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If you make your intentions too obvious, the prospect will feel either patronized or bored. Make the prospect think in order to come to a conclusion, and you create a very stimulating mental effect.
Many people have told me that after they read one of my ads, they not only are compelled to buy my product, but would feel guilty if they didn’t. Instead of giving them stickers or a dollar bill, I give the reader plenty of compelling information and reading entertainment—so much so that they sense an obligation to respond. In a print ad, often the mere repetition of seeing an ad in several magazines works to create a slight sense of guilt.
When people perceive certain general statements as puffery or typical advertising babble, those statements are at best discounted or accepted with some doubts. By contrast, statements with specific facts can generate strong believability.
There are certain words that are more familiar to most people and to the human consciousness. For example, if you ask somebody to give you a number from 1 to 10 right off the top of their head, chances are the number 7 will be chosen more often than any other number—often dwarfing the next choice. Therefore, using the number 7 in a book title such as “The Seven Ways to Improve Your Relationships” or “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” is utilizing the most common and familiar integer of the first 10. You are therefore vibrating with the familiar and harmonizing with your reader.
Ask somebody for a color off the top of their head and the answer will be “red” the majority of the time.
One aspect to focus on when you create an ad using the power of hope is credibility.
The key to successfully marketing certain products lies in the nature of that product and the way that product is viewed in the marketplace. The guiding principle can be summed up very clearly: Always sell the cure and avoid selling prevention. Now what does this
You must first make a decision when evaluating a product. Is this product a preventive or a cure? Can the product be positioned as a cure rather than a preventive? Is the market trend changing the perception of your product from being a preventive to being a cure? Or do you simply have a preventive that does not have a broad enough market?
Selling a cure is a lot easier than selling a preventive, unless the preventive is perceived as a cure or the curative aspects of the preventive are emphasized.
Here in these last paragraphs he is obviously whetting your appetite and telling you what the results of his system produced for him. But there is another very subtle thing he has done as well. He is trying to personally identify with his audience. He doesn’t talk about driving around in a Rolls-Royce but rather a Cadillac. He talks about having a mortgage, which most of his readers, if they own their own homes, probably have. He keeps his wealth to a modest level, for if it was too far out of the reach of his readers, they would not be able to relate to Karbo.
He is also selling the sizzle, not the steak. He is relating a number of things, most of which sound pretty inviting to you and represent the results of buying his system—the many material things in life that most of his
“The zesty flavor of Royal Ruby Red grapefruit juice will help start your day with a smile,” as it seemed almost a cliché—something an ad agency might have written. And there were several other small changes, but again, they were minor.
realize the importance of raising an objection, regardless of how embarrassing or detrimental it may seem, and then doing your best to resolve it. You’ll find that the public really appreciates your candor, honesty and frankness and will respond to your message in a positive way, whether it be to buy your product, to develop a good feeling about your company or, as in the case of the DC-10, to restore confidence in an airplane.
If you circle a word that is not mispelled, we reserve the right to return your order and have you arrested.
The cover is like the headline in a print ad. Its sole purpose is to get you into the catalog and to start reviewing the other products or to put it aside for reading later.
A good catalog should have a message from the president in the front of the catalog along with his or her picture. This is important. A catalog is like a store. If the store lacked a proprietor, it would seem cold, too big or corporate.
A catalog description should contain all the information you need for your prospect to make a buying decision.
as a store, sell in it like you would in a store and show your enthusiasm for the products you sell through your copy and your use of the first person.
“My team of great engineers is available to help you.” Compare that to: “We at Acme Motors have the skill and knowledge to provide assistance to you.”
Radio draws on the imaginations of your listeners to get a strong, personal message across. And radio is negotiable and often not very expensive, making it a good part of an advertiser’s mix.
To make radio work, you need frequency. You can have a great radio spot but unless it is repeated often enough, it won’t be as effective.
Let’s start with the TV spot commercial or what is called short-form TV, which can be anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes long, and go over six of the copywriting and marketing points you’ll need to know to successfully write copy for this format.
Typically the most effective way to determine if your product is suitable for this form of advertising is price point. If your product is an impulse item (defined as being in the $29.95 or less retail price category), then chances are this might be an appropriate format to sell your product.
You don’t want to give a free gift of something that a portion of the audience may not care for. What this does is deter them from buying
the product they intended on buying because they feel they are paying for something they don’t want.
For example, if reality shows are popular, then maybe your product would lend itself to a reality show. If interview shows like Larry King Live are popular, then set up an interview format. If your product would appeal to the Oprah Winfrey Show audience, then set use a set that looks similar to Oprah’s. In short, you identify with a popular format that fits your product and with which your prospective audience is comfortable and that they can harmonize with.
Here’s a clue. If you have a list that was gathered from customers who bought on TV, use telemarketing. If they bought out of a catalog or from a print ad, use print or direct mail.
You may be wasting your time and money trying to reach somebody using a catalog or a direct mail solicitation when the telephone is the way to reach them. And a good copywriter will create a good telephone selling message to reach this potentially lucrative audience.
The first step in enticing them is to get them to read the subject line.
This is where I find a lot of companies fail. They don’t describe the items in enough detail to make the prospect feel comfortable with their purchase. And I suspect dissatisfaction return rates would drop if they did. But you as a copywriter reading this handbook will know this and will provide more text in the description. Just mentioning
color, size and texture won’t cut it. You need something more. Maybe talk about the type of leather, where it was made, how it was sewn, what features make it better than any other similar product. Include as much information about the item as possible. People don’t mind reading about something they are about to buy.
