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Brick No110: How to write little ads that pull big results
By Matt Weston, Tuesday 9 November 2004 If you are anything like several of our readers, you spent the best part of Sunday afternoon wrestling with the idea of writing a four-line classified ad. I got many classifieds (see below), and several slightly exasperated emails. Most of us have real trouble when it comes down to writing a classified ad . . . whether in the Sunday Times, in the Yellow Pages, or in this newsletter. But we know that when it comes to cost-effective, targeted, easy-to-test promotion, classified ads rule. Remember that Mark Twain quip: " I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one. " It's far harder to write briefly than blahly. And that applies doubly if you're trying to boil down a message for your "darling" business. Enough ado. Today I'm going to take you on a classified ad writing bootcamp: a handful of easy techniques to help you turn your complex message into . . . a blockbuster ad. How to make every character count Judging by the feedback you sent me over the weekend, I think most of you want easy advice that you can act on right away. But if you do want to read on after you've read this, "Tested Advertising Methods" by John Caples is the star tome on my bookshelf. JC says: " Use telegraphic language, as if you were sending a cable and you had to pay [a fiver] a word . . . take a big ad and boil down the copy. Cut out the introduction. Cut out the sentences with the least selling power. Omit all unnecessary words. Use short words in place of long words . . . " By the time the ad is cut down, there is not an ounce of fat left in the ad. It is all bone and muscle, and it frequently pulls several times its own weight in sales. " With a classified ad you have to make every word, every letter even, pay. And cut the flowery language too. I first heard this from John Forde . . . " Never put a policeman in an automobile, when a cop in a car will do. " Desperately Seeking Susan The best classified ads are written as if they are from one person speaking to another person. The worst are written as if to appeal to the broadest possible audience. To make classified ads pay, you should only need to draw a very small percentage response. And the best way to achieve this is to appeal to your ideal target customer, not to everybody. Don't let your husband or girlfriend catch you, but look and learn from the Lonely Hearts listings in your Sunday paper. Pages and pages of short ads . . . all written to truly, madly, deeply pull the ideal "customer". The best 100 headlines ever written David Ogilvy reckoned that on average fives times as many people read headlines as read the rest of an ad. If your headline lacks clout, nobody will act on your ad. If you hit a brick wall, borrow from the experts. Check out Wanda Loskot's list of the best 100 headlines ever written . . . all proven sales generators. For a history lesson, try copying and pasting a selection into Google. Unsurprisingly . . . at least to someone who pens dozens of headlines a week . . . 21 of Wanda's top 100 begin with "How" or "How to". As John Forde puts it: " Next time you start writing headlines, create at least 10 that begin "how to." Then take a five-minute break a come back and write 10 new versions of each of these headline WITHOUT using "how to." This is a quick way to find the heart and soul of [your] big promise. " Time to leave you to today's Bric-A-Brac and (cue fanfare) the very first instalment of our Reader Classifieds . . . the plan was to run them every fortnight, but such is demand we're going to start by running them every Tuesday. BRIC-A-BRAC (1) A BIG THANK-YOU. Not from me, but from Jenny, Ken, Gary, Paul, and Julian, our five website critique guinea-pigs from Friday. Ken emailed me on Sunday: " What a brilliant response I've had from fellow brickies - so far, 27 replies all offering good advice about my website. I only got one email from a company promoting their services without including any critique. I feel morally obliged to make a donation now, Mr Weston. " And this from Jenny . . ." How fantastic are BB readers? I have received a tremendous response. Plus I've made some excellent new contacts within the BB community. I will try and get a personal thank you back to everyone but if you have a spare sentence or two of room in Tuesday's brick then please convey my thanks! " You've done it, Jenny. Thanks to all. Remember to sign up: back to top |
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