Casual advertising is a waste of money and effort. Some business entrepreneurs know how to advertise online so as to get the full worth of their money; others spend more money but get no apparent returns. Increasing the online advertising budget for a home based internet business doesn’t necessarily increase the change to make money online. How to advertise, what to advertise and when to advertise; these are the three questions that present themselves to the internet entrepreneur, which, if answered correctly, will bring him undoubted success. There are many ways of implementing successful creative advertising strategies and the novice in the business finds himself perplexed as to which to adopt. But let him consult anyone who has made a fortune through advertising, and in 99 out of 100 cases he will learn that the medium of success was the advertising method, be it online or offline; using the internet, the printed media or the air waves.

In marketing not only the applicable advertising strategy, but also the approach is very important, it has to be done fearlessly. It is a useless technique to go into a crowd and raise a weak scream which is drowned in the general clamor. It will not help either trying to imitate the approach of ancient times market vendors who in crying fish for the first time would not lift their voices for fear any one should hear them. Fear is not a good conductor to make money online for any kind of business.

There is another sense in which every online advertising entrepreneur should be brave. He should have confidence in promotion, should be quite certain that if he throws his bread upon the waters he must find it, even if it be “after many days”. It is the half-hearted people who fail. You cannot break the bank in a casino by risking half-crowns on “red” or “black”. These timid people are the victims of advertising adventurers, people who start papers specially to meet their case. They are known not to be able to resist the bait of a cheap advertisement, and will give a typical order for “100,000 guaranteed visitors to your site for 99 cents” with vast satisfaction, thinking they have driven a hard bargain. So they have for themselves. Low price advertising campaigns normally mean limited traffic and exposure; and that in its turn implies that an advertiser in search of publicity might as well publish his advertisement up on thin air. A good keyword at 4 dollars a click in a Google campaign is a better speculation than 100,000 guaranteed visitors for 99 cents.

A creative advertising strategy has to attract and maintain attention. Anyone of a thousand online ads may serve to catch the eye and fix the attention for an instant, but only the creative advertisements are the ones read, marvel about and remembered, and when the reader wants any particular item or service he surfs to the place where it is advertised to be on sale and clicks.

The time to carry out online advertising is all the time: an advertisement is never idle; it is sending traffic, potential costumers to your online business while you are asleep, or while you are away on a vacation. The best time to launch a creative advertising campaign is when your home based internet business is getting a little dull, when customers are few and hard to please. Than it is time to stir up business and force it to come your way.  

Business entrepreneurs who no longer advertise online because business is dull are like the man who neglects to mend a leaky roof in dry weather because it doesn’t leak then..He better ought to make money online in all kinds of weather.

Copyright © F. Prida. All Rights Reserved.

Selling advertising is something which while similar in aim to any other kind of sales, calls for an entirely different type of approach.

Advertising sales is an intensely competitive field, especially given the enormous number of potential advertising venues available to companies today. As a publisher or owner of any form of media suitable for advertising, you have a number of challenges which must be dealt with in order to successfully; and even more importantly, profitably sell advertisers space in your media.

One of these challenges faced by publishers as they seek to begin or optimize their returns on advertising sales is to convey the benefits to be had by advertising with their particular media outlet. You have to have an in-depth understanding of the advantages of the type of media you are selling advertising in and convincing potential advertisers that your media and in particular, your publication or other venue is ideally suited to reaching their target market.

The right approach to take to advertising sales is largely dependent on the kind of advertising opportunities you have to sell. If you are selling outdoor advertising, it calls for a different set of tactics than if you were selling advertising space in a print publication or on the web. It bears repeating that you have to know your media and know it inside out if you hope to be a success in advertising sales.

You should always ask a potential advertiser what media they currently advertise in and how well it is performing for them. This allows you an opening to suggest ways that your advertising opportunity would be an ideal complement (if their current campaigns are doing well) or alternately, a much more profitable replacement in the event that they are unhappy with the results from their current advertising efforts.

Advertising sales requires an understanding of the customer’s needs and motivations, as well as of your media.

The way to make successful and lucrative advertising sales is to provide the customer with a perception of added value. This means positioning your advertising space as a product which is desirable and serves as a solution to the needs of the potential advertiser. You’ll also need to be prepared to be flexible in order to remain abreast of the competition and always maintain good client relations. If you’re not communicating with your advertisers regularly, you can be sure that someone else is!

