7 Tips to Piece Together Effective Advertising

Effective advertising is often a strange mixture of science and art. Many things work in advertising that you would not expect. However, there are a few proven techniques that can help you as you plan your next advertisement.

1. Highlight your main marketing message. Striking graphics and quotes are fine but ensure that the biggest part of your advertisement focuses on your key selling message. You want to draw your reader in and compel them to read on.
2. Research validates, the best advertisements are those which offer an engaging and relevant benefit to the reader. This benefit should be concise and take no longer than 4 to 8 seconds to read, or roughly no more than fifteen words. Ideally, it should also contain your business name.
3. Don’t get too fancy. This applies to the layout and language. Choose simple, readable font and make use of white space around text. An overly crowded layout will be confusing and difficult to read. Traditional type styles such as serif fonts are quicker to read than sans-serif type. Use a point size that is at least ten to twelve points. It is far better to have large easy to read font than attempt to crowd more into your advertisement with a smaller typeset.
4. Avoid the use of all caps, even in the headline. We read by recognizing word shapes, not individual letters. If you use all caps, the shapes are lost and it will take longer to read, thus reducing the impact of your message. The “headline” is your main benefit statement that grabs the reader and ideally should be about two-thirds and three-quarters up in your advertising space.
5. You will also want to keep the layout simple and clean. Avoid the use of shadows, light colors reversed out of dark ones and italics. All of these factors which would appear to make your ad stand out actually reduce readability. Black or dark colored text against a white or light background provides maximum readability.
6. When it comes to language keep it simple. Avoid complicated words and sentences. Clear and concise language will garner a much better response. Engage your reader by the use of “you,” “your,” etc. You want to make a connection with the reader and using the second person will personalize the benefit.
7. Focus on benefits, not features. People don’t buy features, they buy solutions. Look at your marketing message from the reader’s perspective. Are you presenting how you can solve a need, want or preference? Your message should very clearly present solutions to a very specific audience. You are not trying to sell your products and services to everyone but to the right ones. Consider what your target market wants, needs and desires and provide those answers in your advertisement.