Nine Steps to Create Effective Print Advertising

The first step is to make sure you are advertising where you can get the most exposure to as many prospective customers for your money. You need to evaluate each media format and each media source. Get demographic information on the readership/viewers of each media outlet being considered. Choose those sources that match best to the type of customer you want.

The headline is one of the most important elements of any ad. The main purpose of the headline is to grab the reader’s attention and make them stop long enough to notice and start reading your ad.

The first three sentences of the copy should expand the headline and stress benefits. These sentences follow up the message of the headline and address the benefits of your product/service to the reader (matching their needs, wants, desires, fears and problems). By the end of the third sentence, the reader should want to read the entire ad.

The ad should be illustrated with photography that visually tells the same message as the headline but don’t let your visual overpower the headline’s message. Many advertising agencies create award winning ads that are wonderful to look at but don’t increase sales at all. This is a waste of time and money.

The ad layout should be inviting, friendly, and draw the reader’s eye into the ad in a positive manner. Avoid layouts that make it hard to read and especially layouts that distract from the headline. When there are two competing focal points, the reader’s eyes don’t know where to start and readership declines.

Start by remembering “what’s important to the targeted prospective customer?” Build a persuasive message that highlights the features of your product/service and the benefits it brings to the prospective customer. Show how it solves problems, reduces fears or satisfies their needs, wants or desires.

Good ads are effective largely because they are specific. It gives the prospective customer the specific information he or she needs to make a decision and it creates a believable persuasive message. Be clear but don’t overwhelm the reader with too many facts and figures.

If you use too many figures and facts, you lose the easy flow and readability of the ad. Remember the prospective customer’s needs, wants, fears, desires and problems and provide specific information needed to create your sales pitch.

Write your ad copy in a style that is clear, simple, natural and conversational in style.  A good ad should sound like one friend talking to another.

Make sure that the reader knows what to do next and ask them to do it.  Decide first what type of response you want from the reader.  This is the action you want the reader to take next.  For example:

• To phone your company,
• To e-mail your company,
• To clip a coupon and take it to a retail store,
• To request a catalog or sales brochure,
• To test-drive your product/service, or
• To buy directly via a website or phone center.

Next, tell the reader to do it in the last paragraph of your ad copy.  Immediately after this, give the reader the mechanism for responding such as a toll-free phone number, website, etc.

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