Advertising sales can be quite a challenging proposition, which is why many publishers and media owners opt to engage the services of professional advertising sales consultants. This keeps the company’s risk low and the return on investment high. Most importantly of all, using a freelance advertising sales service allows media owners to concentrate on the operations of their business, ensuring continued growth and profitability.

Business nowadays is doing different kinds of austerity measures when it comes to advertising their products and services. This is because of high rates of placing ads on print and on television. But there is a fast growing approach that businessmen can utilize to bring their services closer to the people and that is through Internet Marketing.

One tool that is causing internet marketing popularity is PPC advertising. This is a technique used in search engine marketing that requires one to pay a fee every time someone clicks an ad on your website. Usually this placement is done through a bidding process. If you are a top bidder for your keywords/phrases, you are sure to be on the number one spot on all search engines. Just be sure of the effectiveness of your ad copy to get the most number of clicks you need for your business.

Here are the benefits of PPC advertising are:

1.    You need not be a genius in computer and technology to be able to run this ad campaign.
2.    Immediate results are seen after a few days.
3.    No need to make a website conform to the SEO rules.
4.    Nothing to lose even if you do not top the pages of different search engines. You can still always choose PPC advertising.
5.    You can make use any search engine available.
6.    You can type in any keyword you like.

Cons of PPC advertising includes:

1.    Fixed payments every month to the search engine you choose.
2.    Pay for each click received by your website. At times, visitors are just competitors or people playing pranks on search engines. This hassle wastes money you put in to this advertising.
3.    Inability to pay for the fees next month would mean removal of your website on the paid listings.
4.    This advertising can only be used temporarily because it is difficult to handle in the long run.
5.    Pay-per-click pricing can be costly for long periods of time, therefore, this should be stopped after an ad campaign.

But how exactly PPC advertising can increase traffic, leads and sales?

PRE-QUALIFIED TRAFFIC. All visitors of your website are already considered as a qualified consumer or buyer of your product. PPC advertising leads your customers to you for a lesser cost.

INSTANT EXPOSURE, IMMEDIATE PROFITS. PPC search engines enable you to get your desired results fast. They will have your website live within just a few hours which means immediate increase in sale.

CONSISTENT TOP LISTINGS. This is to get your website on top of the sponsored search results for free. You just have to choose the keywords related to your site and business and place them within your web pages. After this, you are done.

PPC advertising enables advertisers to control their advertising campaigns. Advertisers have effectively targeted their audience and set their own price per click. PPC advertising networks provide the platform to identify the desired audience by geographic setting, topic and industry.  These networks have a list of websites of the publishers where the ads will be placed.

Tools are provided by the networks to check how the pay per click limit is working for a certain advertiser. If its still competitive, would it be even listed among the paid search lists or does it generate sales? Of course, if the advertiser made the highest bid, the better chances the ad will be seen in the search engine. These networks too provide protection for the advertisers against click fraud. This advertising set-up allows advertisers to set a daily budget for his ads, thus, less spending for unnecessary clicks. Advertiser will never go over his budget.  

In PPC advertising, what are important are the keywords and phrases. You have to select at least ten “very specific” keywords that would give you the best traffic in the search. Then, write the ad creatively but straightforward. Tell the truth about your product or service and do not lie. Good thing if your product or service will not disappoint those that are relying on your ad’s promise – but what if it did otherwise? Important too is the clarity of the ad. Do not use very vague languages. Include important details like the price.

You should also remember to budget your bids. Do not go overbidding because you will only lose your money and do not go so low that your ads will never get the chance to show up. Check your profit against your spending. If you see no progress then most likely you have to drop your ad campaign.

More and more advertisers have been using PPC advertising and it will continue to grow faster than any online advertising techniques. From revenues of $2.6 billion in 2004 to $5.5 billion in 2009, cost per click will dramatically go up as well from $0.29 to $0.36.

PPC advertising is new in online marketing and it is going to continue in the years to come. For advertisers, this means increase revenues with fewer advertising expenses, savings, more sales, good return of investment (ROI) and effective ad campaigns in the days to come.

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READ THIS: If you are truly serious about the “Online Advertising Ppc Adwords” marketing strategy to grow your home based internet marketing business.

A few years ago, the online advertising ppc marketing or pay per click marketing is the most popular & effective method of advertisement employed by various websites on the Internet. The online advertising ppc marketing may often be referred to as pay for position, cost per click or pay for performance. But regardless of the term used, the online advertising ppc marketing is the online advertiser’s medium of choice for promoting products and services to online consumers.

