His approach certainly did prove to his prospective employers that he can come up with out-of-the-box ideas! To read the Globe and Mail's Dave McGinn's recent interview with Alec about his creative job search technique, click here.
Showing posts with label Copywriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Copywriting. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Alec Brownstein's "Google Job Experiment"
Alec Brownstein, a senior copywriter at Young & Rubicam, landed his current job in a very clever way. Check out the video below, which explains it all.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Power of Context
The final agent of change that Malcolm Gladwell identifies in his book The Tipping Point is “The Power of Context”. The Power of Context suggests that epidemics are strongly influenced by their situation and the circumstances, conditions and particulars of the environments in which they operate. The Power of Context illustrates that, by merely manipulating the size of a group, we can dramatically improve its receptivity to new ideas.
Gladwell’s book shows that a number of relatively minor changes in our external environment can have a dramatic effect on how we behave and who we are. He cites the Stanford prison trial as a key example here. Gladwell also refers to Dunbar’s number, explaining that the rule of 150 suggests that the size of a group is another one of those subtle contextual factors that can make a big difference.
Larry Brooks of Copyblogger recently blogged about the importance of context in the world of copywriting: “Because nothing sells, nothing works, without it.” Check out his blog post for ideas on how to create “effective context”, as he calls it. Returning to Malcolm Gladwell for a moment, I’d like to encourage all of our readers to check out The Tipping Point or one of his other great bestselling books, for fascinating insight into the social world around us.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
25 "Must Know" Copywriting Tips
1. Your headline's job is to get someone to read the first sentence.
2. The job of the first sentence is to get someone to read the rest of your copy.
3. If you're writing for the net, make sure you have sub headlines, bolded text, links, etc., that are easy for the eye to "scan." Add in catchy subheadlines that will make someone stop scanning and get back to actually reading your copy.
4. User power words: Magical. Unbelievable. Raw. Revealing. Secret. (etc.)
5. Ask rhetorical questions.
6. Be very careful about where you're going to include your calls-for-action. (Also: Don't forget your calls-for-action.)
7. Write for the emotions. Love. Hate. Joy. Anger. Surprise. Anticipation.
8. Outline your features and benefits before writing your copy.
9. Write for your audience. Decide before hand what type of personas will actually be reading your copy.
10. Only write as much as you absolutely have to - no filler.
11. On a related note, (and this is from Stephen King) use this formula: second draft = first draft - 10%
12. Copyedit. Copyedit. Copyedit. Have someone else copyedit, too.
13. Use variance testing to figure out what headlines are working, and what headlines need to go.
14. Tell a compelling story.
15. Tell a compelling story that slowly builds up and reveals a secret.
16. People make decisions based on their want to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Consider this as you write.
17. If you come across an ad or a website with copy that really makes you stop (and want to buy their product) take a moment to consider what's good about it. Copy and paste the copy into a text editor and keep the for future reference.
18. Purchase The Elements of Style right now. (Unless you already own it, in which case: read it again.)
19. Write out as many headlines as it takes. 10. 20. 50. 100. 200. It's that important.
20. Don't "save your best for last." You want to hook the reader as soon as possible, because otherwise they'll stop reading before they ever get to the last parts of your copy.
21. Look at copy for similar products or services. If it's good, what's it doing right? If it's bad, what is it doing wrong?
22. Use numbers. "5 Reasons You Can Save Money Now," "15 Mistakes You MUST Avoid"
23. Speaking of numbers, use bulleted/numbered lists.
24. Assume you're reader has no imagination. It's YOUR job to turn your features into benefits. It's YOUR job to paint a picture and really get them excited to buy your product.
25. Write more. Practice. Now.
2. The job of the first sentence is to get someone to read the rest of your copy.
3. If you're writing for the net, make sure you have sub headlines, bolded text, links, etc., that are easy for the eye to "scan." Add in catchy subheadlines that will make someone stop scanning and get back to actually reading your copy.
