Case Studies In Advertising

Continuing on from my last Blog post here’s some more copywriting and marketing goodies from Victor Schwab’s classic How to Write a Good Advertisment.

Chapter 2 focuses on showing people an advantage.

"What Will It Do For Me?"

This is the main thing people want above everything else. So once you’ve got people’s attention, Show people an advantage - and keep showing them .

Before you can do this you have to review the advantages people want. Show them what they can gain…save…accomplish with your product. How it will increase their mental, physical, financial, social, emotional or spiritual stimulation, satisfaction, , self respect, well-being or security.

Phew. That’s alot. Isn’t it?

But that’s not all. You need to tie up the particular advantages of your product with the personal desires of the greatest number of your readers.

People want;

Better health…More comfort…More money…More lesiure…Greater Popularity…Pride of accomplishment…Improved appearance…Business advancement…Security in old age…Social advancement…Praise from others…Increased enjoyment.

So if you can tie up the advantages of your product with what people want to gain, be, do and save, you’ll make them want to buy.

Bear the above in mind when writing your next ad. And see your sales soar.

until next time

Mark

Visit my site for your direct mail strategies

If you’ve ever wanted to write a money pulling ad then there’s a fascinating copywriting book which will show you how.

I’ll tell you more about this book in a moment. But first consider…

"An advertisment cannot stimulate sales if it’s not read; it cannot be read if it is not seen; and it will not be seen unless it can Get Attention.

"You - The Uninvited Guest

Do not underestimate the fierce competition you face in getting attention. Nobody in the world (except you) is waiting for your ad to appear. Everbody in the world (except you) would much rather read the news, comics, stories, editorials, or even the obituaries.

You, the advertiser, are the Uninvited Guest. You’re an intruder.

Successful advertisers start from this premise; People don’t want to read advertising.

These are some of the gems taken from Chapter One of Victor O Schwab’s masterly copywriting book; How To Write A Good Advertisment; A Short Course in Copywriting.

You can pick up your own copy for about $10 from Alibris. That’s where I got mine.

I’m going to be revealing a short precis (or what I’ve learnt) from each chapter of this book. So stay around.

Chapter One is all about getting attention. Because if you don’t get attention…nobody reads your ad. And you’ve just lost a heap of money. So getting attention is fairly important. Right?

Here’s the 10 important takeaways I picked up from this chapter;

* Nobody wants to read your ad.

* There is fierce competition in getting your ad read.

* Make it hard for a person NOT to read your ad.

* People will pay to avoid losing something they already own. Rather than pay for something of greater value they may gain.

* Your headline must stop the reader and say, “I’ve got something of interest and benefit to you, you must read this.”

* Good headlines promise benefits to the reader.

* Use negativity and positively to attract readers’ attention. As long as you promise a reward for reading the ad.

* Emphasize quick, easy, lazy, cheap, etc

* Don’t rely on just curiosity in a headline.

* You can have great body copy but if you don’t have a good headline it’s wasted.

So there you go. When writing your ads and you’re thinking about getting attention consider these 10 points and hopefully you’ll see your response rates soar.

Until next time

Mark

The headline above is a bit of a strange one. But bear with me a moment. And I’ll explain why.

You see I spent 90 minutes on the phone last week talking to a fellow marketing guy the other day, George Lane, who is a master at Google Adwords.

By the way his site is www.laneconsultancy.com

Anyway I said to George, "Why do so many businesses advertise the WRONG way?"

You know what his answer was? He said, "Business incest!"

I’d never thought about it that way. But he’s right. And after thinking about it I started to get into the mind of a business owner. And their thought process. Here’s how they think.

Entrepreneur starts a small business. And through word of mouth from family and friends or taking clients from their previous employee they get paying customers.

The owner then thinks about generating more clients. So they start to advertise. So what do they do? They look in the newspaper and see how every other business is advertising and a green light goes off in their head. Ah ha…this is the way to advertise. Because every other business is advertising this way.

Never mind all these business owners might be doing it wrong.

So Mr or Ms business owner advertises this way. They put their business name at the top of their ad. And they describe the features of their business. After all, that’s what everyone else is doing.

