How to Design an Ad that Sells

Coffee News ads are so simple to design, even if you don't know yet what to advertise, you'll see your ad grow right in front of your eyes. Then it's simply a matter of choosing what in particular you want to tell people.

1.The Illustration

The best result-producing ads have an eye-catching illustration that takes up approximately a third of the ad space, preferably poking out of the border in some way which again increases results. The reason for such a large illustration is that people react far more to a company's "personality" than to what they offer. As an advertiser, you have to present a strong personality, then stick to it throughout your advertising, so choosing an illustration is very important. You personally will have the best source of possible illustrations - through catalogues, magazines etc. For Real Estate Agents, Financial Services, etc.,you may prefer to use a personal photo, but again - keep it over-sized.

Your company logo is not a good illustration, although I'm sure many of you will insist that your logo is the biggest part of the ad. That's equivalent to thinking a friend's name is more important than "who" they are. Your name is incidental information. Who you ARE is far more important. (Illustrations also instantly tell a reader what the ad is about, and if his car just broke down for example, any ads to do with car repair, sales, etc. will pop right out at him because he has his car on his mind.) As a business person, you also must realize that you are not alone in the world. You have competitors and although every business person believes their particular store is the "best" in the city, if people only reacted to price for example, no mid or high-end (as opposed to "bargain") stores would exist. People choosing where to buy, react to a variety of factors which make up the "personality" of each choice, which is why the over-sized personality-producing illustration is so important. (If possible, try to also choose a "fun" illustration. Humor sells!)

It's also interesting to note that people who go to restaurants - generally are NOT bargain hunters. Bargain hunters would rather save money by cooking at home, so the audience you're REALLY reaching are people looking for mid to high-end stores who prefer service and quality merchandise over a "bargain price".

2. Heading

What you sell should be stated in five words or less. This can also be a teaser heading such as "Have you tried all nine positions?" (an ad for Futons). Keep it simple, and try to use words a seven-year-old would understand immediately. Don't use the company name as your heading unless your store is announcing a move to another location. Remember, a store's name is incidental information - where to get what you want to buy. The ad itself has to concentrate on what you're offering.

3.Sub-heads

Usually in point-form, the sub-heads give more information about what is being offered. If the heading is "Silk Shirts for summer", for example, the sub-heads might be what sizes are available, long or short sleeve, style characteristics, colours available, etc.

4.Added Information

This area is used for the "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Sale Ends April 25th!", " FREE Estimates", "Open Sundays 10-5", etc. or a special offer: "Bring in this ad for a 20% discount on silk ties - offer expires June 30/ 2001." Note: Do NOT use the word "coupon" when referring to an offer. Since your readership is made of mostly "A" and "B" type customers, the word "coupon" means being "cheap". "A" customers don't care about cost and are turned off by "too big discounts" which makes them suspect the merchandise might be poor quality anyways and is not worth looking at. Your "B" type customers will only sometimes react to a discount offer, so if you're trying to count coupons to check the responses, you'll be disappointed. It is better to use Coffee News to promote quality and service, then use regular newspapers to promote discounts and sales.

"A" buyers - those who NEVER shop around for sales, and want quality, service, easy parking - "in-and-out-5 minutes" type shoppers.

"B" buyers - those who need to "keep up with the Jones's" with the motto "the man with the most toys before he dies - wins!"

"C" buyers - those who ONLY buy on deep discount. To buy anything at "full price" is to them - a complete waste of good money.

5.Business Name

Use your logo whenever possible, but if not, have your company name typeset using a bold but "friendly-looking" serif typestyle, that's EASY to read.

6.Your address and phone number (or just phone number if you have a home business)

This is incidental information and should be in small print, with the phone number slightly larger for people phoning from the ad.

Advertisement Design TIPS

1.Styles

Try not to use "all-caps" in headings. They are hard to read and their added work to be understood many times "fogs" the meaning of the sentence. One or two "zap" words in "caps" are fine, but using bold lettering works better.

2.Colour

Don't do an "all black" ad. For effective results, the maximum space allowed for "black" is up to a quarter of your ad to be in reverse print. The reasoning is that a reverse ad not only disrupts the smooth flow of the reader's eyes from one ad to the next, it's starkness usually works against you - just as having spotlights on every single actor on stage makes it almost impossible for an audience to remain focused on the flow of the story. Your ad is "seen" but it's message is lost.

3.Clutter

Avoid star-bursts and other such clutter which takes attention away from the illustration and what you are selling.

4.Typestyles

Whenever possible, use serif typestyles which appear far friendlier than the san-serif styles. They are also easier to read. Serif typestyle have an up sweep and down sweep stroke on each letter leading the eye from one letter and word to the other. Sans serif styles have no such "eye helper" strokes and require additional concentration to read. That additional "work" of reading results in less comprehension of what you're offering - thus less ad results.

5.White space

This is "empty space" in an ad which helps trick the eye into resting it's focus there. This is why ads with the FEWEST WORDS work the best - they can't help but stick out. As such, the worst thing you can do to your ad is "filling up the available space with everything you think the customer should know. Keep it simple. Concentrate on a single "feature product or service", using strong short words to describe it, and the illustration to sell the personality of who's offering it. Other features can be used in future ads, but if you just have to include a second or third feature, put them (small print) in the "Added information" section of the ad with the words "ask about our..." using as few words as possible.

6.Illustrations

When choosing illustrations, they can be on the left side, top or bottom,and some of the most effective illustrations are those "just coming into the picture" (a delivery truck caught in mid-drive through the ad so only the front half is seen, or back half is seen. Such illustrations are also especially effective for car dealers for example, who don't want to rest their business's personality on one particular type of car. Also, when choosing illustrations, try to get "action" shots - a motorcycle rider wildly turning in midair as opposed to a standing shot of the motorcycle itself. Sell the "sizzle" - not a raw steak on a plastic tray!

7.Schedule

If your ad has an offer with an expiry date, make sure you have a schedule of ad changes arranged ahead of time so your ad will never run with an expired date. It's up to you to 'keep track', unless you specifically request a reminder phone call - to change your ad.

8.Changes

When you want to make an ad change, your basic ad format should remain the same to keep adding to the residual ad results. As such, only the heading and sub-heads should change. Unlike other publications, the weekly rotations of Coffee News ads keep your ad "continually" current, so ad changes themselves are only of benefit when a "seasonal sale" requires a new offer. ( If Coffee News for example, can generate just 5% compounding residual value per ad, your 52nd ad will theoretically bring you 12 TIMES what your first ad did. When you completely change your ad, you start again almost from scratch to start building your "new personality" and residue value.

NOTE:

The compounding residue value of the 4th week of advertising is 1.2155 almost 25% more results than the 1st ad. The 12th week equals 1.7959 - almost 80% more results than the 1st ad. The longer the ad runs, the more compounded residue, which ALSO transfers to other media - at a substantially smaller price tag.