Fast, Creative Ways to Design Newspaper Ads!

By fastcreative | September 24th, 2007

Fast, Creative Ways to Design Newspaper Ads!

From churches to carpet wholesalers, all businesses that advertise in the newspaper could increase their business  dramatically if they would only take some time to think. Yes, you heard me, think!

When challenged with providing material to an account rep to prepare an ad for print you would be surprised how many people don’t take the time to think it through. Here is a trick that I use quite often.

Set aside 1 hour, no more and no less. No phones and no distractions.  Once you have booked time for yourself, take out a sheet of paper and describe your typical customer. If you can pick someone you know that’s even better.

Now see ONLY that person in your mind’s eye. Give them a name and begin to think of their needs. Most people try to beat their chest in an ad “We provide quality service the best selection, blah, blah, blah”. When you can describe what your customers are actually feeling and identify with their needs then you are on the right track.

Your customers don’t care what you do or sell, they only care about the results that they will receive from doing business with you.

So after you have made a list of what your “specific person” desires, craft your ad message around those things using the AIDA priciple. (Attention,  Interest, Desire and Action)

• A – Attention – Grab their attention first. The headline is the most important part of your ad. Craft your headline with your specific person in mind. Tell him or her what’s in it for them. Solve their problems instead of talking about your products.
• I – Interest – Assuming your headline gets their attention, you’ll need to perk their interest. You can use bullets and sub headlines to describe benefits and ask questions.

• D – Desire – Once you have their interest you’ll want to create desire within them to want your product or service. Testimonials and case studies work extremely well. It’s natural for people to want what others have.

• A – Action – You have to tell your reader “exactly” what you want them to do. “Pick up the phone and dial . . .” “Order now online” or “Fill in this coupon to recieve a . . .” etc. Try a scarcity tactic like a  “Limited Time Offer”

You will be surprised how quickly you can do this once you only think about communicating to only ONE person. You will also realize how silly some of your old sales copy may sound when you actually put a name and face to your message.

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