And they eagerly wait for the avalanche of inquiries. And future sales.

The result? Nothing.

Mr or Ms business owner thinks advertising doesn’t work. And struggles on making a pittance from their business. Within five years they’ve closed down their business.

Their problem? They comitted business incest.

BUT it doesn’t have to be this way.

If only they’d used direct response marketing.

Namely a headline at the top of their ad. Talked about the problems of their prospect. Showed them a solution. Made an irresisitible offer. Included a guarantee. Chucked in some free bonuses. And ASKED for action.

Business owners might than discover advertising can generate a ton of leads for them.

Until next time

Mark

Great ad in The Sunday Times this last week. You can see the whole ad by clicking here . As you’ll see the ad is selling cookware.

Firstly a great headline appealing to greed.

“A Complete Professional 15-piece Set of Stainless Steel Cookware

Offered To You at 73% Below its Normal Price, For Just £129.95 +P&P”

Who doesn’t want to get a good deal?…

AND there’s a FREE gift…

“FREE Jean-Patrique 7-piece professional knife

set and block worth £167.65…

And a great guarantee of being able to return the cookware within 30 days. As long as it’s unused. I wonder if they’ve been ever brave enough to try an unconditional guarantee?

Plus there’s an up-sell. With reduced price options on a couple of items.

I’ve seen this ad around quite a few times. A sure sign it’s a winner. And of course this cookware offer is their front end marketing strategy to get a customer on board. And once you’ve bought no doubt the company keeps mailing you other enticing offers.

Once again. Great Ad!

Until next time

Mark

I’ve just finished a sales letter for a quit smoking product. An eBook in fact. You can find the ad at www.quitsmokingnoww.com

My client used to smoke 4 – 5 packs a day. That’s a lot! But he found a successful way to quit. And now he’s on a mission to help other smokers quit as well.

Anyway one of the things I want you to take from the letter is how important it’s to get inside the mind of your prospect. If you can (successfully) do this you’ll sell more.

You want your prospect to see themselves in the life of the writer. You want them to relate to you.

That’s why it’s important to tell not just a story. But a story where they feel you’ve experienced what they’re experiencing. You found a solution to the problem they’re currently facing. Get them absorbed into reading and show plenty of empathy towards the reader.

Something else to watch out for in the letter are a couple of stories within the life story. The secret here is to again relieve experiences the reader can relate to. Make sure the stories are interesting and entertaining. They help to break up the copy. And keep the reader reading.

Notice also the particularly smooth introduction to this letter. It drags you in. And keeps you reading.

Of course the ultimate test is how well the letter converts. So we’ll soon see.

Until next time

Mark

I received a really great email from Daniel Levis, a top, top copywriter yesterday.

In fact his email contains such a great marketing lesson I emailed him to ask if I could reproduce it here.

So with his kind permission here it is;

………………………………………………………………………..

Maybe you’ve heard of Ted Nicholas. Ted is one of the
world’s most successful copywriters.

Hundreds of people pay Ted big bucks just to critique their
ads and sales letters every year.

What do you think is the first thing that he does after
accepting an assignment?

He takes a blank piece of paper and draws a line down the
middle. Then he counts how many times the words ‘You’ and
‘Your’ appear in his customer’s copy. He then writes this

number on the right side of the line. Then he counts the
occurrences of words ‘We’, ‘Our’, ‘My’, the ‘customer firm
name’, and the ‘trade name of the product being sold’, and
writes this number on the left side of the line. (Nice job ay?)

Why does he do this?

He knows that it’s just human nature to be pre-occupied with
ourselves. So naturally many sellers write commercial
messages from this perspective. Which means that he often
finds copy with a higher count on the left side of the
page.

He also knows that for the exact same reason that sellers
tend to stuff their messages with words that fall on the
left side of the page, buyers overwhelmingly respond to

messages that have a higher count on the right side of the
page.

Simple math, but it makes sense doesn’t it?

Just for fun, I went out on the net and counted the first
thing I came across. Let’s make a tally.

At (Left) Allstream, (Left) we are technology experts that
think like business people. (Left) We focus on understanding
(Left) our clients’ businesses and infuse that knowledge
into the design, implementation and support of every
solution. While each organization is different and deals
with distinct industry pressures, one key concern is common
- the need to see a rapid return on investment.

