Elements
of a Successful Print Advertisement
How many of these are you missing?
Successful advertising is studied and dissected by marketers and analysts everywhere. There is no shortage of books written about marketing success- everything from headlines to colors to placement. Every aspect of an ad is examined to find out what about it made it successful. There is an occasional oddball in the group that breaks new ground, but the overwhelming majority have identifiable, predictable elements. These are just guidelines, but they are guidelines that have led to consistent moneymaking success. If you choose to break the rules, make sure you have an excellent reason for doing so. You may think it’s earthshakingly clever, but its reception by the marketplace is what counts. The history of advertising is littered with clever but unsuccessful marketing attempts.
This isn’t making a case for sameness, but rather for utilizing the fundamental building blocks of success, regardless of how the work ultimately turns out. Institutional Advertising versus Direct Response Advertising. The advertising I’m talking about in this article is what is commonly referred to as direct response. In other words, it asks the viewer for a response- pick up the phone and call, come in, visit our website or some other action. It is more of a direct communication with the prospect, and designed with a short term goal in mind. If it is well done, it also has a long-term goal, building on what has come before it.
Institutional advertising is made with a long term goal of positioning the product in the consumer’s mind. It usually doesn’t ask the viewer to take a specific action. It is more of an image building ad. Open a fashion magazine and you’ll se a lot of institutional advertising. Entire pages can consist of just a picture of a model wearing a product and looking bored. Somewhere on the page is the product name. Both forms of advertising have their place (though by my calculations, an incomprehensible amount of money is wasted by most institutional advertisers.) For businesses not in the Fortune 1000, and who don’t have an enormous advertising budget, direct response is usually a much better choice. With direct response advertising, you’re able to find out quickly what works and what doesn’t. Since most of us don’t have millions of dollars to spend to find out what brings us business, we need to know what messages and what elements are working.
So let’s examine each of these elements in detail.
1. The offer
What are you selling? Is it new or different? Is it the same as what everyone else is offering? If you’re not offering something that people actually want, or can get at a lot of other places, it won’t matter much how you offer it. Before you place any advertisement, try to come up with something new. Make a specific benefit oriented offer that promises to quickly and measurably improve the consumer’s life, and you’re off to a great start.
2. The Headline
The headline is the element that tells people right away if the ad is worth looking at. If it doesn’t immediately promise a substantial benefit that is of interest to the reader, the ad won’t get read. It wouldn’t matter if you were giving away free bullion in the ad itself, the reader would never get that far. No matter what you have to offer, and no matter how good it is, it’s irrelevant if the headline doesn’t compel the viewer to read the ad. It is by far the most important element. If you have no headline, if you’ve used your name as the headline, or if your headline is clever instead of benefit-oriented, you need to start over. Come up with something the reader cares about, or they’ll never read the ad.
3. The main graphic
The main graphic is usually a picture that relates to the headline. Not every successful ad has a graphic. Many advertisers, given the choice between a strong headline and a great picture, would choose the picture. That is a very bad choice. The picture should serve to support the headline, and help quickly convey what the benefit you’re offering is. So many pictures used are irrelevant or “clever” and ad nothing to the ad. In many cases, they can actually detract, as the viewer’s eye passes over what looks like just another ad. It’s easy to pass over a picture, but harder to pass over simple bold words that interrupt your thought patter. Even if you only glance at the words, your mind reads them almost instantly. With all that said, a great main graphic can help to make a great ad. Concepts that are hard to express can me made clear with a picture. When the picture works together with the headline to communicate your benefit, you’re likely to have a great ad, even if the rest of the ad is only average.
4. The first subhead
If your headline has worked, the reader will arrive at the first subhead. It should help the reader understand how the rest of the ad will explain the benefit promised in the headline.
5. The first paragraph
The first paragraph should summarize the benefit you offer, and promise the reader a clear and believable improvement to their life. It should also encourage them to read on for more.
6. Additional subheads
Additional subheads are used for making your strongest points. Don’t bury your best information in the body copy - pull it out and emphasize it.
7. Body copy
Body copy should be used to expand on your promised benefit. Keep it short, impactful and to the point. You don’t want to make more than a couple of points in and single ad, and each should relate to and build on the others. If you find yourself needing to make too many different points, you need to hone your message further, or deliver it in a longer presentation. Sales letters or multimedia and video presentations are good options.