The online advertising ppc marketing is beneficial to both the advertiser and the consumer. Advertisers using the online advertising ppc marketing only need to pay for the actual click through linked to their sites from search engines. At the same time as consumers are relieved of having to get annoying emails or pop-up ads for products and services.

When an online consumer searches for a specific product or service on the Internet, corresponding online advertising ppc marketing ads are also displayed alongside the results generated by the search engine. This forms a highly targeted consumer group that is more likely to purchase a specific product or service. In addition, websites get to limit their advertisement costs with the use of online advertising ppc marketing. The online advertising ppc marketing is truly a winning solution for both parties.

However, in “The Death of Adwords for Affiliates” report, it shows that there is NO room for affiliate marketing entrepreneurs in this Internet Marketing Advertising Ppc Adwords game. Also, it reveals that big companies have very large budget for keyword bidding and have a TON of keywords to reach their targets. And those companies want to kick out the low-budget players of this game.

Personally, I believe that the large companies have their large budget for keyword bidding and it is difficult for small home based internet marketing business to go into the bidding war. Nevertheless, I disagree that there is NO room for small home based internet marketing business. I strongly believe that there are no any companies trying to be ALL things to ALL customers. If those small home based internet marketing businesses can’t find the opportunity to make profits on the internet through the “Internet Marketing Advertising Ppc Adwords” game, then they have to create their own opportunity in the industry.

Also, how many large companies with large budget are there in the markets right now? How many keywords do they cover? Is it 10,000 keywords per market? There are a lot questions in my mind now. And it is hardly for me to believe that Adwords for Affiliates are death completely!

Additionally, I believe that Google loves high quality, original, relevancy and unique content website. The key of their success is “relevancy”. They have to give exactly whatever people search. They hated rubbish, non-relevancy or spam websites. It is a great real home based business opportunity for affiliate marketing entrepreneurs to build a high quality website rather than a spamming website.

However, in my opinion, you’ll discover the possible drawbacks of Online Advertising Ppc below.

Despite the obvious advantages of online advertising ppc marketing, there are possible drawbacks that can cancel out its benefits. One of the most common problems associated with online advertising ppc marketing is the inexperience of many internet entrepreneurs attempting to use this profitable advertisement method. Simply submitting online advertising ppc marketing ads to a search engine such as Google, does not make up the entire campaign.

The online advertising ppc marketing requires a calculated and systematic approach to setting up ads. Online Advertising Ppc marketing involves the use of keywords and biddings in order to get top placement on a search engine. Getting top search engine placement helps boost traffic to a website that can easily translate into profit.

Without the necessary experience and knowledge to carry out a typical Online Advertising Ppc marketing ad, may turn into an expensive campaign that does not convert into profit. PPC marketing ads also require continuous funding, as discontinued payments will also result in discontinued ads. This can be unfavorable for a website that has already built high rankings with their PPC marketing ads.

Bidding on keywords can also be quite costly, as the growing number of websites on the web struggle against each other to bid on the most popular keyword for their PPC marketing ad. Obviously small home based affiliate businesses are at a disadvantage here since big business websites are able to pay more for popular keywords related to their site. This is because most small businesses only set aside a small portion of their capital for advertisement, putting them at a disadvantage.

You’ll also discover how to run your own effective Online Advertising Ppc marketing campaign below.

There are a number of things that a website should consider when running an effective Online Advertising Ppc marketing campaign. It is important to develop a marketing plan in order to get the most return on investment from Online Advertising Ppc marketing. Selecting the most appropriate keywords that relate to the site’s business is essential in Online Advertising Ppc marketing.

However, simply choosing the most popular keywords does not necessarily translate into profit. Selecting more specific keywords that will put a site within the first ten results of a search also gets greater awareness from online consumers. In addition, it doesn’t cost as much as getting the top spot for Online Advertising Ppc marketing.

It is also important that a website constantly monitors the performance of their Online Advertising Ppc marketing campaign. This will help the site modify any existing Online Advertising Ppc marketing ad to make it more productive. At the same time any Online Advertising Ppc marketing ad that has not proven effective can be immediately discontinued. Altering Online Advertising Ppc marketing ads is a continuous process that many websites do in order to increase their return on investment.

