All too often at Hot PJ we see ads come across our desk like the one featured in this post. Apart from the cringe factor whenever I see ads like this, I also feel regret. Regret for the money the advertiser is wasting on such an ineffective ad. I’d be surprised if it generated any new business.

Often these ads are put together by the publication – who should know better. With a little more thought the effectiveness of this ad could be increased without it costing the advertiser a cent more.

I am not a fan of one-off ads (especially of this type) as I know that a single ad alone will not set the till ringing.

The effectiveness of any advertising lies in having a compelling offer, but also in communicating that offer through the right channels.

What this means is an offer that will be too good for a customer or client to resist and will create valuable, new, on-going business for the advertiser’s company. The ‘right channels’ will be those that the advertiser’s target audience are exposed to.

Don’t be swayed by:

• pushy advertising sales reps offering incentives or deals unless the publication they are promoting is actually viewed by those who will buy your product or service. Ask to see the demographics of their readership. If it doesn’t match up with yours then don’t throw your money away advertising with them.
• what is ‘trendy’ at the moment if it isn’t applicable to your audience. We recently had an inquiry from a business where one of the decision makers was dead set on using social media but it was clear that their target audience were not using it. Why spend time and money on promoting through these channels if your audience isn’t going to see it?

So if these types of ads are so ineffective, why do we see so many of them?

Because those putting them together just don’t know any better! So here’s what’s wrong and what to do to improve it.

Structurally an ad should have the following elements, from top to bottom:

1. Headline
2. Information about your product or service, including a reason to buy, or as Ian Ogilvy put it, a ‘promise’.
3. A call to action – why the customer needs to buy NOW and how.

Headline:

Unless you are Coca-Cola and have spent millions of dollars and many years building brand awareness, think long and hard about using your brand or company logo as your headline. In most cases the person reading your ad has never heard of your company doesn’t know what it does or what it stands for. Basically it means nothing to them.

There is a real art to writing a good headline so check out our Hot Gossip article “How to Write Headlines that Get Read”.

Body Copy:

Too often the focus of this is a list of features – things that the company does or has. Generally these do not directly relate to the needs of the customer.

The customer wants to know what it is your product or service can do to meet their needs – often this relates to solving a problem they have and making them look good. So turn features or facts into benefits that mean something to your prospective customer or client. And make sure they are the ones that your competitors would find hard to replicate.

Call to Action:

This is:

• where to go to take up the offer, or
• who to contact,
• when the action needs to be taken.

If you can give your prospective customer an incentive to get in contact with you now you will increase the effectiveness of your ad.

This is the place in the ad where you can feature your logo or branding.

Ads that continue to work

My favourite ad is one that first appeared in the 1950s for McGraw-Hill Magazines, named ‘man in the chair’. This ad is aimed at selling business publication advertising, and the ad copy has run unchanged since it was first written.

The situation this ad portrays (a tough unconvinced customer) serves as a reminder to all advertisers about what their ads are up against. It is something we keep in mind at Hot PJ whenever we are writing or designing marketing material for our clients. If we can answer all these objections in our clients’ marketing, then we are well on the way to increasing our clients’ leads and sales.

“I don’t know who you are.

I don’t know your company.

I don’t know your company’s product.

I don’t know what your company stands for.

I don’t know your company’s customers.

I don’t know your company’s record.

I don’t know your company’s reputation.

Now – what was it you wanted to sell me?”

Posted on July 14th, 2009 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Marketing