8. Last paragraph
The last paragraph is the place to inspire action. Make the reader feel that he or she is this close to enjoying the benefit you’re offering. All they need to do is (insert your call to action here.) Just pick up the phone, visit our website, or whatever it is you want them to do. And make sure you actually know what it is that you want them to do. If you leave it up to them they’ll likely do something else.
9. Post script
The post script is a place of eliminate they’re fear of taking action, or to inspire fear of not taking action. Here you can take away the risk for them by offering your explicit guarantee. Or you can tell them that the offer is good for a limited time only, or something else that will help persuade them to act on the desire you’ve instilled in them.
Elements of style Style is a book of its own, but a few points are worth mentioning here. Content is king, and appearance needs to be excellent also. Pictures should always look professional. There’s nothing worse than paying good money for an ad, only to show the world that you’re sloppy and unprofessional. It takes time to build up a reputation, but only an instant to cripple one. Your ads should always strive for maximum readability. Everything on the page should contribute to your message. If in doubt, leave it out. Use short paragraphs made of short sentences. The amount of information is variable, but make sure that everything included has a definite purpose. Use headers and subheads to organize and break up your information. No one wants to read a long block of dense copy. The same information broken up and organized efficiently, though, can keep a reader interested for much longer.
Use bold type, italics, and punctuation to make a point. Too many BOLDED CLAIMS followed by too many exclamation points is very annoying!!!!!!! Type styling can be very effective, but not if it looks like it was done by an elementary school student. The best ads are those that speak in the language of the reader. If you’re writing like a college professor, you’re not going to connect with your audience, unless they happen to also be college professors. Don’t do it because you think it makes you sound smart or authoritative. The only thing you’ll do is alienate readers. Speak to them in their language, and they’ll believe more of what you say. They’ll understand it better, also. Avoid too many superlatives. People will tune out and not believe you after your third “Awesome” or fifth “Unbelievable.” They’re much more likely to believe specific claims that are backed up by examples they can relate to. We all get too many “Incredible” offers to believe that any of them are actually incredible.
These are the general rules for effective print advertising. Break them at your own risk. They’re tested and shown effective time after time, minimizing risk for the advertiser.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek Fisch is founder and President of Velocity Media, a full service marketing and advertising firm.
NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a link to your reprint to design@velocitymediainc.com.
Back to Resources page
How many of these are you missing?
Successful advertising is studied and dissected by marketers and analysts everywhere. There is no shortage of books written about marketing success- everything from headlines to colors to placement. Every aspect of an ad is examined to find out what about it made it successful. There is an occasional oddball in the group that breaks new ground, but the overwhelming majority have identifiable, predictable elements. These are just guidelines, but they are guidelines that have led to consistent moneymaking success. If you choose to break the rules, make sure you have an excellent reason for doing so. You may think it’s earthshakingly clever, but its reception by the marketplace is what counts. The history of advertising is littered with clever but unsuccessful marketing attempts.
This isn’t making a case for sameness, but rather for utilizing the fundamental building blocks of success, regardless of how the work ultimately turns out. Institutional Advertising versus Direct Response Advertising. The advertising I’m talking about in this article is what is commonly referred to as direct response. In other words, it asks the viewer for a response- pick up the phone and call, come in, visit our website or some other action. It is more of a direct communication with the prospect, and designed with a short term goal in mind. If it is well done, it also has a long-term goal, building on what has come before it.
Institutional advertising is made with a long term goal of positioning the product in the consumer’s mind. It usually doesn’t ask the viewer to take a specific action. It is more of an image building ad. Open a fashion magazine and you’ll se a lot of institutional advertising. Entire pages can consist of just a picture of a model wearing a product and looking bored. Somewhere on the page is the product name. Both forms of advertising have their place (though by my calculations, an incomprehensible amount of money is wasted by most institutional advertisers.) For businesses not in the Fortune 1000, and who don’t have an enormous advertising budget, direct response is usually a much better choice. With direct response advertising, you’re able to find out quickly what works and what doesn’t. Since most of us don’t have millions of dollars to spend to find out what brings us business, we need to know what messages and what elements are working.
So let’s examine each of these elements in detail.
1. The offer
What are you selling? Is it new or different? Is it the same as what everyone else is offering? If you’re not offering something that people actually want, or can get at a lot of other places, it won’t matter much how you offer it. Before you place any advertisement, try to come up with something new. Make a specific benefit oriented offer that promises to quickly and measurably improve the consumer’s life, and you’re off to a great start.