My highest recommendation is to find the RIGHT professional & success internet entrepreneurs to help you and be a personally mentor for building highly profitable Online Advertising Ppc campaign.

The popularity of Online Advertising Ppc marketing has given rise to professionals offering PPC marketing services for small and big businesses. One of the most effective ways is to hire a professional PPC marketing company is advisable for a small business without experience in PPC marketing. Most Online Advertising Ppc marketing companies offer reasonable rates for their services and at the same time produce acceptable results.

An Online Advertising Ppc marketing professional can attend to all the details commonly involved in a PPC marketing campaign. Handling an Online Advertising Ppc marketing campaign is a time consuming process that can be overwhelming for a small business. An Online Advertising Ppc marketing professional can help set up an Online Advertising Ppc marketing campaign and later on trains someone from within the business to handle it to ensure its continued success.

Click here now to find great mentors for “Adwords for Affiliates” and get up-to-date information to build highly successful Online Advertising Ppc campaign. You’ll find great successful ppc advertisers and top secrets of how to build & run profitable successful online advertising ppc campaigns.

Finally, there are some good points in “The Death of Adwords for Affiliates” report. Meanwhile, there are also some statements I disagreed completely. My highest recommendations for affiliate marketing entrepreneur who are using Online Advertising Ppc to boost their affiliate commission are: to build a high quality & relevancy website to your niche markets, discover & expand more nice keywords with “think out of the box” attitude, avoid the keyword bidding war and find great mentors for your home based affiliate business.

Read more articles about how to build & run highly profitable successful online advertising ppc campaigns at: http://www.iPayByClick.com

Engaging in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has its own benefits and drawbacks. But what exactly is Ppc Search Engine Advertising and what it can do to your business?

Business nowadays is doing different kinds of austerity measures when it comes to advertising their products and services. This is because of high rates of placing ads on print and on television. But there is a fast growing approach that businessmen can utilize to bring their services closer to the people and that is through Internet Marketing.

One tool that is causing internet marketing popularity is Ppc Search Engine Advertising. This is a technique used in search engine marketing that requires one to pay a fee every time someone clicks an ad on your website. Usually this placement is done through a bidding process. If you are a top bidder for your keywords/phrases, you are sure to be on the number one spot on all search engines. Just be sure of the effectiveness of your ad copy to get the most number of clicks you need for your business.

Here are the benefits of Ppc Search Engine Advertising are:

1. You need not be a genius in computer and technology to be able to run this ad campaign.

2. Immediate results are seen after a few days.

3. No need to make a website conform to the SEO rules.

4. Nothing to lose even if you do not top the pages of different search engines. You can still always choose Ppc Search Engine Advertising.

5. You can make use any search engine available.

6. You can type in any keyword you like.

Cons of Ppc Search Engine Advertising include:

1. Fixed payments every month to the search engine you choose.

2. Pay for each click received by your website. At times, visitors are just competitors or people playing pranks on search engines. This hassle wastes money you put in to this advertising.

3. Inability to pay for the fees next month would mean removal of your website on the paid listings.

4. This advertising can only be used temporarily because it is difficult to handle in the long run.

5. Pay-per-click pricing can be costly for long periods of time; therefore, this should be stopped after an ad campaign.

However, how exactly the Ppc Search Engine Advertising can boost skyrocket traffic, leads and sales for your home based business?

1. Pre-qualified traffic. All visitors of your website are already considered as a qualified consumer or buyer of your product. Ppc Search Engine Advertising leads your customers to you for a lesser cost.

2. Instant exposure, immediate profits. PPC search engines enable you to get your desired results fast. They will have your website live within just a few hours which means immediate increase in sale.

3. Consistent top listings. This is to get your website on top of the sponsored search results for free. You just have to choose the keywords related to your site and business and place them within your web pages. After this, you are done.

The Ppc Search Engine Advertising enables advertisers to control their advertising campaigns. Advertisers have effectively targeted their audience and set their own price per click. Ppc Search Engine Advertising networks provide the platform to identify the desired audience by geographic setting, topic and industry. These networks have a list of websites of the publishers where the ads will be placed.

Tools are provided by the networks to check how the pay per click limit is working for a certain advertiser. If it’s still competitive, would it be even listed among the paid search lists or does it generate sales? Of course, if the advertiser made the highest bid, the better chances the ad will be seen in the search engine. These networks too provide protection for the advertisers against click fraud. This advertising set-up allows advertisers to set a daily budget for his ads, thus, less spending for unnecessary clicks. Advertiser will never go over his budget.

