Design & Copywriting for
Effective Print Advertising
By Kimberly L. McCall
“Good advertising” is certainly a subjective term. Different
layouts, font styles, images and copywriting styles appeal to different
audiences. You can run the most visually stunning well-written ad ever
crafted, and if it’s aimed at the wrong audience, it’s not a
good ad.
I define good advertising as that which moves a prospect or client to
action. Action can be picking up the phone, visiting a retail location,
or requesting additional information. For tips that will help you in creating
ads that will be noticed and acted upon, read on.
Know as much about your audience as possible before writing or designing
anything.
This is elementary marketing, but it’s easy to lose sight of it in
the day-to-day management of your business priorities. If you’re
targeting the youth market, your approach and design elements will be
vastly different than if you’re after the 50+ crowd. And if your
product is aimed at the business-to-business segment, you'll use different
techniques than if you’re selling to the consumer market.
The point of your ad is to generate interest in your product or service.
You are not trying to win awards, be the next Matisse, or conquer the
ad world. Don’t get me wrong—advertising can be visually stunning
as well as effective, but don’t get so caught up in the minutiae
that you forget that the point is to sell.
Unless you are very capable, hire a freelance designer or agency to create
your ads.
With the proliferation of desktop publishing tools, many small business
owners have started creating their own ads. I strongly advise you not
to do this unless you are very proficient. The reason is simple: be an
expert at what you do best. Do you really have the time to keep up-to-date
and educated on all the latest design software? The money you save on
design fees is nominal compared to what running a bad ad costs you.
Avoid buzzwords, clichés and puns. Speak to one person, not the
masses—make your ads feel personal to your intended readership. If
copy isn’t your bag, work with a copywriter to create the wording
of your ad.
This is especially tempting if you’re creating your own ads—all
that clip art just crying out to be used! Graphics should enhance your
advertising and help draw people in to the ad, not overwhelm it.
Keeping in mind your audience, write several headlines until you come
up with a particularly compelling one. Test headlines with your friends
and colleagues. Beware of overused words (although “free” is
an oldie but goodie) and any humor that your audience could construe as
offensive.
Don’t try to cram everything into your advertising. Select one point,
product or offer in your ad and build the copy and design elements around
it. Ads that try to be all things to all people usually fail to reach
anyone.
The catalog industry believes that there’s a 40-40-20 mix in creating
a successful catalog: 40% is offering the right product, 40% is dependent
on the right list, and 20% is creative. Translate the list to media placement,
and this formula will help you in putting together your ads.
Kimberly McCall is the president of McCall Media &
Marketing, Inc., a marketing, public relations and business communications
company in Freeport, Maine. She is the monthly marketing columnist for
Entrepreneur's
“Start-ups” magazine, and an inc.com contributor. Reach her
at 207-865-0055 or www.MarketingAngel.com.
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