How
small ads can be big money-makers
by
Ivan Levison
Sure, it would be nice to have a huge advertising budget to
spread around a bunch of hot publications. But this isn't always
possible. Sometimes you have to count your pennies and rely
on smaller ads to get the job done.
My advice? Don't lose heart. Small sized ads can do very well
if you understand how to use them. Here are some practical
tips you can put to use if you need to save money on your media
budget.
(Note to Bill Gates: You can skip this issue.)
* 1. Don't be afraid of going to a fractional-page size ad.
My experience proves that you can get extremely good results
with fractional ads. An excellent study published by the highly-regarded
research firm, Starch INRA Hooper came to the same conclusion.
A while ago Starch completed a study of 535 fractional ads
and found that they can be used very effectively indeed. Starch's
findings? That the scores of the various fractional ads do
not correspond directly to the relative sizes of the ads.
That
is to say, half-page and two-third page ads do not earn "Noted
Scores" that are half or two-thirds of one-page ads. In
fact, fractionals score considerably higher than their correlated
size!
Another interesting result . . . Starch discovered that one-third
page ads actually scored higher than their half-page counterparts!
* 2. Use short, punchy headlines. Remember, you don't have
the space for War and Peace, so get right to the point with
two, three, or four word headlines. When you keep the character-count
short you can come up in type size and have your headline POP.
This is VERY important!
Official
Levison-approved words for inclusion in short headlines: ³Free², ³Now², ³New², ³At
last,² ³Finally², ³Guaranteed², ³No
Obligation,² ³No Risk.²
* 3. Boil the body copy down so it's lean and tight. One of
my favorite short ads was written by Ernest Shackleton, the
great polar explorer. The ad, which attempted to recruit volunteers
for a trip to the South Pole, ran in London newspapers in 1900.
Here's the complete text:
"Men wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter
cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe
return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success ‹ Ernest
Shackleton"
Did
the ad pull volunteers? Shackleton later wrote, "It
seemed as though all the men in Great Britain were determined
to accompany me, the response was so overwhelming."
What was the tremendous appeal of the ad? The promise of adventure
and recognition, of course. But I think its real power derives
from all that is NOT spelled out. It's a true masterpiece of
British understatement and fabulous, intuitive copywriting.
* 4. Use small ads for lead generation only. Let's face it.
It's hard enough to sell off the page when you have a lot of
space. When you have only a small space to work with all you
can hope to do is get prospects to raise their hands and show
their interest.
That means you can offer free White Papers, Executive Reports,
Demo Disks, Information Kits, a free Web Guided Tour, you name
it. Once you've got their names in your database, you can follow
up with telemarketing, attractive fulfillment materials, etc.
* 5. Spice up your ad with a little visual impact. A small
photo or spot illustration can add a lot of impact and draw
the eye to your message. Don't forget that you can add a hashmark/dotted
line around your ad or a portion of it. This is a powerful
graphic technique that you ought to try some time. The coupon
dotted line communicates the unspoken message that there is
hot information being offered and that you must act immediately.
Need help with your ad (large or small) or any other copywriting
project? Give me a call at (415) 461-0672.
Let¹s
go to work!
