Before you get all riled up, I was also a skeptic.
But if you're leveraging print publications as an element of your marketing plan, this is something you seriously need to consider. What do you spend more time doing -- finding a photo or writing your ad copy? Hint...it should be writing your copy.
Too many times I've seen creative directors push their clients to purchase full page, four-color print buys, only to hide the sell copy in a lower corner, in a barely-legible typeface.
You're a consumer yourself. Do the photos in a advertisement persuade you to make a purchase or does the sell copy -- detailing the benefits of the product -- do the selling for you?
It's time to change the way you think about your print ads.
How prospects read
When your potential customers sit down with a magazine, they're voluntarily sitting down to read. They want to read.
In the middle of reading, they're not looking at their watch to determine how much longer they're required to read. They like it. So why wouldn't you tailor your print advertisements accordingly?
Prospects will read long copy as long as it interests them. And the people that won’t read long copy are the ones who aren't interested in your product anyway.
No advertisement will change their mind, regardless of the number of words, cleverness of hook, quality of photograph it contains. Real prospects want to know as much as they can, in that moment, so they might make an informed decision.
People read print publications because of the articles they contain, not for the advertisements interrupting their reading.
In fact, most people scan the headlines for articles of interest while purposely avoiding anything that looks like an advertisement. Consider what David Ogilvy had to say:
"Advertising people have an unconscious belief that advertisements have to look like advertisements. They have inherited graphic conventions which telegraph to the reader, 'This is only an advertisement. Skip it.'"Skeptics will do a test (which of these ads do you like?) -- and sure enough, it's most likely the less copy version. But are you showing it to people who were not real prospects for the product or service featured in the ad.
Bottom line - there's no reason not to tell a prospect exactly what your product will benefit them. If you don't, is a disservice to yourself.
How to get art and copy to get along
Here's a few rules to abide by:
- Make your copy legible. It's called sell copy for a reason. So why would you hide it like it didn't matter? This is your chance to speak to your potential customer in a way only you can. You know their need, and you know how your product satisfies that need. So let them know!
- Make it easy to understand. Sure, a clever ad might be shared with a friend -- but getting too clever only makes it more difficult for a potential customer to consider your product. Eliminate any copy that broadly speaks about your business in a "fluffy" manner. Get straight to the point -- there's no need to hide what you really mean.
- Make it easy to learn. While a call-to-action is an important element of your ad, don't make the mistake of placing all your information online so your customer has to put down the paper, go to the computer, and read there. Your customer is interested, so why not give them what they want, when they want it. This is no time to play games.
- Make it about "them." Your customers are primarily interested in themselves, their families, or their businesses. They are not interested in your company or product -- only the benefits it will bring to them. Do a quick word count test -- what's the ratio between the word "you" and the words "we," "us," or "your company name"? Keep it about the consumer.
Let's be clear though -- in no way am I suggesting you abandon creative graphics and profitable uses of quality photography.
In fact, more than ever, your supporting graphics need to complement your ad headline and flag a potential prospect to your advertisement. But that certainly doesn't mean your ad needs to consist entirely of graphics.
In its simplest form, your advertisement exists to inform a prospect of your product's benefits and provoke them to act.
Don't believe me? Test it, and report back your findings!
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