The Tribune

By D'ARCY RAHMING

MY CLIENT tossed the newspaper towards me and said: "I want my ad to look like this one. I noticed it right away; do you see all the colours in it?" I knew I was in for a long meeting. "What does the ad say?" I inquired. "I didn't read it, I just like how it looks," he replied. With a deep sigh I began to explain how an advertisement's effectiveness should be measured by how many sales and/or inquiries it brought in, not how it looks.

The most important part of any advertisement is the headline. Chances are you did not begin to read this column because of my incredible good look,s as evidenced by my picture that accompanies the column. Advertisers can learn a lot from the folks who write headlines in the newspapers. In fact, headlines are the reasons newspapers sell, as well as which stories in the newspapers are read. I will let you in on a little secret; it is also the reason most advertisements are noticed in any media.

The litmus test for any headline can be summed up in two words: 'Who cares?' If your answer is: 'No one cares', then do not use the headline. For example, if I am advertising my martial arts school and I use the headline: All Star Family Center, I think maybe my Mom might notice. No one cares. If I used the headline: The Best in the Business, again, no one would care. Why should they?

How about the headline Karate lessons? Now that is a little better, there are some people who may be looking for Karate lessons. But I still don't like it. Unless you are inclined to buy Karate lessons at this time, I don't think many people would read any further. How about Stop Living in Fear! Learn how to defend yourself with Karate. That is much better. Someone who is afraid of being mugged or has just had a bad experience might read on. If they believed that Karate could possibly help them, they would continue to read the rest of the advertisement and give All Star Family Centre a call.

The point is that the headline of a good direct response advertisement has two major parts to it. Like a newspaper headline, it must grab the attention of the reader, and it should also offer a major benefit, such as solving the problem mentioned in the grabber. Take a look at many of the ads in this newspaper and ask if they pass this test. If not, I can pretty much assure you that no one is reading them or acting on them. In the next column, we'll take a look at the call to action in an advertisement.

NB: D'Arcy Rahming holds a Masters of Management from the prestigious J. L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Rahming has clients in General Insurance, retail, health and medical fields, sports federations and Financial services. To receive his marketing newsletter FREE go to http://DArcyRahming.com or contact him directly at darcyrahmingsr@gmail.com