4. User power words: Magical. Unbelievable. Raw. Revealing. Secret. (etc.)
5. Ask rhetorical questions.
6. Be very careful about where you're going to include your calls-for-action. (Also: Don't forget your calls-for-action.)
7. Write for the emotions. Love. Hate. Joy. Anger. Surprise. Anticipation.
8. Outline your features and benefits before writing your copy.
9. Write for your audience. Decide before hand what type of personas will actually be reading your copy.
10. Only write as much as you absolutely have to - no filler.
11. On a related note, (and this is from Stephen King) use this formula: second draft = first draft - 10%
12. Copyedit. Copyedit. Copyedit. Have someone else copyedit, too.
13. Use variance testing to figure out what headlines are working, and what headlines need to go.
14. Tell a compelling story.
15. Tell a compelling story that slowly builds up and reveals a secret.
16. People make decisions based on their want to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Consider this as you write.
17. If you come across an ad or a website with copy that really makes you stop (and want to buy their product) take a moment to consider what's good about it. Copy and paste the copy into a text editor and keep the for future reference.
18. Purchase The Elements of Style right now. (Unless you already own it, in which case: read it again.)
19. Write out as many headlines as it takes. 10. 20. 50. 100. 200. It's that important.
20. Don't "save your best for last." You want to hook the reader as soon as possible, because otherwise they'll stop reading before they ever get to the last parts of your copy.
21. Look at copy for similar products or services. If it's good, what's it doing right? If it's bad, what is it doing wrong?
22. Use numbers. "5 Reasons You Can Save Money Now," "15 Mistakes You MUST Avoid"
23. Speaking of numbers, use bulleted/numbered lists.
24. Assume you're reader has no imagination. It's YOUR job to turn your features into benefits. It's YOUR job to paint a picture and really get them excited to buy your product.
25. Write more. Practice. Now.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
5 Questions You Need to Ask Before You Start Writing Your Advertising Copy!
Want to write advertising copy that sells? If so, there are several questions you need to answer.
These questions will help you form a plan of attack, ensuring that you begin the writing process knowing exactly how you’re going to convince your customers to take action.
Without further ado, the questions:
1. Who is my audience and what do they want?
These are really two question, but they’re extremely important. You need to cater to the needs and wants of your audience. How your product or services can benefit Customer X may not be how it benefits Customer Y. Customer X may want something completely different from Customer Y.
Which one of them will be reading your ad? What people want to buy is far more important than what you want to sell them.
2. What do I want my audience to do?
This has more applications than just the call to action. When you paint a picture and illustrate potential benefits, you should be leading your readers towards a specific action. Good copy makes the reader think, “Hey, this product is great!”
But GREAT copy makes them think, “I need to buy this product!” or “I should call the number to find out more!”
3. What are the benefits I'm offering?
Your copy needs to convey in clear and simple terms what the reader can benefit from by buying your product or service. Assume that when a customer reads a feature, they won’t imagine what the direct benefit is. You have to do that for them.
Start out by listing off your product’s features, and then ask, “How do these features benefit my customers?” For example, a feature might be “All Wheel Drive,” whereas a benefit might be, “Never get stuck in the mud again!”
4. How will I frame my Principal Selling Position?
Try to find an overall theme to your various benefits. Think up an overall benefit that really encapsulates the smaller, individual ones.
For example, you might have a product that “saves time” and “never breaks” and “is always accurate.” Your copy might then focus on your product’s dependability.
5. Which techniques will I use?
There are a number of techniques you can use in your copy to help sell. Bulleted lists in advertising copy are wonderful selling points. They quickly convey a series of ideas in one short burst.
But how are you going to use your lists? Will you list benefits? Which ones? Will they have anything in common? How will you lead up to the list?
Of course, there are other elements, too: where will you use your headlines? How many times will there be a call-to-action? What about diagrams?
It’s important to plan everything out so that your copy ends up clear and concise, and not just a jumble of words. A solid plan means that you won’t waste words, you won’t waste time, and you won’t waste money on distributing ineffective, jumbled copy.