My experiences show that in the Ppc Search Engine Advertising, what are important are the keywords and phrases. You have to select at least ten “very specific” keywords that would give you the best traffic in the search. Then, write the ad creatively but straightforward. Tell the truth about your product or service and do not lie. Good thing if your product or service will not disappoint those that are relying on your ad’s promise – but what if it did otherwise? Important too is the clarity of the ad. Do not use very vague languages. Include important details like the price.

You should also remember to budget your bids. Do not go overbidding because you will only lose your money and do not go so low that your ads will never get the chance to show up. Check your profit against your spending. If you see no progress then most likely you have to drop your ad campaign.

More and more advertisers have been using Ppc Search Engine Advertising and it will continue to grow faster than any online advertising techniques. From revenues of $2.6 billion in 2004 to $5.5 billion in 2009, cost per click will dramatically go up as well from $0.29 to $0.36.

Final thoughts, the Ppc Search Engine Advertising is new in online marketing and it is going to continue in the years to come. For advertisers, this means increase revenues with fewer advertising expenses, savings, more sales, good return of investment (ROI) and effective ad campaigns in the days to come.

Learn more about how to do effective keywords for Ppc Online Advertising and your online business at: http://www.zKeywordTool.com. You’ll discover great keyword strategies to discover untapped niche keywords for your Ppc Online Advertising. Also, you’ll discover #1 best keyword analysis research tool for your Ppc Online Advertising.

Get a free report now at: http://www.zKeywordTool.com/free-report. You’ll discover great keyword search tips and secrets of how to discover untapped niche keywords for your Ppc Online Advertising and home based online business. Also, you’ll save your time & money for minimizing your trail & error!

Learn more about the Pay Per Click Search Engine Advertising (Ppc Online Advertising) at: http://www.iPayByClick.com. You’ll find everything you have to know for building your profitable PPC online advertising campaigns. Also, you will learn how to become a super and success PPC advertiser on the website.

*Reprint Policy: Reprint in full with writer’s name, contact information, active links and brief bio.

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The Wall Street Journal Bestseller The Future is Now–Get Ready to Reap the Profits. We stand at the beginning of a consumer-centric age–an era with potentially enormous returns for leaders in marketing, advertising and media–if they get their approach right. The new media environment is “always on,” digitally accessible to audiences from anywhere at any time, and responsive to their control. As consumers get used to this, the world of … More >>

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Essentials of Contemporary Advertising, 2/e by William Arens and David Schaefer explores the core principles that drive advertising, using a lively voice that goes beyond academic theory. The authors’ goal is to present advertising as it is actually practiced and make the fundamentals accessible and relevant to the student’s “real life.” This approach truly transcends the conceptual and propels students into an exciting and practical dimension…. More >>

Essentials of Contemporary Advertising

This article covers five advertisement techniques that meet one or more of the above modern criteria:

•    PR Advertisements
•    Theatre Advertisements
•    Magazine Advertisements
•    Publication Advertisements
•    Cable Television Advertisements

Advertisement Techniques 1: PR Advertisements

PR advertisements are great at building support for your business. Usually a PR advertisement’s purpose isn’t to make a sale, but to build contacts and friends for your business.

The best advertising technique for PR advertising is getting your potential supporters interacting with you and your business. Whether it’s making a telephone call, visiting a Web site or completing a form, interaction enables you to build support for your business and industry.

Advertisement Techniques 2: Theatre Advertisements

Theatre advertisements  work  effectively if it’s possible to get people to take immediate action. You need to reinforce the ad on the screen with a printed promotion like a coupon, to get people to respond immediately.

Advertisement Techniques 3: Magazine Advertisements

Magazine advertisements work well because magazines enable you to target a niche market and design advertisements specifically for people in the market.

With so many magazines, you can always find one that targets your market, if you:

•    use them as a direct approach to get readers to take action.
•    make an offer that requires a quick response,
•    get advertising sale people to design ads that get readers to respond.

Advertisement Techniques 4: Publication Advertisements

Many small business owners overlook publication advertising. Publication advertisements reach target markets well, but isn’t as good at providing interactivity or getting a quick response.

You can run advertisements in everything from programs, to books and professional journals.

Programs offer a targeted market, and earn good will with the organization’s supporters or fans.