With a long history of integration expertise, (Left)
Allstream helps to create seamless electronic connections
with employees, suppliers, citizens and customers to enhance
business performance. (Left) We apply (Left) our expertise,
development and deployment methodologies and commitment to
ensure the success of (Left) our solutions — on time and on
budget delivery, with the highest levels of quality in the
industry. With organizational agility, clarity of vision and
consistency of service, (Left) we help (Left) our clients
discover and realize the competitive advantages that are
possible in a connected, digital and wireless world.

That’s 8 on the left and not a single count to the right.

What a gem. Customers must be foaming at the mouth to do
business with these guys after reading this. NOT!
This kind of babble is typical in business-to-business and
especially technical sales.
What do you think the count should look like, if you want to
actually sell something?

Here’s snippet from Ted’s web site. Let’s count.

The number one reason to invest (Right) your time in
learning new skills should be to increase (Right) your

success in all aspects of (Right) your life. In marketing.
With people. With (Right) yourself. With (Right) your loved
ones.

However, seldom are (Right) you exposed to ideas which
(Right) you can immediately apply to all (Right) your
activities.

One big difference between what (Right) you will get from the information here and other information available to (Right) you is this. (Right) You won’t get theories which sound good. (Right) You will get action tips proven to work in the real world.

(Left) Ted has written 14 best-selling books with over 4
million readers. Thousands of readers, including many
millionaires, have sent (Left) him letters which attribute
their success to (Left) his ideas.

(Right) You have the opportunity to avail (Right) yourself
of (Left) his work and share (Right) your success story in
the near future.

Since selling (Left) his primary businesses in 1991, master
marketer, entrepreneur and businessman, (Left) Ted Nicholas
has devoted (Left) his professional life to helping those
(Left) he considers the world’s real unsung heros,
entrepreneurs.

That’s 14 on the right, and 7 on the left.

I wonder what my favorite copywriter of all time would have
had to say about this? Here’s the beginning of a letter
written by Robert Collier in 1925. It was part of a series
that raked in over a million dollars in six short months.

Let’s count.

My dear Sir:

Would (Right) you like to see $1.00 grow to $60.00 - $8.00
grow to $500.00 by next March?

Let (Left) me tell (Right) you how:

(Left) I am going to send (Right) you within the next few
days a set of seven little books. These books are probably
not like any (Right) you have ever seen before because:

They are about (Right) YOU!

They show (Right) you that (Right) you have been using but a
small part of (Right) your real abilities - that back in
(Right) your subliminal mind’, as the scientists call it, is
a sleeping Giant who. awakened, can carry (Right) you on to
fame and fortune almost overnight! A Genie-of-your-Brain as
powerful, as capable of satisfying (Right) your every wish,
as was ever Aladdin’s wonderful Genie-of-the-lamp of old.

They make (Right) your Day Dreams, (Right) your visions of wonderful achievement, of fortune, health and happiness COME
TRUE - not five, ten, or fifteen years from now, but TODAY,
A.D. 1925!

Thirteen on the right, and two on the left. A million dollars in six months. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Now take a look at your own marketing, and start counting.

Record yourself giving a sales presentation, and start
counting.

Listen to your staff when they respond to customer inquiries, and start counting.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

There’s so much you can learn by reading and
studying the greatest sales letters of all time.

Letters that brought huge profits to their writers can often
be adapted quite easily. Who knows, you might be struggling
with a campaign right now. One of these classics might just
give you an idea that spells the difference between success
and failure.

My good friend Lawrence Bernstein has compiled an amazing
collection of all time greats.

Check it out
http://www.hypertracker.com/go/dlevis/ultimate/

The YOU rule is simply that, a rule. And for every rule
there are exceptions. What’s important is not whether an ad
begins in the first, second, or third person. What’s important is that the prospect reads your ad or sales
letter and sees themselves benefiting. That is the only thing
that matters, and this can be accomplished just as
effectively through first or third person stories, as in a
direct second person appeal.

