Check out the this viral marketing campaign for the upcoming summer “Dark Knight” movie.

I believe in Harvey Dent

I read recently that in print advertising, 75% of decisions to buy are made from the headline alone. Now, I don’t believe everything I read and depending on the source, I tend to believe even less of what I read online. However, I do believe the headline is the most important factor when determining the effectiveness of an advertisement.

Your headline conveys to readers whether the information being presented is important and worthy of their attention. A compelling headline will entice your audience to continue reading the body copy of your ad, a major feat in itself. Clyde Bedell (one of the first advertising copywriters to translate product features into clear benefits for the consumer) says your headline needs to have at least one of these five proven headline ingredients:

1. Mention your prospect and/or their interests. (Are You Balding?)

2. Use a benefit of what you’re selling in your headline. (Feel more confident and attractive.)

3. Make your headline newsworthy. People usually read the paper/magazine to get the news. (Use words like: New, At Last, Just Arrived.) Better yet, tie your headline into actual current events.

4. Use curiosity in a pertinent way. (Are you tired of.., or Five quick steps to…)

5. Mention the copy favorably. (Instead of, “We love trucks” try, “You’ll find the truck you love”)

The reasoning is simple. If your headline is of no interest to the reader, why would they keep reading? The best headlines don’t always appeal to the masses. They appeal to the specific market for which that product or service is intended.

The body copy is where the actual selling is done. The body copy needs to support the customer’s emotional decision to buy. It should contain rational information that supports the emotional decision. Furthermore, people are most likely to buy if you translate each of your product or service features into clear and persuasive benefits.

Use your body copy to tell interested customers the next steps to take. Literally spell it out for them. Not giving our readers a call to action is like running a department store with no one at the point of sale.

Since your product or service is not in the physical presence of your prospects, your copy needs to do the selling for you. The better your advertising copy, the better it will sell for you.

(The following are partial notes from my presentation to the Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers sales staff on 8/6/07.)

The sole purpose of a web ad is to drive traffic to the advertiser’s web site.

This is not a print ad’s purpose.
Traditional print ads consist of:

A headline that appeals to the target market that is meant to compel them to read the body copy.

The body copy does the selling.

The body copy must contain a clear call-to-action: come in, call, visit our website, clip this coupon, etc.

Web ads

A headline or special offer that compels viewers to click on the ad.

It is that simple.

Headlines or offers need to be strong enough to appeal to it’s intended market.

Web ads do not need to give:
• the information
• the full offer.

Less is more.

Web sites are essentially:
• interactive brochures
• personal sales presentations.

All they need is qualified traffic.
(Qualified = local traffic)

A good example of qualified traffic:

Crest whitening strips

• Static ad
• picture of a man and woman smiling

“Want whiter teeth in just three days?”

Saying too much takes away from the desire to click.

Once they click, the advertiser has the prospect all to themselves. No competing ads, articles or other distractions.

Animated web ads that play like a movie:
• Slow to load.
• Too much information. Why Click?

Clients will continue to buy advertising if they get more traffic to their site.

Building ads correctly will send qualified traffic to the advertisers site.

Our sites can drive traffic:
• High # of page views
• Loads of local traffic
• Tons of fresh content
• SEO = Growing readership
Increased traffic does not mean increased sales.

Unlike print advertising:
Converting traffic into paying customers is the job of the website.

With that in mind:

Don’t always link to home page.

If the goal is to:

Contact them.
Link to contact information.

Advertising a specific car.
link to the page on that specific car.

To get restaurant reservations.
link to the reservations page.

Never link to the “about us page” of any website.

No one cares about stuff like:
• How long it took to produce the the product
• How long they’ve been in business
• How many years you spent learning their craft.

People only care about how they will benefit from clicking.

Generally, people will click on ads with one sentence about how they can get:
• Better health
• More comfort
• More money
• More leisure time
• More popularity
• Greater beauty
• Success or security

For example:

A faster washing machine targeted at mothers, might read:

“Spend more time with your kids and less time in the laundry room”
Picture of the washer with Mom playing w/ kids in background.

Mothers will be compelled to click on the ad.

It is not about features. It is about the benefits.

i-Pod web banner ads:
“10,000 songs in your pocket”

(Basically, Static or Animated ads work the same way.)

Design tips:

Less is more. A short question or partial offer works best.

Flashy ads get more eyeballs,but often get fewer clicks.

Ad design should be compatible with the site they link to.
They should seem like a part of the web page.

No Website?

Link to:
• Map Quest
• Portland City Search.

• Positive P.R. (articles on our webstes)

There are tons of free web pages with almost no learning curve.
WebSpawner.com, Geocities.com, FreeWebPages.org

Link to social networking sites:
My Space, Facebook, etc.

Free blogs:
WordPress.com, TypePad.com, Blogger.com.

Blogs are:
• Easy to learn. Easy to change.
• Search Engine Optimized.
• Post copy, pictures in seconds.

Benefits of advertising on the web:

Old saying:
“I know half my advertising dollars are wasted - I just don’t know which half!”

On the Web, you know instantly how effective your advertising is.

Nearly all websites track visitors:
• How many
• From which sites
• Zip codes of visitors
• How long they stayed
• What page visitors left on
• Conversion rates

These Analytics or “measurement tools” are free with nearly every web hosting company.

Google offers Analytics for anyone with a web site FREE!
(I use it and love it!)

Additional benefits:

• Immediate results.
Advertisers will know if their advertising is effective
or, if they need to make changes.

• Split testing.
For no additional cost - alternate ads.
Show the ads the same number of times.
Use different addresses that go to the same place. (for tracking).

The ad that performs best is the obvious choice.

Benefits of advertising on our web sites:

• Local focus = Local consumers.
• Better educated with a higher disposable income.
• Far more page views than the WW and Mercury combined.
• Currently - A fraction of the cost of our competitors.
• Credibility. Trust.

Good questions to ask advertisers:

“What are you doing online to market your web site? “

“How is your website currently getting traffic? Is it getting traffic?”

“Do you think more local visitors to your website would increase sales?”

If they have an e-commerce site:
“Are their specific items you would like to sell more of?”

Start by asking:
“Would you be interested in instant access to our over 40,000+ daily online readers?”

After the sale:
Find out what are they are trying to accomplish with the ad!