If a book is relevant to your product, it can reach your target market effectively. The trick to book advertisements is deciding how to pay:
•    by the number printed,
•    by the number distributed or
•    by size of the ad.

If you are targeting people in a certain profession, advertising in their professional journals can reach your target market. Advertisements in professional journals provide good value because members pay to receive the journals. They are interested in nearly anything that helps them to better succeed in their professions.

Advertisement Techniques 5: Cable Television Advertisements

Cable television advertisements are usually less expensive than regular television advertisements. Many small business owners can afford to use cable television advertising to promote sponsorships, product placements and air sponsor-supplied programming.

Advertisement Techniques: Conclusion

The trick to using all advertisement techniques is to design ads that get attention and encourage target market members to respond quickly by visiting a web site, calling a telephone number, or some other contact method.

And the more interactive, you can make your advertisements, the better.

by Philip Yaffe

“I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The problem is, I don’t know which half.”

This succinct resume of the advertiser’s dilemma is often attributed to John Wanamaker, the department store pioneer. Some people prefer to give the credit to Henry Ford, the automobile pioneer, or other favorite business giants. Whoever said it first, it is certain that it has been said thousand and thousand of times since.

The significance of the observation is nothing short of astounding. These are people whose business is investing and harvesting financial assets, yet when it comes to advertising, they freely admit to wasting at least half of their money!

But the observation can be turned on its head. Viewed from this perspective, it means that these same extremely clever and resourceful marketers believe that the power of advertising is so great, even at only 50% effectiveness they still get their money’s worth. This is equally astounding!

The value of advertising can most easily be seen with mass marketed products. For example, a breakfast cereal launches a major advertising campaign; within a few days to weeks the sales figures will reflect the impact of the campaign. With technical and industrial products, the picture is not quite so clear. Few people buy a car or a piece of industrial equipment on impulse. They build up to it over a long period of time, so that the cause-and-effect relationship between advertising and sales is virtually impossible to evaluate.

Nevertheless, advertising is indispensable. So the question is, can you construct advertising campaigns that will assure the best return on investment (ROI), even when that return cannot be directly measured?

The answer is both yes and no. It is “no” if you believe that advertising by nature is more of an art than a science. It is “yes” if you believe that advertising is a combination of both art and science.

It is certainly true that advertising has a major “art” component, i.e. that people who have a “feel” for it are likely to produce better, more effective advertising than people who don’t. Unfortunately, this verity has led to the false conclusion that advertising is predominantly art, i.e. a matter of taste.

When advertising is viewed as largely a question of personal preference, the rational component of the exercise takes second importance. Worse, it often degenerates into a kind of pseudoscience of rules and regulations with no scientific justification:

– Be positive: no one likes negative advertising

– Avoid simple, straightforward headlines; headlines should “tease” readers into the advert

– Use big, bold visuals; people are impressed by pictures

– Show the solution, not the problem: this is reassuring to potential buyers

– Never write more than 15 – 20 words of body copy; no one reads body copy anyhow

– Make payoff lines (slogans) clever and memorable, not explicit and to the point

The summation seems to be: Advertising is entertainment. If you can attract attention and give a show, then you will sell.

One writer on the subject bluntly stated: “Advertising consists of first hitting people in the face with a pie, then delivering your message.” It is of course true that you must attract attention before you can deliver your message. But just how seriously is anyone like to take your message while he is wiping whipped cream off his face?

Advertising may have elements of show business. But if it is only show business, it will fail. On the other hand, if we are more detached in our analysis — i.e. if we put the art of advertising and the science of advertising into better balance — we many learn some valuable lesions. And gain some valuable commercial leverage.

I have done considerably work in pharmaceutical marketing. Doctors are perhaps the most difficult targets in the world, because what you “sell” them is ideas and information, which later on they may or may not turn into prescriptions for their patients. Thus, while the following examples relate specifically to doctors and medicines, the underlying principles are universally valid. Throughout this article, wherever you see the word “doctor”, mentally substitute the name of your potential technical and/or industrial customer and see how well these ideas fit.

Facing the Facts

David Ogilvy, one of the most highly regarded gurus of consumer advertising, asserts: “Very few advertisements contain enough factual information to sell the product. There is a ludicrous tradition among copywriters that consumers aren’t interested in facts. Northing could be farther from the truth.”

If this contention is valid for housewives, how much more valid must it be for doctors!