These questions will help you form a plan of attack, ensuring that you begin the writing process knowing exactly how you’re going to convince your customers to take action.
Without further ado, the questions:
1. Who is my audience and what do they want?
These are really two question, but they’re extremely important. You need to cater to the needs and wants of your audience. How your product or services can benefit Customer X may not be how it benefits Customer Y. Customer X may want something completely different from Customer Y.
Which one of them will be reading your ad? What people want to buy is far more important than what you want to sell them.
2. What do I want my audience to do?
This has more applications than just the call to action. When you paint a picture and illustrate potential benefits, you should be leading your readers towards a specific action. Good copy makes the reader think, “Hey, this product is great!”
But GREAT copy makes them think, “I need to buy this product!” or “I should call the number to find out more!”
3. What are the benefits I'm offering?
Your copy needs to convey in clear and simple terms what the reader can benefit from by buying your product or service. Assume that when a customer reads a feature, they won’t imagine what the direct benefit is. You have to do that for them.
Start out by listing off your product’s features, and then ask, “How do these features benefit my customers?” For example, a feature might be “All Wheel Drive,” whereas a benefit might be, “Never get stuck in the mud again!”
4. How will I frame my Principal Selling Position?
Try to find an overall theme to your various benefits. Think up an overall benefit that really encapsulates the smaller, individual ones.
For example, you might have a product that “saves time” and “never breaks” and “is always accurate.” Your copy might then focus on your product’s dependability.
5. Which techniques will I use?
There are a number of techniques you can use in your copy to help sell. Bulleted lists in advertising copy are wonderful selling points. They quickly convey a series of ideas in one short burst.
But how are you going to use your lists? Will you list benefits? Which ones? Will they have anything in common? How will you lead up to the list?
Of course, there are other elements, too: where will you use your headlines? How many times will there be a call-to-action? What about diagrams?
It’s important to plan everything out so that your copy ends up clear and concise, and not just a jumble of words. A solid plan means that you won’t waste words, you won’t waste time, and you won’t waste money on distributing ineffective, jumbled copy.
Monday, October 13, 2008
When "Good Enough" is Good Enough
A recent article on Daily Blog Tips ("Perfectionism is Bad For You") brings up some very good points about the pursuit of perfectionism and why it should be avoided in our industry (and business in general, I suppose).
The author then lists specific examples, such as never launching your new website because the structure isn't quite "perfect."
Makes sense to me. I can definitely see where the author is coming from. In my experience as a writer, as well from my dabblings in video editing, I know only too well that you could spend an eternity making minor changes to your product that, in the end, only serve to please yourself -- nobody will notice or care if that scene is cut by another two frames or not.
Similarly, I can also see the benefits of avoiding perfectionism from a business perspective, as there have been a couple of occasions at Marketing Breakthroughs where the client should have just "let it be" and published the website or brochure or whatever instead of making minor change after minor change after minor change. Trust us, it's good enough to go. Delaying it only makes things worse, in the long run.
Of course, saying that is easier than actually putting it into practice -- making things perfect is a natural goal to strive for, after all. Maybe just not the most realistic one.
PS: Happy Thanksgiving!
When you behave with perfectionism, you basically want to make things perfect, or not make them at all. Why is this bad for you? Because more often than not you will get blocked and paralyzed if you try to make things perfect. Even if you manage to make them perfect at one point, it might be too late to reap the rewards from it.
The author then lists specific examples, such as never launching your new website because the structure isn't quite "perfect."
Makes sense to me. I can definitely see where the author is coming from. In my experience as a writer, as well from my dabblings in video editing, I know only too well that you could spend an eternity making minor changes to your product that, in the end, only serve to please yourself -- nobody will notice or care if that scene is cut by another two frames or not.
Similarly, I can also see the benefits of avoiding perfectionism from a business perspective, as there have been a couple of occasions at Marketing Breakthroughs where the client should have just "let it be" and published the website or brochure or whatever instead of making minor change after minor change after minor change. Trust us, it's good enough to go. Delaying it only makes things worse, in the long run.
