Advertising Information

Why Most Advertisements Stink!


Question: What do you think the most important part of any ad is?

Your company name?  Your telephone number?  Your offer?

Look at your own advertising.  What stands out?  What is in the largest print?  If it's your company name or logo hold out your wrist so I can whack it with a stick.

What's the answer?  THE HEADLINE!!

You see, without a good compelling headline it won't matter much how great your copy or you offer is, because few will ever read it.

REMEMBER: The Only Job Of A Headline Is To Get The Reader To Read The First Paragraph.

It should be big, bold, dark and easy to read.  But more importantly, it must force the reader to read on.

"HEADLINE TEST"

How do you know you have a powerful, effective headline? 

Here's a great acid test: separate the headline from everything else, out of context, and treat it as a classified ad; nothing but the headline and a response instruction....then ask yourself if people would respond.

So if your headline is, say, the name of your company, the classified ad would read:

"Acme Mortgage, No. 1 in service
and reliability.  For more info,
call 1-800-000-0000."

Trust me, that does NOT work. 

But if the headline is;

"6 Things You Must Know Before Getting
A Home Mortgage.  Free Report Tells All.
Call 1-800-000-0000".

That does work.

Put every headline you use in your ads, letters, flyers, brochures to this test.

Tips For Stronger Headlines

1. Telegraph a dynamic benefit or promise.

 (You want to evoke emotion in every advertisement, always answering the reader's questions, "What's in it for me?  And why should I continue reading this?")

Example:  "You Can Laugh At Money Worries -- If You Follow This Simple Plan"


2. Add "How To" to the beginning.

Example:    "How To Escape the Debt Rat-Race And Get Debt-Free, Fast....."


3. "Flag" your targeted prospects.  Let them know who the ad is talking too. 

Example:  "Credit Card Payment Sufferers: How To End The Pain In 3 Days!"


4. Arouse curiosity. 

Example:  "What Your Banker Doesn't Want You To Know"


5. Use meaningful specifics.

(3 days is more "specific" than "in days").

Example:  "I Instantly Saved $103,239.83 and Never Took The TV Remote Out Of My Hand"


6. Use powerful attention-grabbing words.

(Like "Warning", "Guaranteed", "New", "Now.")

Example:   "WARNING: Credit Card Users May Be Paying To Much"

For a free instant reference guide that reveals time tested formulas to create dynamite, attention-getting headlines visit: http://www.leadgenerationadvertising.com/

Shawn Meldrum has spent the last two decades marketing everything from almonds to landscape lighting.  He currently specializes in marketing for mortgage brokers, loan officers and real estate agents.  For free mortgage marketing articles and much more visit: http://www.mortgagemarketingtips.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Earthtimes (press release)

Online advertising up 11 percent from last year
CNET News, CA - 22 hours ago
Internet advertising revenues for the third quarter were nearly $5.9 billion, representing an 11-percent increase over the same period last year, ...
Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 '08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion MarketWatch
Online Advertising: A Glimmer of Light? E-Commerce Times
Online Advertising Nearly $5.9 Billion in the Third Quarter Seeking Alpha
InformationWeek - IT Business Edge
all 241 news articles


Ronald Pantello, Harry Sweeney, and David Wood Voted Into Medical ...
MarketWatch - 1 hour ago
NEW YORK, Nov 21, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The general membership of the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame voted to induct three new individuals at ...


Fresh News

TV Ads Contribute to Childhood Obesity, Economists Say
New York Times, United States - 22 hours ago
The researchers used several statistical models to link obesity rates to the amount of time spent viewing fast food advertising, finding that viewing more ...
Researchers: Ban on Fast Food TV Advertising Would Reverse ... MarketWatch
Fast-food ad ban could cut child obesity: US study Reuters
Study: Banning fast-food TV ads could dent obesity The Associated Press
Los Angeles Times - Telegraph.co.uk
all 487 news articles


MillerCoors switches advertising firms
Chicago Tribune, United States - 3 hours ago
MillerCoors announced Friday that its advertising agency of record will be a trio of ad shops that includes Chicago-based Draftfcb. ...
MillerCoors awards $400M account to Interpublic Crain's Chicago Business
MC Media = Draft + Initiative + Kinetic + $400M mediabistro.com
MillerCoors, top US competitor to Anheuser-Busch InBev, announces ... St. Louis Post-Dispatch
all 10 news articles


New York Times

The Screens Issue Multiscreen Mad Men
New York Times, United States - 3 hours ago
BENJAMIN PALMER is the CEO of the Barbarian Group, an Internet advertising and marketing firm based in Boston. He helped create the ‘‘Subservient Chicken’’ ...


FROM ADVERTISING SECTION
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 2 hours ago
By Weelbase communication Obama pledges support for electric power: Two of the most urgent challenges facing the United States climate change and the ...


The Australian

Wall Street Journal Invades News York Times' Ad Turf (Update1)
Bloomberg - 5 hours ago
21 (Bloomberg) -- The Wall Street Journal is invading the New York Times' advertising turf as competition intensifies in a souring US economy. ...
The firm believer The Australian
all 4 news articles


The Wall Street Journal Eats The Times' Advertising Lunch
Wired News - 2 hours ago
By Meghan Keane November 21, 2008 | 1:50:23 PMCategories: Advertising, New York Times Milton Pedrazza, chief executive officer of Luxury Institute LLC, ...
'NYT' vs. 'WSJ' in Ad Smack-down! Editor & Publisher
all 2 news articles


Advertising pioneer George Beach to be honored
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - 12 hours ago
By Jane M. Von Bergen The interview was winding down, and longtime advertising executive George Beach had begun to relax a little. ...


Sport Chalet Teams With TM Advertising
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
one of the nation's premier specialty sporting retailers, today announced that it has hired TM Advertising as its first advertising agency of record. ...
Precor Selects Sport Chalet for California, Arizona and Nevada MarketWatch
all 28 news articles

Advertising - Google News

home | site map
© 2006