The 5 Principles of a Good Advertisement

By Jeff

: Image via Wikipedia

There are five basic steps to any good advertisement:

1. Get Attention
2. Show People the Benefit
3. Prove it
4. Reinforce Benefit
5. Call for Action

Each step plays a specific role. As a marketer, you must always remember that you are the uninvited guest. People are busy, and don’t spend their time looking for advertisements (we’re not talking about Yellow Pages and similar things where the person is already looking, but about the “cold call” of advertising).

The first step is getting attention. This is the job of the headline. Experienced marketers often refer to the headline as, “the advertisement for your advertisement.” A good headline will cause your target audience to stop and examine the rest of the ad. In the past, the best headlines were sensational, designed to be so outrageous that people couldn’t help but seek to find out more. Think about old western movies with the snake-oil salesman, claiming a miracle tonic that can cure anything. These days people are looking for much more specific goods and services. Thus, the headline must be specific as well as attention-grabbing.

Second, a good ad shows the reader who has graciously allowed you a few moments of their precious time just how they will benefit from the product or service you are peddling. Note that I say show them the benefit, not the features. That comes later. Again, these benefits need to be geared specifically for your target audience.

Third, your ad must prove that these benefits must result from use of your product or service. This would be the time to introduce some key features, and explain how they will allow the user to realize the benefits you claimed possible. When it comes to this section, people like specifics. For example, don’t say “Realize gains of up to 50%!” don;t use round “nice” numbers. Go with “Realize gains of up to 49.3%!”

Fourth, reinforce the benefits, and perhaps add some more. Give examples of what they could do with all the money you’re trying to save them, or all the time they’ll save by buying your widget or service.

Fifth, and finally, call for action. This is where your “Call Now ###-###-####” statement goes. Try to add a sense of urgency: “This deal only lasts til noon Friday!”

All good advertisements incorporate these 5 principles in some form or another, and any bad ad is usually bad because it has neglected some part of this pattern.