Of course, saying that is easier than actually putting it into practice -- making things perfect is a natural goal to strive for, after all. Maybe just not the most realistic one.
PS: Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Everything You Need To Know About Writing Effective Headlines You Can Learn From Bloggers!
Today I’m going to present some common tips for writing headlines that you’ll find in any book on copywriting. However, with each tip I’ll also present examples I’ve found from various blog titles around the net.
Obviously, the headlines associated with a given tip won’t just be an example of only that tip. Some headlines that appeal to emotions also ask a question. Any good headline will, in some way, convey (or hint at) a benefit. You get the idea. In fact, the more of these tips that you can present in a single headline, the better (generally speaking).
Without further ado... blog headlines and tips!
1. Convey a Benefit
Three Tips and a Bonus to Market Yourself
Break Through Writer’s Block
Do You Want to Make Serious Money as a Freelance Copywriter?
2. Appeal to the Emotions
10 Ways to Find Time to Follow Your Dreams
Are You Tired of Not Making Money From Your Blog?
Beware of Scams, Especially When Traveling
* Here is a handy List of Emotions from Wikipedia.
3. Use Specifics or Numbers
How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day
10 Aggressive Tactics to Turn the Tables on Credit Card Companies
4. Ask a Question
Twitter is the Ultimate Tease… Does Your Content Tease?
Do Key Words in Post Titles Really Matter?
Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
5. Offer a Benefit That Seems Completely Unbelievable
Timothy Ferris is really good at this. The following headlinse are all from his blog:
How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour
How to Never Forget Anything Again
6. Write Something Unexpected or Even Contentious
What Fight Club Can Teach You About Innovative Content
Why Language Classes Don’t Work: How to Cut Classes and Double Your Learning Rate
Are You a Spineless Blogger?
When to be Redundant, Repetitive, and Say the Same Thing Twice
7. Offer Something Exclusive or Rare
A Little Known Way to Improve Your Blog Design
Inside My Business: The Evolution of a Customer Service System
Well, that’s all for now. Which of the headlines above do you find the most effective? Is there something in the headline other than these tips that really captures your interest and makes you want to read more?
Obviously, the headlines associated with a given tip won’t just be an example of only that tip. Some headlines that appeal to emotions also ask a question. Any good headline will, in some way, convey (or hint at) a benefit. You get the idea. In fact, the more of these tips that you can present in a single headline, the better (generally speaking).
Without further ado... blog headlines and tips!
1. Convey a Benefit
Three Tips and a Bonus to Market Yourself
Break Through Writer’s Block
Do You Want to Make Serious Money as a Freelance Copywriter?
2. Appeal to the Emotions
10 Ways to Find Time to Follow Your Dreams
Are You Tired of Not Making Money From Your Blog?
Beware of Scams, Especially When Traveling
* Here is a handy List of Emotions from Wikipedia.
3. Use Specifics or Numbers
How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day
10 Aggressive Tactics to Turn the Tables on Credit Card Companies
4. Ask a Question
Twitter is the Ultimate Tease… Does Your Content Tease?
Do Key Words in Post Titles Really Matter?
Is Social Media a Waste of Time?
5. Offer a Benefit That Seems Completely Unbelievable
Timothy Ferris is really good at this. The following headlinse are all from his blog:
How to Lose 20 lbs. of Fat in 30 Days… Without Doing Any Exercise
How to Learn (But Not Master) Any Language in 1 Hour
How to Never Forget Anything Again
6. Write Something Unexpected or Even Contentious
What Fight Club Can Teach You About Innovative Content
Why Language Classes Don’t Work: How to Cut Classes and Double Your Learning Rate
Are You a Spineless Blogger?
