Three Easy Steps to Improve Your Next Ad
- Chayawee Mala
- Jul 20, 2024
- 4 min read
There’s a somewhat cliche quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln. No idea of he really said it, but let’s pretend:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Abraham didn’t write many headlines but if he did, he would’ve said:
“Give me six hours to write an ad and I will spend the first four writing the headline”
Why? Because the headline either makes or breaks your ad.
“Yeah But Headlines Aren’t That Important”
Here, let me explain.
David Ogilvy founded one of the biggest advertising agency in the world. Man knew how to sell anything. And his take on advertising was simple:
“Five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” - David Ogilvy
What the man was trying to say is if you mess up the headline, the chances of selling a prospect is pretty close to zero.
Why? Imagine this, every man, woman, everything and everyone wants to buy from you.
They’re 100% sold on your product. And you have an ad that’s so good, that if anyone clicks on it… They’re SOLD.
They’ll click buy. Every single time. But the catch?
They never get past the headline. Never get past the first thing they see.
So no matter how good a product or service is, or how good the writing, or discount or an exclusive once-in-a-lifetime limited offer is, if people don’t make it past the headline…
The amount of people buying is zero.
That’s why we want to spend most of our time and thinking power on coming up with a rocksolid message for our headline. And we’ll drive that message home in the rest of our ad, script, or meme… basically any message to any prospect ever.
Which is why I’m happy help you attract more clients with the
Ultimate Headline Formula
The good news is that this isn't like some 3 star Michelin meal with 522 ingredients and requires a full science lab to even attempt the recipe.
It’s simple. Only three ingredients are required to create the ultimate headline for your next ad. But you have to get it exactly right.
Also - it doesn’t matter what you sell, be it services or products or convincing the world that they should pick you as their supreme leader, this stuff works.
(don't use it to become supreme leader though. I’m gunning for that position.)
Here we go.
Ingredient 1: Right Bait For The Right Critter
Let's say we gather all the best minds in advertising and marketing. We even bring some of the all time greats back from the dead. There’s a meeting and somehow rolls out: The best advertising message for bikinis ever devised by man.
This thing is truly mind bogglingly good. So powerful it should be illegal. Anyone that ever wants a bikini would immediately start break dancing, grabbing their wallet, and yelling: Please take my money.
So we gather 1000 people in a ballroom to present this message to, and see how many bikinis we sell.
Just one catch though.
The 1000 people in that ballroom are all biker gang members. Male. Big burly hairy dudes. Some chomping on a cigar. Wearing leather jackets. Probably a bit mad at whatever you’re doing. You get the picture.
You’re going to sell very few bikinis.
Not because your message sucks. Not because the ad isn’t good.
Because the message to market match is horrendous.
First ingredient in every headline and every marketing message: “speak the language of your audience”. Tailor that headline to their wants and desires. To their world.
Here’s some examples of what NOT to do:
Sleep Soundly with Our Arctic Winter Survival Gear – Sent to a retirement home in Miami.
Advanced Scuba Diving Gear for Toddlers! – Targeted to new parents at a baby safety seminar.
Buy Our Latest Collection of Extreme Air Horns – Sent to a local Yoga class.
You see how the message is incongruent to the people seeing it?
That’s why we don’t sell bikinis to biker dudes, and we try to tailor our message towards the right audience.
Ingredient 2: The Big Benefit and Promise
If there’s one thing that can punch up your marketing a couple notches, it’s a BBP. Don’t confuse this with a BBL. That’s something else.
(a BBL means Big Beautiful Lizard, everyone knows this)
A BBP is a:
BIG
BALLSY
PROMISE
And if you’re not comfortable promising anything (you should be comfortable promising things to your customers if you sell good stuff, but let’s say you want an alternative) you can also do a Big Ballsy Benefit.
Most advertising is ultra-mega-super boring. Like watching the same three seasons of Friends 47 times in a row.
You need to break through the clutter and the noise. Bring something super awesome. Come up with a big honking BBP.
Here are three examples:
Ingredient 3: Tune In to The Most Popular Radio Station - W.I.I.F.M.
I remembered a story with a wildly enthusiastic American fellow, in a conference room in Chicago. And the man in the audience, let’s pretend his name was John.
“WHAT'S THE MOST POPULAR RADIO STATION IN THE PLANET JOHN?!”
John doesn’t listen to radio, so he had no idea. The speaker proudly said:
“IT’S W.I.I.F.M.”
John didn’t get it. So even more proud of himself, chest almost bursting from the built up anticipation, he yelled:
“THAT STANDS FOR WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME!”
Despite everything… The guy was right.
Whatever you write, make sure it’s about your customer, it’s about them. Because we all care about ourselves. Not your company, not your logo, not your mission and what you’re trying to sell them.
People care about themselves.
Focus on THEM. THEIR needs, THEIR wants, THEIR desires. Not you. They don’t care about you. You care about you. It’s normal, it’s human, it’s all good.
If you want to see examples of headline improvements and how advertising strategies can be improved, check it out here.
Regards,
Chayawee Mala
P.S. Also, if you skipped to the P.S. like I do, here’s a quick recap.
The headline is the most important thing in your ad.
3 simple steps to craft the ultimate headline.
An amazing quote from Abraham Lincoln.
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