1:26pm
Saint Paul
*|FNAME|*, let me ask you:
Which works better as a headline: highlighting a problem, or highlighting a solution?
I ask because I’m reading John Caples’ “Tested Advertising Methods” right now–4th edition, thank you for asking.
(Which, by the way, a few years back I could only find the 4th edition in Canada, and the seller would only ship to Canada. Knowing that the 5th Edition sucks (from my own personal experience), I found myself a Canadian mule…)
Anyway.
In it, Caples says that headlines that highlight the positive tend to out-pull the negative.
Because, he reasons… who wants to read an ad about problems?
And while he has a point…
Ads that discuss a person’s problems are, to that person, extremely interesting.
Yes, the target audience might be lower.
But in Caples’ time, his ads were in widespread newspapers and magazines.
He didn’t have the targeting that email or other digital advertising offers us today.
So those expensive ads Caples ran wouldn’t have the ability to target only people with problems, meaning a positively-worded ad would generally get higher readership (and therefor higher response).
From a Schwartz point of view, ads that discuss problems are “problem aware” or “problem/solution aware”–and they certainly have an audience.
(Like the recent direct mail piece I wrote for a retirement consultation offer, which directly hammered on making retirement savings streeetch.)
And an ad directed to an audience with problems… so long as you’re in their world (to paraphrase Jim Camp)… will build trust in what you have to say if you’re reflecting their experiences and shedding light on their problems.
Now, I’m not saying to ALWAYS be negative, either.
That’s why you have to gauge your market’s awareness and sophistication levels, à la Schwartz.
But what I am saying is:
Caples was amazing at what he did. Yet even he might not have known everything about marketing.
And of course, I don’t either. But after more than a few years in the game… hundreds of books read… thousands of dollars spent on workshops and training…
I tend to know more than the average marketer I meet.
And if there’s a chance I can help you create more effective advertising, why not reply now and start a conversation?
Remember, I have a broken wrist–and therefor a lot of time on my hands.
Until then, your friend,
Jeffrey