MARCH 2005
Greetings & Salutations:
Please, don't ask me ...
What's Wrong With My Ad Copy?
I don't know - and - neither does anyone else. -- Beyond that,
you are asking the wrong question.
Granted, there may be obviously inappropriate, unfitting,
unsuitable, improper, inept, inapt, incongruous, unseemly, or
unbecoming words or phrases - or - an over use or misuse of jargon,
vocabulary, dialect, idiom, terminology, lexicon, cant, or vernacular
in your ad copy - but - whether it is right or wrong cannot be
determined by simply "reading" the ad copy.
The only thing that separates real "professional"
marketers from "amateur" and "beginner" marketers
is testing, and retesting, and testing some more. ó Only
the "tested and proven" techniques, methods and approaches
that produce results ... money in the bank ... are "right."
"Professional" marketers ...
Don't Test To Find Out What's Wrong With An Ad!
By testing, retesting, and testing some more, each "Professional"
marketer creates, keeps and maintains a catalog of techniques,
methods and approaches that have worked for them in the past
... whether that catalog is written down to share with others
or just maintained in their cranial sarcophagus.
Further to their own "tested and proven" techniques,
methods and approaches, the "Professional" marketers
also keep and maintain the successful techniques, methods and
approaches that other "Professional" marketers have
written-down to share with others ... in books, booklets, reports,
articles and clipped ads they keep in their archives and swipe
files.
If "Professional" marketers tested to find out what
was "wrong" with the ads they write, each of them would
only have a catalog of techniques, methods and approaches that
don't work ... instead of the catalog of techniques, methods
and approaches that do work; upon which they have built successful
ad campaigns for themselves and their clients.
But, all of the "professionals" are right - and
- all of the "professionals" are wrong - because ...
No single technique, method or approach is "always right"
for "every product or service."
Even if a specific technique, method and approach has worked
a million times, it may or may not work for your product or service.
Think about it. -- If there were only one technique, method
or approach that worked all the time, every time, for every product
or service, ad copywriting would be the easiest job in the world.
All you would have to do would be to copy that technique, method
or approach and plug-in the name and description of your product
or service. -- Wouldn't that be wonderful?
As it stands, if you were to hire the 10 best copywriters
in the world to create an ad campaign for your product or service,
you would get 10 different ad campaigns. -- Each campaign would
be based upon the "tested and proven" successful techniques,
methods and approaches each copywriter had cataloged from their
own experiences. -- There would, no doubt, be similarities in
some of the campaigns, but no two of the ad campaigns would be
alike.
Real "Professional" marketers aren't greatly concerned
with what is "wrong" with any given ad-copy because,
what may appear "wrong" to them today, may well be
the next great marketing approach of tomorrow. After all,
how many of them might have thought it was "wrong,"
when the first letter with a $1 bill attached to the top of it
was mailed.
In the marketing game ... whether it is mailorder marketing
or not ...
Anything that works is "right" ...
anything that doesn't work is "wrong."
Therefore, instead of asking "What's Wrong With My Ad
Copy?" you should, more rightly, be asking ...
What's Right With My Ad Copy?
Eliminate every thing else and you will have the foundation
upon which you can begin building a successful ad, sales letter,
or whatever.
When a new client employs me to create an ad-campaign ...
or just write a sales letter ... or create a brochure ... for
their product or service, the first thing I do is read and reread
the ad-copy they are currently using.
As I read, I use my bright-pink highlighter pen to highlight
those words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs that ... in my
experienced opinion ... would have the greatest positive impact
upon a potential buyer. -- Those highlighted words, phrases,
sentences and paragraphs will be the foundation of "right"
stuff upon which I will build the ad I write. (Another
copywriter, depending upon their own experience, may not highlight
some of the words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs I choose
- or - they may highlight other passages that I wouldn't.)
But, I'm not through, yet.
After I finish highlighting the "right" stuff in
my client's sales materials, I go back through it with my red
felt-tip pen to cross-out any passage that doesn't pass ...