When to be Redundant, Repetitive, and Say the Same Thing Twice
7. Offer Something Exclusive or Rare
A Little Known Way to Improve Your Blog Design
Inside My Business: The Evolution of a Customer Service System
Well, that’s all for now. Which of the headlines above do you find the most effective? Is there something in the headline other than these tips that really captures your interest and makes you want to read more?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
How to Keep Your E-mail Marketing From Getting Snatched Up by Spam Filters
Composing your e-mails doesn’t end when you’ve perfected the body copy for sales effectiveness. You also have to take into consideration how your copy will be “read” by spam filters.
Studies show that more than fifteen-percent of permission-based e-mails don’t make it through the spam filters of major e-mail account providers like Yahoo!, Google, and Hotmail. And for query e-mails (non-permission-based e-mails) the rate is much, much higher. People just aren’t receiving these messages!
To avoid having your hard work intercepted by spam filters, consider these important rules when editing the text of your e-mail blast:
Rule #1: Be Careful With Your Vocabulary
Spam filtering programs use an entire dictionary of common words and phrases that pop-up consistently in spam e-mails. Avoid words like “free,” “prize,” “offer,” the names of major pharmaceuticals, the names of celebrities, etc.
Rule #2: Be Professional
Writing in all-caps, increasing font-size, using lots of punctuation (such as multiple exclamation points) and highlighting words in rainbow colors are all tell-tale sign for spam-filters that your e-mail is suspicious. Keep it simple and clean. Let your words do the talking.
Rule #3: Don’t Send Attachments
With the prevalence of viruses and other corrupting software, very few attachments make it through spam filters. Today, with the ability to safely embed both images and web links in your e-mail, sending attachments is becoming increasingly unnecessary.
Rule #4: Become a “Student of Spam”
Study the spam messages that make it into your inbox. How do you think they got through? What elements turn you away from reading it? Does the subject line make you want to open the message, or delete it? Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing the rules for success.
Rule #5: Use a Tool to Check Your E-Mail
There are countless e-mail analyzing services and software available on the web. Some of them are even free, like the cut and paste word-checker at SpamDance. By running your text through such a tool, it will help you optimize your language and ensure success of your direct e-mail campaign.
Studies show that more than fifteen-percent of permission-based e-mails don’t make it through the spam filters of major e-mail account providers like Yahoo!, Google, and Hotmail. And for query e-mails (non-permission-based e-mails) the rate is much, much higher. People just aren’t receiving these messages!
To avoid having your hard work intercepted by spam filters, consider these important rules when editing the text of your e-mail blast:
Rule #1: Be Careful With Your Vocabulary
Spam filtering programs use an entire dictionary of common words and phrases that pop-up consistently in spam e-mails. Avoid words like “free,” “prize,” “offer,” the names of major pharmaceuticals, the names of celebrities, etc.
Rule #2: Be Professional
Writing in all-caps, increasing font-size, using lots of punctuation (such as multiple exclamation points) and highlighting words in rainbow colors are all tell-tale sign for spam-filters that your e-mail is suspicious. Keep it simple and clean. Let your words do the talking.
Rule #3: Don’t Send Attachments
With the prevalence of viruses and other corrupting software, very few attachments make it through spam filters. Today, with the ability to safely embed both images and web links in your e-mail, sending attachments is becoming increasingly unnecessary.
Rule #4: Become a “Student of Spam”
Study the spam messages that make it into your inbox. How do you think they got through? What elements turn you away from reading it? Does the subject line make you want to open the message, or delete it? Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing the rules for success.
Rule #5: Use a Tool to Check Your E-Mail
There are countless e-mail analyzing services and software available on the web. Some of them are even free, like the cut and paste word-checker at SpamDance. By running your text through such a tool, it will help you optimize your language and ensure success of your direct e-mail campaign.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
The Top Writing Blogs on the Web (As Chosen by Each Other)
Since I happen to read a lot of blogs about writing (well, copywriting mostly), I am of course interested in giant lists of blogs about writing.
I don’t subscribe to writingwhitepapers.com, but many of the other blogs I do subscribe to have recently been mentioning their contest that ranks the top ten blogs for writers. Note that by "writer" they often mean "copywriter". I'm fairly confident that the next great American novel won't be cobbled together with tips from a blog called "Freelance Writing Jobs".
