Create Effective Ads

For the most part, creating advertisements that generate a high return on investment is more of an art than a science. However, there have been multiple studies commissioned in the last several years that give us insight on how readers view print advertising. In summarizing these studies, we will begin with examining the three major goals of print advertising, followed with studies regarding how readers view advertising, and concluding with steps to create the best possible print advertisement.

Three major goals of print advertising:

Purchase intent: this is a short term goal that is measured by sales that have been generated from your advertisement. Normally, businesses increase purchase intent by putting an offer/ coupon in the advertisement. A good offer nudges a reader to contact your business now, instead of waiting to buy in the future.
Brand awareness: this is a long term goal that is measured through brand recall. Advertising campaigns will work to establish your business as the expert in your field. Increasing brand awareness is accomplished through a sustained advertising campaign that shows the public a consistent brand and informs the reader of your expertise.
Drive website traffic: this is a short term goal that is measured through the increased number of hits on your website. Driving traffic to your website can help a reader get more information on your product or service that doesn’t fit within your advertisement. In the information age, readers concur that an informative website gives your business more credibility and generally leads to higher sales.

Print Advertising Studies:

The information provided is an accumulation of multiple research studies regarding how readers respond to advertising. In print advertising, the reader is in full control of how your ad is considered. It’s important to understand that generally advertisements are scanned, not read. Depending on the execution of the advertisement, average viewing time ranges from a low of 3-5 seconds to a high of 15-20 seconds. In other words, beyond the first 4-5 sentences or bullet-points, additional copy is generally ineffective, because it goes unread. It is proven that bullet points are more effective than paragraphs in terms of drawing and holding readers' attention. The only exception to bullet points is if your advertisement is an advertorial (combination of advertising and editorial column). The main visual element of your advertisement will be the starting point of your reader and they will move downward from the main visual of your advertisement. This is extremely important to understand because many advertisers mistakenly believe that readers will start in the upper left hand corner and work their way down. If your main visual element is in the middle of your ad and your copy is in the upper left hand corner it will most likely go unread. In order to generate more attention for you ad, try using a picture or image to communicate your message. It is proven that readers would rather gather advertising information from visuals, as opposed to verbally.

Create Amazing Advertisements:

Determine the primary goal of the advertisement and write it down. You must determine whether the purpose is to introduce your company or product, generate sales for a time-sensitive product, elicit a response to a question, or prompt the reader to request a free sample.
Attempt to communicate on two levels:
- Convey both branding and the main idea at a quick glance (3-5 seconds).
- On a deeper level convey key supporting points after you have grabbed the readers attention (additional 10 seconds)
- Unfortunately, many print ads "bury" their key messages and require in-depth involvement to get their point across. Although, this might test well with test groups in practice this execution, but they are less likely to work within magazine setting.
It is imperative that the main visual communicates company branding. Some print ads use bold visuals to get noticed and break through the clutter, but the image does not focus on the brand. These ads predictably leave the user to remember the main visual, but not the company brand or the main intent of the advertisement.
Create a dominant viewing pattern through your advertisement. As we discussed previously, readers scan advertisements starting at the main visual and move down and right. Therefore, it is imperative that the main visual is at the top or the left of the advertisement and the subsequent ad copy is in the middle or right of the advertisement.
Keep your advertisement simple and direct. Get your main point across quickly and don’t try to do too much with one advertisement. Lead the reader to a website or phone number rather than cluttering your ad and not getting anything across to the reader.
Offer/ Promotional pricing:
- If you have a "hot" product or service with little competition you might not want an offer in your advertisement.
- In a hot economy it also might not be necessary to make an offer, instead you can focus your ad on the benefits of your product or service.
- In a down or average economy you should give the reader a reason to get out and buy your product or service now instead of waiting.
- If your product or service has a great deal of competition you should definitely consider using an offer to differentiate your business from the competition.
- If you use an offer it needs to make sense for your product or service, the time of year, and the economic conditions. In other words it might not be wise for a restaurant to provide a discount for ice cream in December. It also doesn't make sense for a dentist to offer a free coupon for apple pie.
- For a potentially large response try to give something away for free related to your product or service. You might also consider an offer that a novice reader will definitely consider a great value.
- Your offer should have an expiration date which creates sense of urgency.