So you want to write? - Page 3

Business Words

Now we move to a much trickier area – advertising words. Much has been written on the subject, in part, because advertising costs an awful lot of money! When a big company places an advertising campaign across a number of newspapers and magazines, the cost is so great that the additional cost of employing a researcher, to find out how effective it has been, is relatively small. Thus, these people know what has worked for much of the time – but certainly not all of the time. A body of folklore has developed on certain matters and you might as well hook into it rather than go your own way.

By way of example here are some of the ‘facts’: · Adding an 0800 telephone number to an advert increases the call-up response by 20%. · Adding a coupon adds 13% to a response. · Adding ‘odd’ numbers to a list improves response. Use of 5, 10, 20, 100 suggest that you have rounded your data up. The use of 3½ , 7, 11, 104, etc suggests greater accuracy to your claim.

Should you take the above ‘data’ at face value? Well in the absence of anything else, you might as well. Most of what is written in this article has been culled from a variety of written sources and perhaps the most telling was that of Leo Burnett – "I have learned that it is far easier to write a speech about good advertising than it is to write a good ad".

The Poster

Let’s suppose you are preparing a piece of pop-up artwork to place on your stand at a bridal fair – what should it contain? Be aware of one thing, you have between three and six seconds to grab the attention of the passers-by – so what ever it is, it has got to be good, quick and arresting! The purpose of the popup is to stall the passers-by just long enough for you to make eye contact, engage with them and get them onto your stand. Once you have them there your job is to get them to book your services, preferably before they even visit your competitors!

As photographers, you should know what makes a good picture but now you need some words. The first question is ‘who am I trying to stop?’. It is unlikely to be a ‘bride’ and her intended, more likely a bride and her mother/sister/best friend. Assume it is a female audience and plan accordingly – you may be proud of your shot of the leggy model draped over the Ferrari, but this is not the place to use it! When looking at any ‘advertising’ literature, people skim first, looking (in order) at the pictures, then the headline, then captions and finally, if hooked, the body text (you may not even have body text on a pop-up by the way). The headline should be readable – do not use all capitals or fancy script type faces. If your headline poses a question and the answer is ‘no’ your prospect has just left the scene – they are also likely to be on their way if the answer to the question is ‘so what?’ If the posed question has perfect content it will arouse enough curiosity for the viewer to pause long enough to satisfy that curiosity and potentially hook them in. For a poster that is probably enough – if you have not charmed them on to your stand by now, you may never do so. Suppose then we expand the brief to include advertising literature that your newly acquired prospects will hopefully leave with, or equally likely, the potential prospects who snatch the literature from your stand-holder and melt away while you are with other people. Assuming that they are new to the literature, the process follows the same trend – pictures, headlines, captions, etc, reaching the body copy last of all. An initial skim of literature usually occupies between zero and seven seconds, scanning lasts 30 to 90 seconds and, once hooked into the literature, body copy will occupy as long as it takes. In general then use words sparingly, use short words and keep sentences short – imagine each word

Some important measures for all business literature are as follows:

When reading a letter, people look at who it is to, who it is from, then any PS and finally the letter itself. A PS attracts seven times the readership of body copy, it is almost invariably read, use it wisely!

Letters should not run onto a second page unless this is vital to your cause.

Adding a ‘please continue’ increases the response over a ‘continue’.

Reading patterns follow a ‘lazy Z’ – plan your layout accordingly, logos for example are best placed out of the way in the lower right quadrant.

Use short words and short sentences. Twenty words for sentence length (maximum), six sentences per paragraph and only one idea per paragraph, are good guidelines.

If you write towards two groups you split your impact in two – so avoid it!

Go through your copy and see how many ‘ands’ and ‘whichs’, you can cross out – then check if it reads OK – it most probably will!

Only manufacturers read their own adverts. They get bored and change them – this is poor strategy, check if your viewing public are bored first, they might not be.

Don’t write about features of your proposal, write about its benefits.

In spite of Professional Imagemaker’s style guide calling for fully written numbers up to ten, do not use this rule in headlines and advertising – numerals attract more attention.

A reader is more likely to read all five bullets if the number is pre-disclosed – eg, ‘here are 5 reasons to use OMO’.

Beware of bullets or headlines which eliminate candidates. ‘Do you enjoy playing the flute?’ as a headline disqualifies all non-flute players and all people who don’t enjoy it. It depends on what you are selling – ‘Would you like us to photograph your baby?’ disqualifies all childless people, ‘Would you like us to take your photographs?’ brings in pet owners and parents! Think about it!

Headlines should be placed below illustrations. Illustrations are looked at first and then it is an uphill struggle to move the eye upwards again, most people continue downwards from the illustration.

If you place an advert in Yellow Pages, surround it with a dashed box. This makes it look like a coupon and coupons always attract more readership.

Good Words
The following words have a reputation as attracting interest when used in an advertisement:
Now

Today
Immediately
Free
Money
Save
Love
Safe
Proven
Results
Discover
Learn
Know
Understand
You
Protect
Trust
Powerful
Help
Profit

Advertising quotes are the substance of much literature (and amusement) and include the following:

“Advertising is a racket . . . its constructive contribution to humanity is exactly minus zero." F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Don't tell my mother I'm in advertising. She thinks I play piano in a whorehouse." (unknown)

"Advertising is what you do when you can't go see somebody. That's all it is." Fairfax Cone

"The modern Little Red Riding Hood, reared on singing commercials, has no objection to being eaten by the wolf." Marshall McLuhan

"There is a great deal of advertising that is much better than the product. When that happens, all that the good advertising will do is put you out of business faster." Jerry Della Famina

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