The "Who Cares?" Test!
The "Who Cares?" test is exactly what it sounds
like. -- I just read each passage and ask myself, "Who cares?"
If I don't care, why should I believe the customer will care?
-- Cross it out.
By the way, it is much, much easier to conduct a "Who
Cares?" test on someone else's sales piece than it is to
do the test on your own ad-copy. -- That's why I have my wife
do the "Who Cares?" test on my ad-copy. -- You should
have someone else do the "Who Cares?" test on your
ad-copy because you may "care" deeply that you wear
boxer shorts, rather than briefs, but nobody else may ... unless,
of course, the nature of your underwear is important to the sale
of your product or service. (Don't ask me what that might
be. Maybe, running for President?)
In other words, anything that isn't relevant to your customer's
decision to "buy" your product or service ... or only
satisfies your ego ... fits into the "Who cares?" category.
Next, I cross-out and ...
Eliminate anything that detracts from the perceived
value of the product or service.
Sometimes these "detractors" are very subtle ...
only perceived at the deepest subconscious level ... other times,
they stick out like sore-thumbs.
Actually, I can't give you a hard, fast rule for finding "detractors"
in your ad-copy. It is, usually, just an "uneasy"
feeling you get about the product or service, or marketer, when
you read a word, phrase, sentence or paragraph. It just
doesn't make you feel right about buying ... either the product
or service, or from that marketer.
One of the most often used "detractors" is a line
I find in countless MLM offers. -- It usually goes something
like this ...
"We know you've been trying to make money
in MLM, but you have never made it."
I get a dozen or so sales pieces with a line like that every
week and I'm not even involved in MLM. So, how do they
know I've been trying to make money in MLM, when I don't know
it myself.
I wouldn't trust the marketer that makes that statement any
farther than I can throw a loaded B-52 bomber. -- Why?
Have you ever heard the biblical admonition "Judge not,
lest ye be judged"?? -- Most people have heard it but very
few of them understand it.
The only "norm" YOU can use to make a "judgment"
is your own knowledge and experience. -- Therefore, when a marketer
tells me he knows I've been trying to do something (anything)
but haven't been able to do it yet, that marketer leads me to
believe that he has been trying to do it but hasn't done it,
yet. Maybe, if I "buy" into his plan, he'll be
able to finally do it himself.
Anytime you pass "judgment" on anyone, about anything
... especially when you make that judgment without all the facts
... you are revealing to the world your own personal thoughts,
experiences, personality, and beliefs ... good and bad.
-- Think about it! ... it goes a lot further than
just ad-copy.
Of course, using this technique to find out what is "right"
with your own ad-copy sounds a lot easier than it usually is.
-- To do it right, you have to be unmerciful about crossing out
words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs - and - highly discerning
in your selection of passages to highlight. -- Unfortunately,
most people find it very difficult to honestly pass judgment
on themselves. Therefore, it is best to have someone else
do the crossing-out and highlighting for you.
But, once you have crossed-out all of the "Who cares?"
passages, and the "detractors," from a sales piece,
anything you have left-over ... especially the highlighted areas
... can be used as the foundation upon which you can begin building
a successful ad, sales letter, or whatever.
Writing effective mailorder ad-copy ... or any other kind
of ad-copy, for that matter ... is more "art" than
"science." -- That's why I have never tried to "teach"
ad-copy writing.
What I have told you about ad-copy writing in this issue,
is nothing more than the "preparation of the canvas."
But, once you are comfortable preparing your canvas, and applying
the first broad brush strokes, the rest is only a matter of practice
and testing, retesting, and testing some more.
Then, as you adapt, adopt, reformulate, enhance, alter, and
otherwise employ the various and many marketing methods you encounter
... as we professionals do ... catalog the things that work for
you. -- Those self-learned, self-tested and self-proven
techniques, methods and approaches will serve you well ... as
you add to them ... throughout your lifetime.
Copyright - 2005, J.F. (Jim) Straw. All rights reserved.