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HOW TO WRITE ORDER PULLING ADSThe 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, advertising must be seen or heard by potential buyers and cause them to react in some way. The credit for the success or the blame for the failure reverts back to the ad itself. GAINING CUSTOMER ATTENTION The bottom line in any ad is quite simple: Make the reader buy the product or service. Any ad that causes the reader to only pause in his 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 wants the prospect to do one of the following: Visit the store to see and judge the product for himself Any ad that does not elicit the desired action is an absolute waste of time and money. In order to gain a response from the prospect all ads are written according to a simple master formula known as AIDA: Attract the Attention of your prospect Never forget the basic rule of copywriting: "If the ad isn't read, it won't
stimulate any sales. If it isn't seen, it can't be read. If it doesn't grab the attention
of the reader, it won't be seen." Successful advertising copywriters know these
fundamentals forwards and backwards. Whether you know them already or you're just now
being exposed to them, your knowledge and practice of these basics will determine your
future success as an advertising copywriter. CLASSIFIED ADS Classified ads form the basis upon which most 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 if customers don't beat his door down with demands for the product. Classified ads are written according to established advertising rules. The message of a classified ad should be the same as that of a larger display ad, but in condensed form. Generally, however, classifieds should only be used to create a lead or a prospect. To learn how to write good classified ads, clip ten examples from ten different mail order publications. Select 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 ad keeps your interest? Are you motivated to want to know more about the product? What is the desired action? Are all of the above points covered in the ad? How strongly are you "sold" by each of these ads? Rate the test ads on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best according to the AIDA formula. Now, just for practice and without clipping the ads, apply the same test to ten different ads from a Sears, L.L. Bean, or other mail order catalog. In fact, every ad you read from now on, quickly analyze 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 you'll know within your own mind whether an ad is good, bad, or mediocre, and what features make it so. Practice examining ads 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 a feel for the fundamentals and style necessary in writing classified ads. For your next project, pick out what you consider to be the ten worst ads you can find in the classifieds sections. Clip these bummers out and paste them onto a sheet of paper so you can work with 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 a poor ad. Is it lost in the crowd by being too much like other ads? Does it not attract your attention? Doesn't hold your interest? Is there nothing special to make the reader want to own the product or no is there 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 do the job for which they were intended. Once you're satisfied that the ads you've rewritten are perfect, go back to 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. For example, the original message might read: "I'll arrive at 2-o'clock tomorrow afternoon, the 15th. Meet me at Sardi's. All my love, Jim." Edited for sending, the same message becomes,"Arrive 2-pm - 15th - Sardi's. Love, Jim." Applying this method to ads works in much the same manner. Original 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 Ad: "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 rewrite the bad ones to make them better. Practice it over and over - every day - until the formula, the idea, and the feel of good 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 in that it has a headline and a layout, and the style isn't telegraphic. However, the fundamentals of writing the display or space ad are exactly the same as those 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 lead sentence as the most important parts of the ad. You should do the same. After all, when your ad is surrounded by hundreds of other ads, information, and entertainment, what makes you think anyone is going to notice your particular ad? The truth is, it will not be seen unless you can "grab" the reader's attention and entice him 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 are written as either promises or warnings. The former offer to show you how to save money, make money, or attain a desired goal. The latter are cautions against something undesirable. A promise-style headline might read: "Are You Ready To Become A Millionaire - In Just 18 Months?" On the other hand, a warning-style headline will say something like: "Do You Make These Mistakes In English?" Both of these examples 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 the reader has 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 type of reader appeal to incorporate into your headline when appropriate. The appeal has to do with basic psychology: everyone wants to be well thought of, and consequently will read further into the body of your ad in order 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. For example, "Are You Developing A Beer-Belly?" grabs the attention much faster than "Are You Gaining Weight?" Another attention-grabbing headline is the comparative price style: "Three For Only $3, Regularly $3 Each!" Still another of the "tried and proven" types 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 $100,000 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. An approach with a very strong reader appeal can also answer who else is interested in your product or service. The psychological need of everyone to belong to a group - complete with status and prestige motivations - can be addressed by your advertising appeal. Whenever, and as often as you can possibly work it in, use the word "you" in your headline and throughout your copy. After all, the 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. Be specific. In advertising, you can throw many of the teachings of your grammar teachers out the window - the rules of "third person, singular" or whatever else tends to inhibit your writing. Whenever you sit down to write ad copy intended to pull orders and sell a product or service, picture yourself in a one-on-one situation and "talk" to your reader just as if you are sitting across from him at your dining room table. Say what you mean, and sell HIM on the product you are offering. Be specific and ask him if these are the things that bother him. Are these the things he wants? Let him know that 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're trying to present. Any graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, its use, and the copy you've written about it. Graphics should not be used as artistic touches nor to create an atmosphere. Any illustrations with your ad should complement 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're 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 long you've been in business, nor how many years you've spent learning your craft. He wants to know specifically how he's going to benefit from the purchase of your product. Generally, his wants will fall into one of the following categories: Better health, greater comfort, more money, increased leisure time, heightened popularity, greater beauty, success and security. Even though you have your reader's attention, you must follow through with an enumeration of the benefits he can gain. In essence, you must reiterate the advantages, comfort and happiness he'll enjoy, just 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 would appeal to me?" Write your copy to appeal to your reader's wants and emotional needs and 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 desires. 