Marketing Matters
The finishing touches
By Murray Raphel

A headline and copy capture your attention and explain what you have to sell. If, however, you can add an illustration to your ad, you will increase readership. Here's how to ensure they keep reading after they see an illustration.

1. Show the product in use. Photos of people using your product enhance credibility. Show people in the frames or lenses that you sell.

2. Lead with the illustration. Put the illustration at the top of the ad with a caption underneath, then the headline, then the body copy. That's how people read.

3. Use photographs instead of illustrations. Photographs attract greater readership and sell more merchandise. Exception: Many small-town newspapers have older presses and cannot reproduce good quality photographs. Also, some fashion ads use illustrations to convey a certain look. A good example of this is Lord & Taylor's illustrated ads in The New York Times. Work with your frame and lens distributors who can provide you with top-quality photographs and illustrations.

5. Does the picture alone tell the story? This rule also works in television. Here's how: Turn off the sound. Look at the pictures. Do you know what is being advertised? If not, it's not a good ad. Same goes for illustrations in magazines.

6. Intrigue readers. Make the reader ask, "What does this image mean?" If the picture is provocative, the reader will continue reading to find out what it's all about.

7. Provide proof. Make the picture show what happens when your product is used. People see better wearing your lenses. We once did an ad for the service department of an automobile agency with a photo showing used parts in a plastic bag in the trunk of the car. The point: The firm really did the work and really did put in new parts. And here are the old parts to prove it. Since so many people do not have confidence in auto repairs, this made them feel comfortable. And the service department's business increased because of this illustration.

8. Use photographs of real people. Testimonials are very important. A good example: Contests. Does anybody really win? Publisher's Clearing House shows its truck pulling up to winners' houses in their TV ads and videotapes the reaction when the people are told they've just won a million dollars or 10 million dollars. That's effective!

9. Keep illustrations simple. One person in the ad. One product in the ad. Keep it uncluttered.

10. Catch the eye. If possible: Use a baby, an animal, or something sexy. Those are proven attention-grabbers.

11. Use color. More and more newspapers are offering good color reproduction. In the past, few offered it and those that did often had poor registration (the color didn't fall where it should and a hat became part the flesh color of the face and part the color of the hat). Modern presses have much better quality control. Your cost is about 50 percent more than black and white, but the ad can pull as much as 100 percent more readership. It's a good value.

12. Use captions. Captions under your illustrations are read by twice as many people as those who will read the copy in your ad. So make them selling sentences!

13. Mix art and edit. Make the illustrations look like they are part of an editorial. You see more and more advertising done this way because it attracts about 50 percent more readers.

14. Go vertical. Vertical newspaper ads pull better than horizontal ads. About 25 percent more. One reason: People fold the newspaper and since most of the editorial appears on the top part, they read that section and then turn the page.

15. Stick with black text on white background. In black-and-white ads, reverse type (white on black) will not attract readers. Just the opposite--it turns them off. It's too difficult to read, so they turn the page. A motor club advertised membership with a coupon printed in reverse. Unless you had a pen with white ink, it was impossible to fill out.

16. Sell the merchandise, not the design. Some graphic artists are concerned with winning awards for their great designs, while you're concerned with filling the register. Remind them your goal is what pays their salary.

17. Be wary of type on color backgrounds. Using black type on a dark blue background might be aesthetically attractive, but you can't read the copy. If you can't read the copy, you can't sell the merchandise.

18. Re-check the basics. Do you have the name of your business, the address, a phone number, and the name of contact person listed in your advertisement? If you have free parking, have you said where it is? Look at the ads in this morning's newspaper. Few, if any, remember to put in all of these items.

19. The bottom line. If an ad works, repeat it.

Raphel Marketing is a marketing and publishing firm that specializes in helping small- to medium-sized businesses do more business through better marketing techniques. You can contact the firm at neil@raphel.com.