Anyways, here’s the final Top 10 list:
Of those, I'd say I read Copyblogger and Men With Pens on a near-daily basis. Every once in a while I check out Write to Done, The Renegade Writer, Confident Writing, and... well, that's about it.
As a result of this contest, I think I'll be giving Remarkable Communication and Urban Muse an especially serious look. In fact, I'll probably add all ten of these blogs to my RSS feeder (Vienna is awesome) and simply delete the ones that I don't end up reading often.
A lot of these blogs also serve as sources of income for their authors - which means that while they teach you to sell your stuff, they're trying to sell you their stuff. It means that virtually every part of these sites (from the advertisements, to the content, to the linkbacks, etc.) has specific point. They're trying to get you to subscribe, or they're building up their own credibility, or they're trying to build their SEO.
Sure, the advice on these blogs is good. But what I find even more informative is to actually pick them apart. Regardless of what they advise you to do, I enjoy taking a look at what they actually do.
I don’t subscribe to writingwhitepapers.com, but many of the other blogs I do subscribe to have recently been mentioning their contest that ranks the top ten blogs for writers. Note that by "writer" they often mean "copywriter". I'm fairly confident that the next great American novel won't be cobbled together with tips from a blog called "Freelance Writing Jobs".
Anyways, here’s the final Top 10 list:
If you’re a writer, you’ll find daily doses of inspiration and discovery at these excellent blogs:If you want even more blogs about writing, here's the list of those in the running.
1. Copyblogger: As the undefeated champ, this blog has held the number-one spot for three straight years! The baby of Brian Clark, this blog keeps winning because of its excellent and educational articles.
2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod are the dynamic duo who continue to deliver rich content and community discussion.
3. Freelance Writing Jobs: Founded by Deb Ng, this site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began).
4. Write to Done: This blog delivers a steady stream of excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
5. Confident Writing: Looking for encouragement? Joanna Young will help you take your writing to the next level.
6. The Renegade Writer: Linda Formichelli and Diana Burell, authors of a book by the same name, help freelance journalists find inspiration.
7. Remarkable Communication: One part writing, one part marketing and one part selling, this excellent blog by Sonia Simone will help any writer succeed.
8. Writing Journey: Looking for a great stop on your writing journey? Bob Younce’s blog will refresh and energize you.
9. Freelance Parent: Two moms, Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, provide excellent perspective on writing while balancing time with little ones.
10. Urban Muse: Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.
Of those, I'd say I read Copyblogger and Men With Pens on a near-daily basis. Every once in a while I check out Write to Done, The Renegade Writer, Confident Writing, and... well, that's about it.
As a result of this contest, I think I'll be giving Remarkable Communication and Urban Muse an especially serious look. In fact, I'll probably add all ten of these blogs to my RSS feeder (Vienna is awesome) and simply delete the ones that I don't end up reading often.
A lot of these blogs also serve as sources of income for their authors - which means that while they teach you to sell your stuff, they're trying to sell you their stuff. It means that virtually every part of these sites (from the advertisements, to the content, to the linkbacks, etc.) has specific point. They're trying to get you to subscribe, or they're building up their own credibility, or they're trying to build their SEO.
Sure, the advice on these blogs is good. But what I find even more informative is to actually pick them apart. Regardless of what they advise you to do, I enjoy taking a look at what they actually do.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Six Tips for Improving Your Website Copy
Writing website copy is one thing. Getting people to actually read that copy? Well, that's an entirely different challenge altogether. It's not an impossible task, however. Here are a few easy-to-implement tips that we use to make sure people actually read the web content on our clients' websites:
Define the Purpose
All too often, web pages are created as "content dumps" -- that is, a page that contains material simply for the fact that "it should be up on the site".
Before writing the content for each page, you need to ask yourself: "why should it be up on the site?" Every web page needs to have a primary purpose. What do you want your page to achieve?