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 they wants, and then telling them how your product will fulfill each of those hopes. This is 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 presents the facts of your product; creates and justify your prospect's conviction, and causes him to demand "a piece of the action" for himself. It's vitally necessary that you present "proven facts" about your product. Survey results show that at least 50% of the people reading your ad - especially those reading it for the first time - will tend to question its authenticity. Thus, 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 excuses for buying a product - to justify to themselves and others that they haven't been "taken" by a slick salesman. It's like the girl who wants to marry the guy her father calls a "no good bum." Her heart and her emotions tell her yes, but she needs facts 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 judgement in the final decision to buy, and must furnish evidence of the benefits you've promised, thereby affording 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've 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's read it through this far. It's 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 figures, and/or testimonials - from the consumer point of 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've promised. Give him the keys to seeing himself richer, enjoying luxury, having time to do whatever he'd like 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's an ingredient you must include prior to closing the sale. Study all the sales presentations you've ever heard - look at every winning ad. The mental imagery created by the ad is the element included in all successes that actually makes the sale for you. Don't try to sell anything without it. Every one of the fundamentals in the "master formula" (AIDA) is necessary. Those people who are "easy" to sell may perhaps be sold even if some of these factors are left out. However, it's wiser to plan your advertisement so that it will have a powerful impact upon those who are "hardest" to sell. For unlike face-to-face selling, one cannot in printed advertising come to a "trial close" in the sales talk in order to see if those who are easier to sell will buy without further persuasion. Always assume that you are talking to the hardest ones - and that the more thoroughly your copy sells both the hard and the easy, the better chance you have against the competition for the consumer's dollar. ASK FOR ACTION! DEMAND THE MONEY! Lots of ads - beautiful, almost perfectly written, and quite convincing - fail to ask for or demand action from 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 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've 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're not satisfied, simply return the product and we'll 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, the more you win!" Offering a reward or bonus 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 requests for the bonus with mountains of requests for refunds on the product to follow. The bonus should be mentioned only casually if you're asking for product orders, and with lots of fanfare only when you're 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 to produce action from the prospect. And the more liberal you can make your guarantee, the more product orders you'll 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're 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" the television. He notices your ad, reads through it, and he's sold on your product. Now what does he do? Remember, he's very comfortable - you've "grabbed" his attention, sparked his interest, painted a picture of him enjoying a new kind of satisfaction, and he's 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 - simple and direct. And by all means, make sure your address is on the order form he's supposed to complete and mail in to you, 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 and sell more of your products. 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. 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 just by conscientiously studying good advertising copy and
practicing the writing of your own ads. Even so, 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. You must keep pace with new trends, methods,
and approaches to winning the confidence of the reader. The best ad writers are people in
touch with the world in which they live. Every time they see a good ad, they clip it out
and save it. Regularly, they pull out these files of good ads and study them, always
analyzing 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's using to sell his products.
On-the-job training - study and practice - is what it takes. If you've got that burning
ambition to succeed, you can do it too! 1) WHAT'S THE MOST PROFITABLE WAY TO USE CLASSIFIEDS? Classifieds are best used to build your mailing list of qualified prospects. Use classifieds to offer a free catalog, booklet or report relative to your product line. Rarely will a classified become your primary selling tool. 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 information 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 carefully tabulating your returns from each keyed ad, you'll 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! Obviously, there are certain product lines that are more viable during certain seasons. For example: don't advertise water skiing equipment during November and December! 4) ARE MAIL ORDER PUBLICATIONS GOOD ADVERTISING BUYS? The least effective markets are mail order 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. This is a 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's 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 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 among "sellers" with very few buyers. Besides, 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 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. 5) HOW CAN I DECIDE WHERE TO ADVERTISE MY PRODUCT? First of all, you have to determine who your prospective buyers are. Then 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 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 better buy, divide the total audited circulation figure into the cost for a one inch ad. An ad that costs $50 per inch in a publication showing 100,000 circulation would be 100,000 into $50 or 50 cents per thousand. Write and ask for sample copies of the magazines you've 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, 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 minimal, 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! |
