with the tabloids is
in the "helpful information" articles they try to carry for the mail
order beginner. A "fair media"
for recruiting dealers or independent sales reps for mail order products, and
for renting mailing lists, but still circulated amongst "sellers"
with very few buyers. Besides that, the
life of a mail order tab sheet is about the same as that of your daily
newspaper.
With
mail order magazines, it depends on the quality of the publication and its
business concepts. Some mail order
magazines are nothing more than expanded ad sheets, while others - such as BOOK
BUSINESS MART - strive to help the
opportunity seekers with on-going advice and tips he can use in the development
and growth of his own wealth-building projects.
Book Business Mart is not just the fastest growing publication in the
mail order scene today; it's also the first publication in more than 20 years
to offer real help anyone can use in achieving his own version of "The
American Dream" of building one's own business form a "shoestring
beginning" into a multi-million dollar empire!
5.
HOW CAN I DECIDE WHERE TO
ADVERTISE MY PRODUCT...
First
of all, you have to determine who your prospective buyers are. Then you do a little bit of market research. Talk to your friends, neighbors and people at
random who might fit this profile. Ask
them if they would be interested in a product such as yours, and then ask them
which publications they read. Next, go
to your public library for a listing of the publications of this type from the
Standard Rate & Data Service catalogs.
Make
a list of the addresses, circulation figures, reader demographics and
advertising rates. To determine the true
costs of your advertising and decide which is the better buy, divide the total
audited circulation figure into the cost for a one inch ad: $10 per inch with a publication showing
10,000 circulation would be 10,000 into $10 or 10¢ per thousand. Looking at the advertising rates for Book
Business Mart, you would take 42,500 into $15 for an advertising rate of less
that THREE TENTHS OF ONE CENT PER THOUSAND.
Obviously, your best buy in this case would be Book Business Mart
because of the lower cost per thousand.
Write
and ask for sample copies of the magazines you have tentatively chosen to place
your advertising in. Look over their
advertising - be sure that they don't or won't put your ad in the
"gutter" which is the inside column next to the binding. How many other mail order type ads are they
carrying - you want to go with a publication that's busy, not one that has only
a few ads. The more ads in the
publication, the better the response the advertisers are getting, or else they
wouldn't be investing their money in that publication.
To
"properly" test your ad, you should let it run through at least three
consecutive issues of any publication.
If your responses are small, try a different publication. Then, if your responses are still small, look
at your ad and think about rewriting it for greater appeal, and pulling
power. In a great many instances, it's
the ad and not the publication's pulling power that's at fault!
