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There are many schools
of thought on how to write a successful
direct-response ad, letter or brochure. Some say you need to be
subtle,
some say be harsh, some say be round-about, some say be direct.
There is
one technique, though, that is coming to the forefront as one of
the most
successful to employ.
Info-Loading is the style of overloading
an advertsement with information
about your product or service. The theory is, you give the customer
more
information than they'd ever want on your product/service, and they'll
feel
more confident about you and what you offer. Also, the customer
that
actually reads through it all is the one who's interested enough
to buy
what you offer. The good news is, it works!
Here's how to do it. Say you're planning
a quarter-page display ad in a
magazine. Instead of leaving a lot of white space, so it looks open,
and
instead of putting pictures in to catch the eye, fill the whole
space with
text! Load it with as much information as you can fit in, without
making
it unreadable. To prevent it from looking like a grey blur when
the reader's
eyes scan through the page, put a bold, black box around the ad,
a bold
headline, and emphasize important words and phrases with bold print.
You can do the same thing with a mailing.
Put together a four-page sales
letter loaded with copy, then add a brochure/flyer that re-emphasizes
the
important points in even greater detail.
A few cautions with this technique. First,
make sure you actually have
something to say! We are so conditioned to being economical with
our
words in advertising that it'll be hard to info-load without feeling
repetitious. Instead of rambling on about features, tell customers
every
single benefit they'll get from your product/service. BENEFIT is
the
important word.
Give Info-Loading a try. Depending on your audience and what you're
trying to sell, you may find that info-loading can load more sales
into
your bank account!