Medicine is a serious business. When a doctor reads a medical journal, he is looking for medical information. Otherwise, he would be reading something else. It therefore follows: Advertising in medical journals that gives real medical information is likely to attract more attention and achieve better results than advertising which doesn’t.

If this seems self-evident, medical journals bear witness to the opposite. The majority of adverts tend to fall into two categories:

1. Lots of words, but little real information (lack of a focused message).

2. A clever headline, a pleasing picture—and no information at all.

The excuse for the first kind of advert is often: “It is a new product; we need to create a personality for it.” It is hard to imagine how an empty personality, based solely on errant prose, will result in positive promotion.

The excuse for the second category of adverts often is: “It is a well known product; this is simply a reminder advert.” Certainly it makes sense to remind the doctor that a medicine exists. But it makes even more sense to remind him of why he is using it, if he is already using it. Or why he should be using it, if he isn’t.

The 80/20 Rule

The objection will now be raised: Doesn’t this “art + science” concept of advertising necessitate long body copy? Does it make sense to write long body copy when no one reads it anyhow?

Let’s examine this contention in reverse order.

For every 100 doctors who read the headline and look at the visual of an advert, let’s say only 20 will actually read the body. Does this represent an 80% wastage? Emphatically no.

The 80/20 rule is a fundamental tenet of technical and industrial marketing, i.e. in general 80% of sales come from 20% of customers. The same principle applies to advertising.

Readers who just look at the headline and visual, then turn the page, at that moment are not the real customers for the product. Those who remain to read the body copy are the real customers for the product. This is the ideal moment to tell them bout it, because this is when they want to know about it. Otherwise, they too are likely to turn the page and an excellent selling opportunity will be lost.

Body is important, in fact vital, because it is your only real chance to make the sale. But how long should that body copy be?

This is like asking how long is a piece of string. You don’t answer this question by counting the number of words. Rather, you consider the value of the words. The best guide is: If the body copy contains one word more than needed to deliver the message, it is probably too long; if it contains one word less than need to deliver the message, it is definitely too short, regardless of how many words are used!

Of course, it makes no sense to simply print the prescribing information. As Bill Bernbach, a legendary practitioner of consumer advertising, has written: “Be certain that your advertisement says something to the consumer; that it informs and renders a service. Then be certain that it says what it has to say in a way no one has ever said it before.”

Notice the balance in this advice.

First: “Be certain that your advertisement says something to the consumer.” This is advertising as a science. Determining what you want to say about your product and what you ought to say about it are two different things. This is why most good advertising starts with market research. And never lets anything go to press before it has been thoroughly tested.

Second: “Be certain that your advertisement says what it has to say in a way that no one has ever said it before.” This is advertising as an art.

How the advert expresses its message, both visually and verbally, can vary dramatically depending on who is saying it. The total impact the advert will achieve intimately depends on the talents of the art director and the copywriter, the so-called “creates” of the business.

The Use and Abuse of Creativity

Introducing the copywriter and art director into the discussion raises the vexing question of creativity in advertising.

“Creativity” is probably one of the most abused and misused words in English or any other language. As we have seen, some people think it means hitting people in the face with a pie. We have also seen the dangers of this approach. Surprising and shocking people in order to gain their attention can:

– Undermine the credibility of the serious message you are trying to deliver.

– Lead to rapid advertising “wear-out”. You can surprise and shock people only once; after that, you are likely to have no effect. Worse, you may have a negative effect!

Stripped of mythology, saying what you have to say in a way that it has never before been said simply means: Putting forward the essentials of the message in such a way that they cannot be ignored — on the first exposure and on subsequent exposures.

So much emphasis is placed on attracting attention and conveying a message on the first exposure (“pie in the face”), very little thought seems to be given to what will happen, if anything, on the second, third and subsequent exposures. This is the concept of “wear-out”; after how many exposures does the advert stop having any useful impact?

The concept of wear-out is closely allied to the idea of repetition. Unlike supermarket adverts, adverts for prescription pharmaceuticals seldom appear only once (“Buy now before supplies run out; Special discount prices, stock up now”). Instead, they usually run for at least several months, and often a year or longer.

True, few doctors read the same advert more than once, but they cannot help seeing it more than once. They will certainly see it much more often than they will see the pharmaceutical representative who visits them. Advertising is the most frequent and most consistent point of contact between the doctor and the company.