Understand Your Audience
Part of determining a web page's purpose stems from understanding the target audience of your site. Just who exactly will be coming to this page? Where do they live? How much money do they have?
Knowing who is coming to your site will play a huge role in determining the writing style and type of content that should be featured on your web pages.
What Are Your Visitors' Expectations?
It's not enough to just know who is coming to your site. You need to to why they are coming to your site. What do they want from your site? What are they hoping for? What are their expectations?
You will always maximize the effectiveness of a web page by getting as close as you can to matching the visitor's expectations. This means your page's headline and opening text has to be a direct and immediate match with what that person is hoping to find.
Get to the "Meat" Faster
A website is not the place to write long, flowery, clever introductory text. It's important to determine your reader's expectations and then get to the "meat" of your message immediately. Remember, your visitor came to your website for a specific reason -- so get out of the way and let them do it.
Write Only as Much as You Need To
On the surface, there are no restrictions on how much copy a web page can hold. There is no word count or page limit that has to be adhered to like traditional print collateral. A web page can have two lines of text or a thousand lines of text.
Unfortunately, without any restrictions, the tendency is to write more than is actually necessary. When writing your web page, it's important that you write only enough to enable your visitors to meet their goal. Write enough to get the job done, but not a word more.
Tell People What To Do Next
It doesn't matter how great your web copy is if the user takes absolutely no action after reading it. Remember the purpose of your website -- you need the user to do something.
For example, before arriving at your page, the user might have been thinking, "I need an insurance quote for my new home." Therefore, the best outcome for you is to have them click on the link on your page that says, "Get an insurance quote for your home."
However, sometimes it's not as cut and dry as that example. Users are often at different stages of the buying process and need to be guided into different actions. To do this, you must provide them with options. Be aware of all of the options your readers might find attractive and offer them up quickly and easily.
Define the Purpose
All too often, web pages are created as "content dumps" -- that is, a page that contains material simply for the fact that "it should be up on the site".
Before writing the content for each page, you need to ask yourself: "why should it be up on the site?" Every web page needs to have a primary purpose. What do you want your page to achieve?
Understand Your Audience
Part of determining a web page's purpose stems from understanding the target audience of your site. Just who exactly will be coming to this page? Where do they live? How much money do they have?
Knowing who is coming to your site will play a huge role in determining the writing style and type of content that should be featured on your web pages.
What Are Your Visitors' Expectations?
It's not enough to just know who is coming to your site. You need to to why they are coming to your site. What do they want from your site? What are they hoping for? What are their expectations?
You will always maximize the effectiveness of a web page by getting as close as you can to matching the visitor's expectations. This means your page's headline and opening text has to be a direct and immediate match with what that person is hoping to find.
Get to the "Meat" Faster
A website is not the place to write long, flowery, clever introductory text. It's important to determine your reader's expectations and then get to the "meat" of your message immediately. Remember, your visitor came to your website for a specific reason -- so get out of the way and let them do it.
Write Only as Much as You Need To
On the surface, there are no restrictions on how much copy a web page can hold. There is no word count or page limit that has to be adhered to like traditional print collateral. A web page can have two lines of text or a thousand lines of text.
Unfortunately, without any restrictions, the tendency is to write more than is actually necessary. When writing your web page, it's important that you write only enough to enable your visitors to meet their goal. Write enough to get the job done, but not a word more.
Tell People What To Do Next
It doesn't matter how great your web copy is if the user takes absolutely no action after reading it. Remember the purpose of your website -- you need the user to do something.
For example, before arriving at your page, the user might have been thinking, "I need an insurance quote for my new home." Therefore, the best outcome for you is to have them click on the link on your page that says, "Get an insurance quote for your home."
