Advertising Guidelines
Now that you have selected the media, setup a schedule, and purchased your space; it is time to design an ad that sells product. This section will only review print ads, but some of the concepts (especially the
persuasive format) are still applicable to other ad types.
I categorized ads into two types, those that sell, and those that don’t--I don’t care for those that don’t. Some ad agencies justify non-selling ads by suggesting that their artsy designs help build the brand. I say,
fine--selling ads also build the brand--in fact, they do so much quicker (if someone buys your product...poof--they’re branded!). I also run from agencies that cite the awards they’ve won for their ads--I hire them
to help me sell product, not win awards. It is important to note that these ad awards are usually given by peers who admire the design--even though the ad may not pull a single lead. This is not to say that selling
ads should not look good, but their primary purpose is to sell--either a tangible product or intangible company image (brand).
Let Marketing Guide your Ads - NOT Design!
Most designers have not taken marketing classes, they’ve taken design classes. As such, they want ads that look good, while not necessarily knowing if they will sell. On the other hand, while marketing wants them to
look good (and should rely on design’s good taste), they also need them to sell and should know what makes ads sell. I’ve never had a problem working with designers, if I spend the time at the beginning to explain
the effective guidelines for ads that sell
Proof Is in The Sales - Example
I completed an advertiser’s survey for Computer Reseller News (CRN) that featured apx. 25 ads and was asked my opinion about each of them. I was appalled at most of the ads. I would rate three of them as acceptable,
the rest were unacceptable—some had little chance of selling any product. Most of the larger companies used their standard ad “templates.” Unfortunately, most of these templates were flawed from the start, since
they missed the elements and layout to maximize response. As a result, every division would be saddled with an ineffective template.
Having worked at several multi-billion dollar companies, I have had to fight the political battles from trying to change the look and feel of a poorly designed ad template. Some of the folks I had to convince were
the corporate decision makers, but had absolutely no idea what made an ad sell--instead, they would follow the advice of “they guy with the accent” and assume everything would work.
When I was the new Sr. VP of Marketing with a smaller public company (that was soon purchased by Motorola), I was very disappointed with the lack of leads from our existing ad campaigns. They looked nice, matched the
motif of the company, but all of them combined were only pulling about 25 qualified leads per month. I met with the existing ad agency’s management and designers, gave them my preferred “Z” format, direct response
ad template and requested a re-work of our campaign. They grumbled, but the concepts I discussed made sense, so they worked creatively within the guidelines and put something together for us. Our new ad campaign
pulled 35 times more leads than previously! The new ads weren’t going to win any graphic awards…but if you wanted art, you could buy a Picasso (a cheap one) with the increased revenue!
I did the same thing as a new VP of Marketing at a $130 billion Fortune 100 company. They had several ad templates and one was “almost there” (about 60%), so we stretched it to what we needed (and “forgot” to route
it through the MarCom General Manager (never heard of a GM for MarCom previously)). Not only did we increase our leads dramatically, we won an award from our primary publication for, “Most Leads of Any Vendor,” for
the entire year. In fact our in-house designer, who hated the format, agreed to give it a go when he realized he could still be creative even with the guidelines. He is very proud of his work and is now a diehard
convert, since “his” ads pulled more leads than any previous campaign.
The Chanimal Print Advertising Guidelines
Throughout the years, I quickly learned that the real pros who could generate the most response from their ads (and knew the % increase in response from every element, including font, title size, number of words,
color, graphic types, headings, sub heads and just about anything else) were those who learned from and emulated the masters of direct response--especially direct mail. This is because direct response pros can
measure the effect of everything by holding the prospect or any element fixed, adjusting the other variables and measuring the difference. Many of the following guidelines were derived from lessons I learned in this
process. They have been validated with a higher response (sometimes a MUCH higher response) from my own and other’s campaigns.
Please register to obtain The Chanimal Print Advertising Guidelines in MS Word format. Found in the Chanimal CAVE.
Use the persuasive format. If your job is to sell (persuade) then you should use the following persuasive format: a) get attention, b) establish credibility, c) establish a problem, d) provide a solution, e) demonstrate that yours is the best solution, f) overcome objections, g) help them visualize the benefit, h) and actuate (close - ask for a response). Right click here and select save to download a word document that explains the theory behind this persuasive format. Following are the variables you can use within the ad design and copy that correlate to the persuasive process
Attention
- Graphic Image.
- Headlines.
Problem
- Graphic Image.
- Headlines.
Solution
- Your Product
- Sub Head Titles.
Best Solution
Overcoming Objections
Visualization
- Screen Shot
- Testimonial
- Body Copy
Step To Actuate
- Dashed Box
- Special Offer
- Three Ways to Contact
Tracking
Unique phone number, mail box or URl.
Identity
Corporate logo.
Corporate colors.
Corporate layout - if persuasive.
Legal Disclaimers
Not IBM.
Design Layout
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