A truly efficient advert should have impact each and every time it is seen — whether it is read each time or not. This is why the fundamental structure is so important. And why it is well worth spending the time and energy to get it right, i.e. concept development not only for journal adverts, but also for brochures, mailings, oral presentations, symposia, etc.

How do you create advertising with such power and longevity?

In general, any advert that communicates the product name and main sell proposition in a flash should continue to work as long as the underlying strategy remains the same. The assumption is, each exposure — even if it is only as long as it takes to turn the page — reinforces previous impressions of the message in the journals, mailings, etc. Adverts that rely on “teaser” headlines or other indirect approaches are more problematical. It is far more likely that the doctor will perceive this kind of advertising as promotion rather than information, and will turn the page with no reinforcement of the selling message.

Courage and Conviction

A truly effective long-life advert may not always appear smashingly striking at first sight; however, if it is well constructed it will grow and gain strength over time. By contrast, an advert that is extremely striking at first sight — this being its major attribute — may in fact lose power over time. Sometimes overnight.

Developing advertisements that sell on first and subsequent exposures admits of no hard and fast rules. Some times it may mean an extremely factual advert that looks almost like editorial copy; other time it may be an advert with a highly emotional content. It all depends on the nature of the product; the nature of the market, and what ideas, true or false, are already in the doctor’s mind.

There is more to good technical and industrial advertising than meets the eye. Indeed, a superficial analysis is likely to be very misleading, with very expensive consequences. To properly evaluate an advertising campaign, it is necessary to know the underlying strategy and the objectives that strategy is designed to achieve.

By way of example, here are the descriptions of three advertising campaigns I produced when I was creative director of a specialized medical advertising agency. You may not fully understand the products, but look closely at the description of each advert.

1. Product: Vasodilator

Objective: Increase prescriptions by repositioning it as the first product of a new, more effective therapeutic class

Headline: “6 Actions on the Blood and the Vessels to Combat Claudication and its Premonitory Symptoms”

Visual: 6 symbols in the form of a rectangle representing the 6 modes of action

Body copy: factual, moderate length

2. Product: Benzodiazepine

Objective: Stabilize leadership position/market share in an anti-benzodiazepine marketing environment

Headline: “My Conditions for Prescribing an Anxiolytic to My Patients”

Visual: Intelligent, serious-looking general practitioner speaking the headline

Body copy: factual, short

3. Beta-2 mimetic bronchodilator

Objective: Maximize sales potential by overcoming market prejudice to using oral beta-2 mimetics in the treatment of nocturnal asthma

Headline: “Asthma: Night Is the Enemy”

Visual: Artist’s impression of the experience of a night-time asthma attack, painted by an asthmatic artist who actually suffers such attacks.

Body copy: factual; extremely short

At first glance the vasodilator and benzodiazepine adverts might appear uninspired, even banal. They are unlikely to win any awards for advertising “creativity”. On the other hand, the asthma advert is exactly the type that could win a creativity award.

Despite their superficial differences, fundamentally they are quire similar. All three adverts had very high awareness and credibility scores. One of the so-called “banal” adverts was so well received — and had such an impact on sales — that when we proposed a more “imaginative” version, the product manager, originally unconvinced by it, growled: “If you touch my advert, I will break your arm.”

Conclusion: All three adverts were extremely creative in the real sense of the word, because they:

1. Clearly reflected the nature of the product

2. Precisely addressed the needs of the market

3. Elicited the desired response (won prescriptions)

The serious advertiser would do well to bear this functional definition of creativity uppermost in mind.

It takes courage to reject an advertising campaign proposal that is striking, cute, funny, artistic, etc., in favor of one that doesn’t seem to possess these desirable characteristics. A so-called “unimaginative” campaign that clearly responds to the needs of the market and has the innate capacity to grow and develop (i.e. continue generating sales) is considerably more creative, in the true sense of the word, than one that flashes like a meteor, then dissipates its energy and loses impact before it has had a chance to do its job.

Philip Yaffe is a former writer with The Wall Street Journal and international marketing communication consultant. He now teaches courses in persuasive communication in Brussels, Belgium. Because his clients use English as a second or third language, his approach to writing and public speaking is somewhat different from other communication coaches. He is the author of In the “I” of the Storm: the Simple Secrets of Writing & Speaking (Almost) like a Professional, available from the publisher (storypublishers.be) and Amazon (amazon.com). Contact: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com, phil.yaffe@gmail.com