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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1959-11-05, Page 14-• i4 The iGoderich Signal -Star, Thursday, November 5ih, 195V- ' • • 1. ``• . e. .„• --praivon Bill Cavell of The Goderich Signal -Star staff discusses newspaper advertising layout with .Stan Prevett, of Goderich Motors. ti Now Of 6120 • One of the 'most recent additions to the changing scene on the Square is Woolworth's store. 4 1 f ton yrs. a hang e takes place in the personnel of any tOwn's population. This 'ehange is much more notleeable to a .former resident 1 ham it is tO p manen r'one. STATISTICS, prove hat, hundreds of.new residents have Moved to GoderiA. and also the surroum ling area,during the past ten years. Numerous people have also come zonl- moved again from town. There are many new faces in Goderieh — and many long familiar ones have disappeared. • TILT, CHANGING POPULATION means NEW PEOPLE not completely ac- quainted with '' 'The Best Places" to buy various goods in town. They do not. „ How To Write A Good' Advertisement Is Not+ Easy. It takes time and planning to, write ADS THAT WORK. In fa,ct, it 'takes time and work .to obtain worthwhile results in ,anything you. do. STEP ONE „necessarily shop tI stores 'which feel : ".Everybody knows us; we don't need to advertise.'' A NEW 4ENERA-T [ON-oftt ia4 cuStottlers ewne-s- with -a changing,r. popula -non. Tu reach and serve these 'newcomers can.mean the difference between a sliding- or static volume of business and an INCREASING -volume of business. BUT N() -Flash in the pan" advertising has lasting effeet. -Onetank'fitil of gasoline doesn't keep a 4;!.tr going forever. you, have to keep putting gas in if you want to continue to go places. AdvertiSing to a business is like gasoline to a car — or ]ogs to a camp fire. Consistent advertising DOESN'T COST. IT'PAYS! THE CHANGING SKYLINE .AT THE WATERFRONT 01,11.1ttlIklat, NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING fttr outranks in .volume• ANY OTHER m'edruin ofadvertising today. That's a fact with statistics to' prove it. Jn Goderieh and district? THE SIGNAL -STAR goes' into more honfes than ANY OTHER NEWSPAPER. Its- total eitctilittloirota;300 euptes-7evklyi-at- arrkretage-4--- 31/2 persons to a household) means 11,550 READERS EVERY WEEK: WIIV NOT let the advertising columnsof The Signal -Star help you to keep the potential customers informed about your LATEST DESIRABLE MERCHAN- DISE? Plan a consistent program of advertising and let us help you with ;that plan. plan. •••;„7:411,55‘474"104;',-• • • , riefine clearly and speeitfcaiiy WHO you're talking to; WHO you want to reach and influence. Before you put a word on paper, paint a mental picture of your customers and prospects, just as if you were looking at them and talking to them "across a desk or counter. Practise this mental portrait painting whenever you sit down to write an ad . . . and you'll soon find that your ad copy has more aim, more conviction, more specific selli9g in it. All too many -ads are not written to anyone f{ all; and they have the same effect) as a shotgun shell aimed ata cloud. STEP TWO Define WHAT you're talking about:" WHAT you want to sell. And make your de,finition complete. Good copy is built on detailed product data. For instance, "Pocket knives, $1.50" is not ad copy but mere product listing; but "Strong, bone -handled two -blade ,,pocket ,,knives of Swedish steel" is. Apply this "WHAT Process" to whatever product or service you are writing about . . and you'll add new iffterest and new effectiveness, STEP THREE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF ALL ADVERTISIN'G Tell the reader WHY he'll benefit front your product or service., This "WHY Element" is the basic of advertising copy that works. YOU can even write an equation for,it, which is this: Your Customers' Needs plus Your Product's Feattires The Benefits You Offer. Use it as the blueprint for all types of advertising copy; use it in your business letters too. And discover, as you use it, that you are separating the wheat from the chaff in your ad copy. For as you put into words the reasons why people should do business with you, you will find yourself -getting rid of the superficial, the vague, the trivial "sales pitches" that, con - • By all means, tell your readers why 'they'll. benefit, right, off the batt Get the benefits your product or service- offers into the main headline of your ad . ...into the first paragraph of. your letter . . . into page one of your folder or catalog. • "(out find stbart tailoring pluS longwear in. our new line of Outfitter slacks" . - parts really selling a lot faster, more specifically and more interestingly than "See air new line of summer slacks." Which brings us to another copy writing..help: the YOU Technique. Write right at your readers. A:headline that' says: "You'll find strong, lightweight Wheelbarrows here" has far' more im- pact on the reader than one saying; "We have stung, lightweight wheel- barrows," for the 'latter form is to a definite degree talking-to itself. 