However, sometimes it's not as cut and dry as that example. Users are often at different stages of the buying process and need to be guided into different actions. To do this, you must provide them with options. Be aware of all of the options your readers might find attractive and offer them up quickly and easily.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Why Newspaper Ads Fail - And How You Can Fix Yours
I just was reading our local paper and couldn't get over the number of boring and just plain poorly laid out ads there were in this publication. Leading the list of boring ads were the ones placed by a well-known Ottawa furniture retailer and a shop that sells fitness equipment.
Why were the ads boring? Well, both of them looked the same, even though they were supposed to be advertising completely different businesses. Next, the ads featured unappealing and uninteresting pictures of chairs, tables, sofas, exercise equipment -- the kind of pictures that could be in anyone's ads. Finally, the headlines in the ads weren't prominent enough to attract a reader's attention, and they didn't sell something that a reader would really want.
It just never ceases to amaze me how much people will spend on large expensive, four-colour print ads, yet how little time they spend thinking about the design and copy in these ads, or how to get their ads to stand out and get read, especially in today's "scan and click" world.
Think about the last time you were in a Second Cup or Starbucks watching someone "read" the newspaper. For most people today, especially working adults 25 to 55, "reading" is really "scanning", an exercise that is more about flipping through the pages until they see an interesting headline, than it is about reading each page as it were in a book.
Think about the last home page you visited. How much time went by until you clicked to another web page?
I read today's paper in about five minutes, including the section I started off with, Sports. Two hours later as I write this blog, I cannot truly recall a single ad in this newspaper.
There's an art and science to designing ads that work in today's scan and click world. Here are a few tips to make your newspaper or magazine ad more successful this year:
To advertise successfully, you have to pitch the right things, to the right audience, at the right time, and in the right place ... and you also have to have the right coach in charge of your advertising team, someone who has mastered the formula behind a winning campaign.
Why were the ads boring? Well, both of them looked the same, even though they were supposed to be advertising completely different businesses. Next, the ads featured unappealing and uninteresting pictures of chairs, tables, sofas, exercise equipment -- the kind of pictures that could be in anyone's ads. Finally, the headlines in the ads weren't prominent enough to attract a reader's attention, and they didn't sell something that a reader would really want.
It just never ceases to amaze me how much people will spend on large expensive, four-colour print ads, yet how little time they spend thinking about the design and copy in these ads, or how to get their ads to stand out and get read, especially in today's "scan and click" world.
Think about the last time you were in a Second Cup or Starbucks watching someone "read" the newspaper. For most people today, especially working adults 25 to 55, "reading" is really "scanning", an exercise that is more about flipping through the pages until they see an interesting headline, than it is about reading each page as it were in a book.Think about the last home page you visited. How much time went by until you clicked to another web page?
I read today's paper in about five minutes, including the section I started off with, Sports. Two hours later as I write this blog, I cannot truly recall a single ad in this newspaper.
There's an art and science to designing ads that work in today's scan and click world. Here are a few tips to make your newspaper or magazine ad more successful this year:
- Make sure the headline is the most prominent visual priority in the layout. Devote at least 20% of the space in the ad to the headline.
- Add punctuation (quotation marks, exclamation or question marks) to the headline. This will help it attract attention and make a connection to the reader.
- Whatever you're selling, include really good pictures of customers in your demographic in the ad -- pictures your customers can relate to. Research shows that you will increase the readership of your ad by more than 25% just by following this strategy.
- Make sure that you have a clear "call for action" at the bottom of the ad. Always remember that the purpose of ad is to motivate/compel real people to do something -- like visit a store and buy something. If you don't tell a prospective customer what you want him or her to do as a result of reading or seeing the ad, chances are, they won't do it and the ad won't work.
- Write the copy as if you were having a live conversation at the kitchen table with the customer. Make the copy exciting, credible and relevant.
- Compare your ad against your competitors and ask yourself honestly -- are we noticeably different (from the customer's point of view)? Are there enough exciting reasons for a prospect to call or shop or choose us?
To advertise successfully, you have to pitch the right things, to the right audience, at the right time, and in the right place ... and you also have to have the right coach in charge of your advertising team, someone who has mastered the formula behind a winning campaign.
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