Advertising Workshop: How not to lose your shirt on bad advertising

by 19 replies
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One word, TEST.

And test small.

Start with headline themes.

Here's an example of the BIG payoff by doing this.

My client friend tested about a dozen theme headlines on Twitter
all going to the same page.

The winner was 10x better [clicks] than second best.

The problem when it comes to testing headlines
is that we can't break out of the same themes,
therefore the differences in test results don't amount to much.

This leads to giving up on testing.

This is natural..."why bother if it isn't worth it".

So let's change that by testing themes,
as this is where the BIG changes in response happens.

Here's a list of them and examples to get your
ideas flowing...

1 news story
"How to tap into the recently announced Government funding
for exporting"

2 rip off report
"Canton used car dealer exposes the shady practice
of car immobilizers on those that default on their loans"

3 moving away from what they don't want
"Escape from the cold New York winter to the warm sands of Maui"

4 moving to what they do want
"25% more patients in the next 6 months"

5 customer reviews
"Fit Studio has transformed my after baby body back to my pre baby body".

6 fear
"Former big time supermarket thief shows where your
business is most vulnerable now".

7 connecting to a deeply held belief
"If you thought those home siding people knocking
on your door were suspect, check this out...".

8 straight value proposition
"Fresh hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes, or it's free".

9 if you give me this, I'll give you this
" Give me 5 minutes and I'll give you a 5 star review".

10 select who this is for
"For the busy professional who demands excellent landscaping service".

11 connecting to a specific pain point
"If you've been let down by your lawncare guy,
this is for you...".

12 straight guarantee
Corns gone in 5 days or all your money back".

13 guilt
"Do you leave your dog home alone too often?".

14 combination of what they do want and don't want
"How to get 25% more buyers off your website
without spending a dime more on traffic or more time".

15 How to do something
How to land a trophy Red Deer or all your money back.

16 Challenge the reader
Everything you know about sports recovery is wrong according to new
study

17 Curiosity
Do you make these mistakes in writing headlines?

18 Don't buy
Warning: Don't buy web design until you get answers to these 5 questions

19 why something doesn't work
Why joint supplement ingredients Chondroitin and
Glucosamine don't work.

20 use the negative
I took billions from pensions. Vote for me.
[POLITICAL AD WITH THE PIC OF OPPOSING PARTY LEADER]

22 a jarring statement
You Don't Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate

There you go, big gains are sitting waiting for you by testing those themes
and headlines on Twitter, then use the winning theme in all your advertising.

Best,
Doctor E. Vile

P.S. I've added more, thanks to Ozzy for the reminder.
If anybody else cares to add more, I'll add them too.
#offline marketing #advertising #bad #lose #shirt #workshop
  • Pretty well do the same thing with your adwords campaigns to determine what wording to use on cards, flyers and other promotional advertising such as words down the side of your van / shop display the list goes on.

    A good post Ewen.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Cool.

      Yes Adwords is another platform to test ad themes.

      And yes, it sets you up long term as to what theme triggers response
      and use that new knowledge on all your ad media/collateral.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
      • [1] reply
  • As an extension of the 14 I'd Iike to add

    Challenge... "The Idea of Tough Mudder is to not to win...but to have a story to tell" ...NY times

    and

    Curiosity..."Which of these headlines converted and why?"
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • I don't pay to test head lines. I just use software that generates high quality headlines.

      There are also online headline generators.
      • [1] reply
    • [DELETED]
    • Thanks for the reminder,
      I've added yours and some more to the list.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
      • [1] reply
  • Banned
    Really helpful, thanks, may I ask if you use any specific tracking platform/software with this methodology?
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Twitter and Adwords accounts have tracking.

      Since there is only one source of traffic to the landing page, in my friends case, LeadPages, they give out the stats.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
  • It's really a great list of things that I need to keep in my mind from next time, Thanks for the list
    • [1] reply
    • I've added a jarring statement and a example of one that
      has been used for over 20 years.

      It's used in re-targeting,
      in airline magazine advertising and on their website.

      Best,
      Doctor E. Vile
  • This is great, I believe the same can be tweaked and used in the script as well while prospecting..
    • [1] reply
    • Another good way to develop a theme (big idea) is to take note of what your successful competition is using... and swipe it.

      Obviously you can't use the same words (that's copyright infringement), but you can certainly use the idea. Just express it using different words.

      Alex
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • I saw this post late night a week ago. I woke up early this morning on a hunt through my computer because I couldn't remember where I was reading about these headline suggestions.

    This is one of those rare posts that you want to save in Evernote or some place where it is easy to reference. Thanks ewanmack for contributing it.

    Whether you're coming up with the headlines yourself, using a swipe file, or a computer generated Franken-headline (you know, Frankenstein), I think the big key is testing themes as suggested.

    As Eugene Schwartz points out in Breakthrough Advertising, you have to establish what stage your product is in - and that's what this theme testing helps you do. And it's an ongoing thing. The theme that works now may be beaten by a different theme 6 or 12 months from now.

    Anyway, this post has jarred me awake as it relates to my headline tests. So thanks for that.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
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