'The word "You" is a big.one in ad copy, 'and it keeps your .copy targeted at the -reader in form as'well as in planning. There's a Fifth ingredient in the copy recipe: the THEME. Or Slogan, if you prefer --A Theme can be part of a headline, or the last sentence of the copy, or the signature of your ad. But it should always be a terse, strong statement of the major benefit of doing business with ygn, It should be a constant element of your advertising. . a part of e -Wry piece of copy you,write, A good many years ago, every advertisement for those square, plain but rugged automobiles the Dodge Brothers built carried a,the-me;,--- the major benefit of the Dodge car. It was the single word "Dependability." A copy theme that has gotten itself implanted in almost everyone's mind these days is "Shop at Sears and Save," BUT HEED THIS WARNING Don't confuse a Theme with a pat on your own back. For instance, "HurOn County's Largest Clothespin .Manufaotarers" is, not, a theme that promises any benefit to the reader. It would be more to the point, though, far-fetched, to' say: "Clothespins husky enough to hold a >horse." Those are five good building -stones on which to build hound, productive advertising copy . . . and right about now you're saying: "all well and good, but I'm no Professor.ocZnglish. HOW do I write an ad? How about the words to use? How abbut the style?" First of all, be thankful you're 4tiot an English professor. With a few exceptions, that important and useful clan make mediocre copy writers. For ad copy is not literature. It is not an essay. It is selling. And the best vocabulary Tor any adVertisement is the clear, plain, unsophisticated vocabh- lary people use toytalk to each other: When you write an ad, use Plain English. Don't let it soun'd simple- minded . ,but keep it simple. Leave- the long, leatned, obscure words 4,-4o the Dictiionary. w Aryou 1N..,ritit. The usual business letter is more interesting and persuasive than any- thing else the same man may write simply because he talks the letter . . . dictates it . . . with the force and enthusiasm and color of everyday English Language. Try dictating your .ad copy . . . or at .least talk it aloud to your: self. the latter may get you a reputation for 'eccentricity, but your ads will have life in theft, and intercst:. 1 4' , For your. guidance, here are some helpful basic rules to follow in. writing advertisements which will persuade people to do business with you: Aro •'There are some words to avoid in ad copy. They're the tired words; long since overworked; now alhibst meaningless to the average reader. One of them is AMAZING. Another is SENSATIONAL. Two more "weary Willies" are TERRIFIC and FABULOUS. They are lazy substitutes for lear, forceful descriptiveword's. away MTh ,tlieti; OW will, do a. better selling job. Strip away the worn-out words from the following: "Colossal paint brush sales event! 'Each and every sensational - value brush in our tremendous stock amazingly reduced in price for fabulous savings!" • Say it in plain, enthusiastic language, and you have something like this: "You'll save good money i u buy that paint brush you need from -us -now. We'v6 cut price' on all. the paint brushes in c' the , store . . . all sizes and types. ..„And, they're all fine grade brushes. Save now." "HO* LONG SHOULD AN AD BE?" • This questqion has probably taken the starch, and the sell, out of more ads than any other single attitude in the whole world of advertising. For an advertisement should be exactly as long as is needed to tell the reader clearly, forcefully and fully, why he'll benefit by doing businessokith you. If that requires a thousand words of headline, body copy and data about your company's name, address and other products -or services • . . then a thousand words are the right length. Some of the most effective ads ever to appear have been far longer than that. An ad should be concise .,I?ut complete. And convirleing. Don't stop until youve said whatiyou have to say. (Don't worry: reading this isn't likely to start you writing thousand -word ads. But the point is that you shouldn't measure ad copy by the -yard, but by the 'meat" in it). AD RULES, IN BRIEF: 1. Define WHO you want to reaoh.. 2. Know wHATa.Au want to say. 3. Tell your readers WHY they'll ,benefit by doing business with you. 4. Write at your raiders, not lit yout.self. I And don't do these things: Von't use dictionary -language. Keep it clear and :simple. /. Don't use the tired word. 8. Don't stop until you've said what you have to say, Winturallx, coripletely, enthusiastically. • Put those basic Do's and Don'ts into action in your advertising copy „ . and you'll soon see more action from your ads. 4.