2. The Headline
The headline is the element that tells people right away if the ad is worth looking at. If it doesn’t immediately promise a substantial benefit that is of interest to the reader, the ad won’t get read. It wouldn’t matter if you were giving away free bullion in the ad itself, the reader would never get that far. No matter what you have to offer, and no matter how good it is, it’s irrelevant if the headline doesn’t compel the viewer to read the ad. It is by far the most important element. If you have no headline, if you’ve used your name as the headline, or if your headline is clever instead of benefit-oriented, you need to start over. Come up with something the reader cares about, or they’ll never read the ad.
3. The main graphic
The main graphic is usually a picture that relates to the headline. Not every successful ad has a graphic. Many advertisers, given the choice between a strong headline and a great picture, would choose the picture. That is a very bad choice. The picture should serve to support the headline, and help quickly convey what the benefit you’re offering is. So many pictures used are irrelevant or “clever” and ad nothing to the ad. In many cases, they can actually detract, as the viewer’s eye passes over what looks like just another ad. It’s easy to pass over a picture, but harder to pass over simple bold words that interrupt your thought patter. Even if you only glance at the words, your mind reads them almost instantly. With all that said, a great main graphic can help to make a great ad. Concepts that are hard to express can me made clear with a picture. When the picture works together with the headline to communicate your benefit, you’re likely to have a great ad, even if the rest of the ad is only average.
4. The first subhead
If your headline has worked, the reader will arrive at the first subhead. It should help the reader understand how the rest of the ad will explain the benefit promised in the headline.
5. The first paragraph
The first paragraph should summarize the benefit you offer, and promise the reader a clear and believable improvement to their life. It should also encourage them to read on for more.
6. Additional subheads
Additional subheads are used for making your strongest points. Don’t bury your best information in the body copy - pull it out and emphasize it.
7. Body copy
Body copy should be used to expand on your promised benefit. Keep it short, impactful and to the point. You don’t want to make more than a couple of points in and single ad, and each should relate to and build on the others. If you find yourself needing to make too many different points, you need to hone your message further, or deliver it in a longer presentation. Sales letters or multimedia and video presentations are good options.
8. Last paragraph
The last paragraph is the place to inspire action. Make the reader feel that he or she is this close to enjoying the benefit you’re offering. All they need to do is (insert your call to action here.) Just pick up the phone, visit our website, or whatever it is you want them to do. And make sure you actually know what it is that you want them to do. If you leave it up to them they’ll likely do something else.
9. Post script
The post script is a place of eliminate they’re fear of taking action, or to inspire fear of not taking action. Here you can take away the risk for them by offering your explicit guarantee. Or you can tell them that the offer is good for a limited time only, or something else that will help persuade them to act on the desire you’ve instilled in them.
Elements of style Style is a book of its own, but a few points are worth mentioning here. Content is king, and appearance needs to be excellent also. Pictures should always look professional. There’s nothing worse than paying good money for an ad, only to show the world that you’re sloppy and unprofessional. It takes time to build up a reputation, but only an instant to cripple one. Your ads should always strive for maximum readability. Everything on the page should contribute to your message. If in doubt, leave it out. Use short paragraphs made of short sentences. The amount of information is variable, but make sure that everything included has a definite purpose. Use headers and subheads to organize and break up your information. No one wants to read a long block of dense copy. The same information broken up and organized efficiently, though, can keep a reader interested for much longer.
Use bold type, italics, and punctuation to make a point. Too many BOLDED CLAIMS followed by too many exclamation points is very annoying!!!!!!! Type styling can be very effective, but not if it looks like it was done by an elementary school student. The best ads are those that speak in the language of the reader. If you’re writing like a college professor, you’re not going to connect with your audience, unless they happen to also be college professors. Don’t do it because you think it makes you sound smart or authoritative. The only thing you’ll do is alienate readers. Speak to them in their language, and they’ll believe more of what you say. They’ll understand it better, also. Avoid too many superlatives. People will tune out and not believe you after your third “Awesome” or fifth “Unbelievable.” They’re much more likely to believe specific claims that are backed up by examples they can relate to. We all get too many “Incredible” offers to believe that any of them are actually incredible.
These are the general rules for effective print advertising. Break them at your own risk. They’re tested and shown effective time after time, minimizing risk for the advertiser.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Derek Fisch is founder and President of Velocity Media, a full service marketing and advertising firm.
NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end), and you send a link to your reprint to design@velocitymediainc.com.
Back to Resources page