What you’ll be surprised to find, is that many of the most
successful letters of all time do not in fact place emphasis on YOU in the opening. Many of them tell stories in the first or third person to get the job done.

…………………………………………………………………………….

Thanks Daniel. If you want to receive more marketing gems from Daniel then check out his website

www.SellingtoHumanNature.com

So dear reader get a blank piece of paper, put a line down the middle, and have two columns with the the headlines "We" and "Ours" on the one side. And "You" and Yours" on the other. And replace any "Me" message with a "You" message. See the difference?

Good. Now wouldn’t it make sense to have ALL your sales pieces talking to your customer like this?

Until next time

Mark

Hey I’m posting twice today. Why? Well it’s dinnertime, I’m having a cup of tea, and I’m flicking through a business magazine.

I’m reading the ad’s from the companies advertising in a particular magazine.

And I thought I’d make a quick Blog posting to share with you some of the headlines in these ads. Why? Because there’s a lesson you can learn from this.

You see the point of a headline is to stop your prospect. The person who you’ve identified as your ideal customer.

Think of it like this; you’re trying to flag down the rushing train. And the point of the headline is to get the reader to read the first sentence. And then the second sentence….and the third. And so on….

So come a little closer. Are you ready? Let’s see…

“Software Solutions Put Into Practice”

Well at least I can guess they’re selling software. Sounds like bit of a “Me” message though.

“We Make It Happen”

Is this a “ME” message or what? What the heck are they talking about? Turns out it’s ….finance would you believe.

“Let’s Connect”

What’s this? A dating service? Are they supplying exotic mail order ladies from the Far East ? Er…NO…it’s a bank.

“Name Solicitors”

Well they’ve certainly not given me any encouragement or reward to make me want to read on are they?

“Design is Our Passion”

Haven’t they heard when you’re marketing it’s all about your customer? And what they want to gain…want to be…want to do…and…want to save?

“17% More Growth For Your Business”

Hey, at least this company is offering me a benefit. Mind you, I think they could make it more compelling to make a person pick up the phone.

“Streamline The Way You Find New Customers”

This one has the hint of a promise in the headline. But they let themselves down badly I think.

This is a full page ad - must have cost quite a bit. And there’s a large picture of a round straw bale with a needle through it. Surely they could have used some persuasive words to make the reader want to find out more.

“No Light at The End Of The Tunnel”

When you consider this headline, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? I’ve got to read this headline a few times and I’m still trying to puzzle out what they’re trying to say.

Look when you write a headline you have to bear in mind you’ve only got 4-5 seconds to grab your reader’s attention. For the reader to decide whether it’s worth their while to read on. Nobody reads ads (except for sad copywriters like me….)

You have to ‘wake up’ your reader with a headline that stops them in their tracks. And grabs their attention.

So stop and think about your reader. Before you write your headline.

It’ll pay off.

Yes it will.

Warmly

Mark

www.MarkPocock.com

Here’s a natural health piece I received through the mail the other week. A typical direct response sales letter. Eight pages long. Now I’m not going to go through the whole letter. But I’ll pick out a few things which I feel could have strengthened it.

BTW the letter is selling a natural health supplement found in the Great Salt Lake .

Firstly the one thing that strikes me is the 2^nd paragraph. Why doesn’t the writer list the books the Dr has written? And list his credentials. Or better still have them in a sidebar. “Dr J.H. trained at such and such a university. He’s the author of xyz book. And have some quotes from other experts to back up that the good doctor is kosher.

The majority of readers aren’t going to interrupt their lives and stop doing what they’re about simply to go and Google a name to check up on it.

You see you’re trying to sell to three groups: The easiest to sell to; the hardest to sell to; and the biggest group of all – those in the middle group. These could be persuaded to buy if all the parts of your ad working together induce them to do so.

Delving further into the letter…

…As you can’t have too much proof when selling by mail I’m surprised there’s no listing of the 72 trace minerals. Or as the reader doesn’t want to wade through a big list. Why not isolate the major minerals in the product. And write about them with some solid medical research behind them.

