Making newspaper ads that work
ver the years, every
drycleaner who has joined the Golomb Group as a member has been
asked this question, “What type of advertising medium
works best for you and what doesn’t?”
The various media include radio, TV,
direct mail, yellow pages, and newspapers. Very few cleaners
have ever mentioned any significant successes with regard to
newspaper advertising
but most confess that they still continue
to use the medium, due in part to its relative affordability.
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Newspaper ads do work, however. It just
takes a little more practice and discipline to make it
profitable.
What follows is a primer on the writing of
a successful newspaper ad.
There are many elements in a newspaper ad,
but the four essential ones are — in order of importance:
the headline, the offer, the body copy and the graphics.
Headline
The most essential element in any ad, the
headline, can be thought of as the “ad for the ad.”
It singles out your prospects from among thousands of readers
and tells them you have something they want or need.
A powerful headline is critical because
your ad will be competing with hundreds of other ads in the
average newspaper.
To attract attention, your headline must
either arouse curiosity or it must promise a big benefit.
Preferably both.
To promise a big benefit, single out the
most desirable aspect of your service (from the
prospect’s point of view) or offer a free incentive. (By
the way, studies have shown that long headlines often
“outpull” short ones so be willing to test a long
headline if it makes sense.)
Getting the headline right is the most
important part of your ad because five times as many people
read the headline as read the rest of the ad. Joe Sugarman, the
famous copywriter, refers to the headline as the “greased
chute.” Its purpose is to slide the reader into the sales
message.
Offer
Your ad should always include a clear
offer to give the prospect a reason to respond. To determine
your offer, first establish the goal for your ad. Do you want
inquiries or do you want orders?
In other words, do you want people to call
for more information or do you want them to bring their
cleaning directly to the store?
Body copy
The body copy is the text of the ad
— your message to the prospect. Body copy should be
benefit-oriented, telling the readers not what your product is
or does, but how it will benefit them.
Sentences should be short and easy to
read, and paragraphs should be limited to a few sentences so
that blank space can provide relief to the eye.
In order to keep your copy
benefit-oriented it helps to remember that people don’t
buy products or services, they buy solutions to their problems.
So, when developing your ad copy, ask yourself the following
questions:
• What problems do my prospects have
that my service solves?
• How do my solutions differ from
those of my competitors?
• What makes my solutions better?
• Why should someone buy from me?
Whenever possible, include testimonials
from your satisfied customers in the copy. They make your
claims more believable.
Graphics
Graphics is the element that defines the
“look” of the ad. These include the layout on the
page, the type, the illustration or photo (if any), and even
the blank space within the ad itself.
In the decision to include a visual (photo
or illustration), the most important question is whether it
adds to or detracts from the ad. Remember, the goal of the ad
is to get the prospect to inquire or buy. If the visual
doesn’t motivate the prospect, it is a waste of space and
money.
If you use a photo or an illustration,
make sure to put a caption under it. Studies show that four
times as many people read captions as read the body copy. In
fact, more people will read the caption than even the headline,
so don’t miss this excellent chance to sell.
Here are some other considerations and
tips to keep in mind when creating your ad:
Give the reader a reason to act now by
including a deadline or limited time offer.
Make sure contact or store location
information is complete, including company name, address and
phone. If you are using a coupon, be sure it has all the
contact information repeated, since many prospects will cut out
the coupon and toss the ad.
Putting a border around your ad,
especially if it is small, can increase its visibility and,
hence, results.
Avoid using all capital letters because
they are very hard to read. Use them sparingly. The same goes
for reverse type (white type on a black background).
In conclusion, keep in mind that whenever
you write an ad, the result you’re looking for is a sale.
Your purpose is not to get the reader to say, “Wow
— what a clever ad.” Instead, the response you want
from the reader is, “I’m interested. Tell me
more.” Or, “This sounds great. It’s just what
I’ve been looking for.”
Understanding these four essential
elements and using them to create your ads will help you
increase your inquiries and your sales.
Bill Bishop has been a consultant with the
Golomb Group for the past 12 years, designing marketing and
promotional programs for drycleaners. He can be reached at the
Golomb Group at (800) 679-5856 or by e-mail at billbishop@golombgroup.com.
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