ON THE REWARDS TRAIL
ADVERTISING COPYWRITING is no refuge for the gifted amateur. It’s too critical to be left to chance. In this marketing insight we’re concentrating on printed forms of persuasion – and researchers have delved into every aspect of this age-old technique. One of the findings of significance when preparing print materials is the way in which the majority of people navigate each page. There is a definite route, so we’ll see if the trail can lead to rewards.
Right-hand pages tend to be skimmed first. Right or left, when the reader is confronted by your offer, his or her eyes will go to straight to the picture. Two-thirds of people think in pictures. Then the headline is seen. Next, it is a glance at the bottom of the advert to make sure who is doing the selling.
That is as far as most readers go. Analysts estimate that the average man or woman remembers the main messages from less than six per cent of adverts scanned. That’s bad news for marketing budgets.
If there has been success so far, in that the picture has caught the eye, the headline assimilated and logo inspected, your prospect is likely to move on to the picture caption, then any supporting graphics. Finally, should there be a desire to know more, the body text will be tackled.
Notwithstanding that the headline is the most important set of words by a distance, skilled copywriters also fret over the first line of text, possibly the last chance to win with the advert.
WORKING HARD
Returning to the main picture, the more of the story it can relate, the more effective will be the message. It has to work hard for you. So must the headline. One that says little or nothing extra is a failure. If the headline does not communicate with added-value, the entire effort will be wasted.
It must be honest, too, or the reader will become exasperated. It’s vital to grab attention, but that must be done in a pertinent way. A statement proclaiming "How To Read A Banana" may well be noticed, but will be a harmful annoyance if a banana is irrelevant to whatever is being sold. A headline cannot be effective unless it has something useful to say.
'Why' is an excellent headline word: "The Inch War. Why Ryvita helps you win." It can beef up the banner. "A million households choose Blank," is overshadowed by "Why a million households choose Blank."
'How' is another powerful adverb, particularly if the product to be pushed is complicated. The ways in which this word will work in advertising are ostensibly limitless. "How to select the perfect Blank," is an obvious take-up.
'Where' techniques relate to the location or setting selected to demonstrate the benefits. Take a waterproof watch swirling in a washing machine: "If you get into hot water, will your watch give you the time of day?"
The 'Who' factor used in adverts may relate to a celebrity or achiever, a fictional character, groups of people, children or animals. Personalities are employed to approve, endorse or testify.
CALL TO ACTION
The next pause is at the advertiser's sign-off. Logos help with communication. Better still, space is used to wrap up the entire sales argument in a single slogan – a tagline. Often the tagline encourages full consideration of the advert's call to action, as per Netflix’s appealing “Join free for a month, cancel anytime” and the Grey Goose gin invitation,”Discover a cocktail tailored to your taste.”
Captioning the main picture or secondary graphics can help channel prospects to the body copy. "Read below about more Blank for less money." At last, if all goes to plan, readers reach the beginning of the text block.
Good practice principles include getting straight to the heart of the proposition and doing so in an upbeat manner. Talk about hopes, desires and user benefits. Portray facts that are new to the audience, in an interesting or novel way; perhaps being clever but never crass. At all costs avoid unsubstantiated claims and hyperbole.
Unerringly, do it with easily understood words, succinct sentences and short paragraphs, should, per chance, there be more than one. The Sun newspaper has shown how one-word paras can suffice.
It is paramount that the wordsmith understands the client, the essentials of the product or service, plus the nature of the market. The writer must know what makes the subject different from its competition; all about the benefits; what is most likely to interest people; what sells.
Overall, there needs to be absolute pride in the quality of the words selected and formulated for the advert. No, this is not an arena for amateurs, gifted or otherwise.
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