For example;

“Selenium, one of Product X’s main ingredients, has been proven by medical researchers at New York General Hospital to jumpstart your metabolism, reduce fatigue and ease arthritic pain. A trial in 2006 conducted by Dr Bigwig on 97 patients discovered…”

Now I’ve made all that up. But do you see where I’m coming from? Adding that paragraph adds a huge amount of proof to your sales piece.

Now you don’t want to go overboard. Otherwise you’ll bore your reader to death. And they’ll bail out from finishing reading.

Anyway take a look for yourself.

And see what you think. Comments welcome.

Warmly,

Mark

www.MarkPocock.com

Flicking through The Sunday Times newspaper last Sunday

I came across a full page ad from a sofa covering company.

Ah ha, I thought…a direct response ad.

But IMHO there are a few problems with it.

You see take the headline:

“If You’ve Just Ordered a New Sofa Cover, Don’t

Read This…It Will Break Your Heart!”

Before we consider the headline, let’s ask ourselves what’s this ad trying to achieve.

And is this the right strategy. Is the company trying to;

Sell sofa covers off the page?

Generate leads?

Build brand awareness?

Or what?

If I’ve just bought sofa covers I don’t want to read something which tells me I’ve made a mistake. I don’t want to be thinking I’ve got to live with my mistake until the covers wear out. But I’m sure this isn’t the market the company is targeting.

Of course what the writer is doing trying to stir up some controversy.

If I haven’t bought sofa covers but am in the market to buy them, then you’ll suck me into reading this. And for sure you’ll build a bond with the reader by offering free valuable information.

But…here’s the problem I have.

Do you really need a full page ad to do this ?

After all full page ads in the Sunday Times don’t come cheap. The space for this full page ad must have cost thousands of pounds.

Surely a better strategy would be to run a smaller ad offering a free report on what you need to look for when choosing a sofa company. This would capture addresses and emails. You could then follow up with a sales letter.

Hot prospects would qualify themselves by asking for the report.

And another problem I have with this ad is the writer. Who is he and why should I read what he’s written. Nowhere does it tell you the credentials of the writer. Is he a member of the Association of Master Upholsterers? An upholsterer of 50 years standing who has written a book? An authority on sofas?

Why should I believe him?

Moving on from there, if you’re really trying to build up the credentials of this company why not offer some proof in the form of testimonials?

And lastly. In the order coupon the company wants your telephone number. Like a lot of other companies do. I think that’s a big No-No.

Here’s why.

People don’t like to be sold to. But they do like to buy. So if you request my phone number that conjures up images of getting some pushy salesperson on the phone pestering me, trying to sell to me. And I as a prospect don’t want that.

Anyway food for thought.

What do you think?

Until next time

Mark

www.markpocock.com

Here’s a scanned postcard measuring 8” x 6” - click here to view - I’ve just received through the mail from a database company. Well looks like the creative person who handled this account got a bit trigger happy with his air gun. Because why else would you stamp holes though the card?

So what’s it all about? Let’s try and decipher the message. And see how the sender could have improved their results from the mailing

Firstly the headline;

“More Direct Hits”

Let’s consider the following scenario. The mail has arrived. I’m sorting my mail out into the three piles; personal, official and junk mail.

Straight away this postcard screams junk mail. Which is fair enough. As it’s not disguised as anything else. But the headline has given me no reward to make me read on.

My response? The dreaded bin.

Take:

“More Direct Hits”.

What is this all about? Am I going to take the time the time to figure this message out? Heck no. Do you try and figure out the message on every piece of your junk mail. Of course you don’t. And why should you? You’re a busy person.

Anyway should idle curiosity make you turn the card over you’ll see another headline;

“More Marketing Impact”

Sorry but you’ve lost me as a customer already. I’m looking for reasons not to read this I’ve got work to do. And the two headlines are not strong enough to make me want to read on.

BUT as I’m analysing copy, dear reader, I rather suspect the headline lies in the 3^rd line.

“….How to Make Every Mailing List More Relevant, More Focused and More Responsive”

Now I think that’s a far more specific headline. And makes a reward to the prospect to make them want to read on. See how the addition of the good ol’ copywriter’s “How to…” has made the headline far stronger.

What do you think?

Till next time

Mark Pocock

www.markpocock.com