The process of writing every ad starts exactly the same way; write your objectives in the upper right hand corner of a blank sheet of paper. Nothing ruins an ad more then having no objective. It should say one or more of the following: “call”, “write”, or “come in”. This is a reminder that the response you are seeking is the reason for your ad. Draft your entire ad with your objectives in mind. Every line, every word, and every graphic – does it increase your response?
The importance of writing the objective of the ad can best be demonstrated by example. I was once called in for a consultation by a large real estate company whose sales were slipping. After an hour’s discussion with the owner, who had over fifty years of experience in selling real estate, I outlined the consulting agreement: we would meet for ten hours or so and I would outline a plan to increase his sales. Disbelievingly, he flatly stated: “I have over fifty years of experience selling real estate – do you mean to tell me that in ten hours of meetings you are going to show me how to sell more houses?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Sir,” he said, in continued disbelief, “I have forgotten more about selling houses then you will ever learn in your life”. He was right, it was true.
Too bad, the reply, “Sir, I have forgotten more about advertising than you have learned in fifty years selling houses,” didn’t come to me until month later. Isn’t hindsight wonderful? It always lets you know you could have said something cleverer, now that it is too late.
We spent a good deal of time reviewing the listings for houses in the real estate sections of local newspapers. When I asked him the objective of the very expensive 1/3 page ad he ran day after day, month after month, he told me quite sincerely: “To sell houses.” When I asked him the purpose of the individual listings within those ads, again he replied “To sell a house.”
He was partly right: he had forgotten even more about selling houses then he thought. The objective of the ad was not to sell a house. No one sees a four-line listing and buys a house. The objective of each listing was to generate phone calls. I have never known anyone to se a listing for a house in a newspaper and send a down payment. They see the ad and – if it works – they pick up the phone. Rule number one: The objective of an ad is generally not to sell the product. The objective is to generate phone calls.
So I proposed a format change in each listing. Call now, the new ads said. Call for an immediate appointment. For information call! And we gave the phone number in a multitude of places. After customers read our ads, with all the boxes saying “call now” and the phone number showing repeatedly, my client’s phone calls tripled the very first week. That’s the value of first writing the objective of the ad, then writing the ad to fulfill the objective. (This lesson was much more expensive for him than for you.)
An axiom in writing direct mail copy also holds true for advertisement, even more so: AIDA. Attract attention, generate interest, stimulate desire, and ask for action.
You have about two or three seconds to entice the reader to stop, look at your ad, and read your “headline”. Which brings us to the second rule of making an effective ad: The headline by far is the most important line in the ad.
Use a headline that will stop the reader dead in the page, capture his attention, and force him to read the rest of the ad. The headline is the ad for your ad.
If you work on writing your ad for twenty five hours, make sure you spend ten of them on the headline. Ten hours on one line? You bet, it can be worth it. The difference between effectiveness of an ad with a poor headline and one with a great headline can be ten times. Ten times! Imagine that you take out an ad and get 100 responses. Then, keeping all the other elements of the ad the same, you just change the headline, and now you get 1,000 responses. That’s the difference.
Don’t write just one or two headlines and pick one. Don’t write a dozen. Write between 80 and 100 ads. Yes, that’s what I do. Write even more if none look good.
Ask friends to write snappy headlines. Better yet, tell them that they will have the pleasure of seeing their own words in print in a magazine if you select their headline to use. If that doesn’t work, offer to pay them if their headline is used.
The most powerful headline you can write is one which describes your biggest reader benefit. One of the best ways to write a benefit-oriented headline for your direct marketing ad is to ask “what is the biggest benefit of using this product?” In the answer lies the headline of your ad.
For example, if you are selling lawn mowers and yours is the fastest cutting, has the most horsepower or cuts the widest path (these are the features) you might write in the headline: Mow your lawn in half the time!
What is it that makes your product unique and different? This is called your “unique Selling Proposition” or USP, and can be an effective headline if you can show it as a reader benefit. Benefits are an effective way to merchandise your product or service in an ad. A headline that shows the biggest benefit is my first choice, and the safest way to write a headline.
Another safe – yet effective – headline style is the “how to” format. How to prepare over 80 meals in under 20 minutes!. How to buy an airline ticket at a 50% discount. How to make terrific dinners using only one pot. If your product lends itself to the how-to-do-it market, even people with mild curiosity will read the ad if it shouts “How to!” How to specify printing to get the lowest price. How to set type without a computer. Effective? You bet.
An attention arrestor headline makes an incredible statement. This is called “teaser copy” when it is placed on the outside of an envelope. Use copy that stirs the reader’s interest to such a degree that it forces him or her to read the rest of the ad. Make your headline so irresistible that people have to read the body copy to see how you support it.
A perfect example is a lawnmower ad, with the headline “This lawnmower makes cutting the grass so fast and easy, I bought it for my wife!. The copy that follows says how she is a professional landscaper, and I bought this lawn mower to make her job easier. Since it is an unusual juxtaposition for a man to buy a lawnmower for his wife, it will attract attention and “dare” people to read or not read the rest of the ad.
Another great formula for success in an ad headline is NEW! New is always exciting. Everyone likes a new model which was just introduced, or a newly improved old model.
This is the best. Some words really are magic in advertising. The word “Free” in the headline beats any thing else in attracting attention and keeping people interested. For additional value, also include it in the first line of the copy, and again in the close. This is probably the best word you can use in the headline.
A free offer increases response. Although overplayed and overused, this remains one of the most effective ways to generate a response to an ad. Just be careful to make sure that you get qualified responses when offering something for free. Don’t wind up sending out mountains of free literature and merchandise and failing to accomplish any sales. When mailing free offers, make sure you are advertising to the correct market and that your audience has the money and the authority to purchase your product.
Think of the brilliance of this: a moving company offers in their headline: “Free booklet shows you how to pack your valuables for moving”. It offers (1) a free book that (2) directly benefits their ideal audience – people who are moving. I’m sure it produces massive, high quality leads.
One of the lowest cost ways to raise your response rate is to create a free gift of useful value. Probably the most inexpensive way to do this is to create free literature. Paper is cheap. Create a data sheet that is informative, contains “how-to” information, or explains something practical about your industry, product or service.
Make your materials as useful as you can, so that your free gift has a high value to your audience. In your ad, make your offer sound so great that customers will feel as if they are missing something if they do not call you right away to get it. Use “free” liberally throughout your ad. If you create a gift of lasting value, customers will call you for years to utilize your service or buy your product. As a lead generation device, an informational product is an excellent marketing too.
When drafting your ad, try to remember that you are not in a contest to see who can be the most unusual or win an award for being different. You simply want to make money and create a good, solid ad built on a traditional format that has proven time and time again that it will pay for itself by generating maximum response. Ads that draw the greatest number of qualified responses have the best chance of success. This is your objective and the basis for a short ad campaign on a limited budget. If you have a long-running campaign you can be more flexible in your style and content.
Get that one extra reader who was going to whiz right by your ad to stop and read your headline. The headline is the most important line in your ad – don’t be satisfied with a good one. Make sure it’s a smashing one.
