Milford chronicle., 1913-05-23
ADVERTISING |
n TALKS |
SECURING GREATER
AID EFFICIENCY
Put Your Copy in Simple Words
But Cover the Main Selling
Point.
BY ERNEST K. EDIE.

BY ERNEST K. EDIE.
Retail advertising is often weak. 1
isn't interesting convincing
That's too bad, when it's so easy
to write strong, interesting, convinc
ing, selling copy. No matter how
profitable your advertising is now, you
owe it to yourself to increase its
earning power You can. It's easy
There are just two rules to follow:
First-Make it interesting. Second
Make it look interesting
Put facts in your ads. Fill them
up with information. Make them
worth reading. You know more about
hardware, or clothes, or hats, OF
pianos than your customer does. Take
the hardware dealer. He sells saws.
A carpenter uses saws, but he cOuldn
make one; he buys two or three in a
lifetime. The dealer buys hundreds
or thousands a year If you're hard.
ware dealer you can tell the carpenter
many interesting things about saws
that he doesn't know.
And so on right straight through the
list. You're the expert. Your Gus
toners look to you for information
The facts that are an old story to you
are new to him. There is a world
of advertising material in the every
day facts stored in the back of your
brain. Dig them up Polish them off
Put them in print You'll soon have
people asking you: Who's the ad-
vertising expert you've hired?" Where
1t seems now as if there were moth
ing to write about" it will be a ques-
ton of choosing among the many in.
teresting things you'd like to put into
the ad. How to choose? Again there
are two simple rules: First-What
the article is; second, what it does
Tell that and no more, and you have a
good advertisement.
Take any article Just what is it
about this saw or stove, or hat OF
piano that made you choose it from
among all others saws, or stoves. or
hats, or pianos? And put it on sale.
There's always a reason. Are the ma
terials chosen with special care? Is
the workmanship of unusually high or
der? Is there some little knack of
constructor that makes the article
differe-t? Does it cut, or cook. OF
wear, or sound better? Does it last
longer?
= Find Main, Selling Point.
. When you write an ad first find
the main selling point Usually it is
not the price. Taking nothing but
the price is the lazy mans way OF
Every article worth ad-
has something more import
ant to talk about than price, Find
the important points. Talk values
Show how the article is made or used |
why it's good-what it is or does.
Tell the story in the language Of
your reader. Talk to him-not at
him. This is important It's the only |
hard part of advertising. You have
learned to talk the language of the |
hardware business, and that is not |
the language of your reader. There
are two rules that will help you. |
First, write the matter the easiest |
way. Second, then go through and |
substitute a short word for every long
word. Condense. Omit all the sen
tences you can. Combine. two SEN
tences into one. Probably you will /
lind that you have brought in more
points that you intended. Cut out the
extra ones. Stick to the one thing
you started to say. Now rewrite the
whole thing You'll fad you will have
a prize piece.
People are attracted by "well-bal
ahced" ads and repelled by badly
ones. No use arguing about
hat 1t has been proved. The science
If advertising has reached a stage
where this is absolutely known to be a
act The retailer who writes his own
Ids can not ignore it. Make your
IDS balance" Every badly displayed
I'd reduces the selling power of the
ipace you have bought, and at the
present rates for space you can not
lfrord to get less than you pay for
An ad balances when the "optical
center" is where it ought to be. This
s just above the actual center Fill
he space with matter all set in one
ize of type, and the optical center
S not disarranged. But put black
leading on top and the optical center
s pulled upwards out of position
The ad looks queer" because it
op-heavy. 1t needs a black signature
not too heavy at the bottom to pur
he optical center back into position
nd make the ad balance. In exact
z the same way dark cut at one side
( the ad draws the optical center to
Yard it, requiring dark mass on the
ther side to balance it. Simple, isn't
Two Principal Rules.
BY only little care you can dis
lay your ads properly and double
leir effectiveness. The two rules 70
pillow are: First-Gather the CON
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