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How to write ads that sell

Written by: Mark Gwilliam

Article Overview: If you want to write ads and letters that fill your order book, you must study the classic ads of Claude Hopkins in his book Scientific Advertising. He still ranks as the greatest ad writer of all time.

How to write ads that sell

I have 20 13 6 copies of Scientific Advertising available for the next 20 13 6 subscribers who sign up for my complimentary “Successful Marketing Strategies” eZine. Just pop your details in the box in the top left hand corner of this page and I’ll send you a copy.

Claude Hopkins’ marketing secrets generated fortunes. Palmolive soap, Quaker oats, Pepsodent toothpaste and countless other famous brands owe much of their success to him. But, what really makes Claude Hopkins remarkable is in 1923, he concluded inside Scientific Advertising, “The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science.”

He goes on to say, “Advertising, once a gamble, has thus become, under able directions, one of the safest ventures. Certainly no other enterprise with comparable possibilities need involve so little risk.”

In other words, close to a century ago he had advertising figured out. If you followed his guidance, you were certain to gain a strong return on your advertising investment.

In 1923, Hopkins was earning well over $100,000 a year as an advertising copywriter, which would be in excess of $2,000,000 today! Many of the marketing lessons you hear from direct-response marketing teachers or copywriters are swiped directly from this report. Yet, in recent years, most mainstream advertisers have forgotten all of this wisdom.

They’ve replaced measurable results with branding. An ad campaign may show zero improvement in sales, but still be called successful by the advertising agency. “It will help the long-term sales of the product,” they may say. And, by the time, you find-out if this is true… you’re out a small fortune. Small businesses must close the doors forever and it may result in layoffs for big businesses. Hopes and dreams are lost.

On the other end of the spectrum, Claude Hopkins learned from the trenches of “make or break” direct mail advertising. As he put it, “The severest test of an advertising man is in selling goods by mail… Their cost and result are immediate apparent.”

In other words, if his promotions didn’t produce results, all would be revealed. Sales either came in from the promotion nearly immediately… or it failed. I highly encourage you to read Scientific Advertising if you’re involved in any business or marketing activity. You will NOT regret it.

Grab your FREE copy by being one of the first 20 subscribers who sign up for my complimentary “Successful Marketing Strategies” eZine. Just pop your details in the box in the top left hand corner of this page and I’ll send you a copy.

David Ogilvy (one of the most famous advertising men) is quoted as saying, “Nobody should be allowed to have anything to do with advertising until he has read this book seven times. It changed the course of my life.”

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Article Tags: ad campaign, advertising agency, advertising copywriter, advertising man, claude hopkins, comparable possibilities, copywriters, direct mail advertising, direct response marketing, hopes and dreams, layoffs, left hand corner, marketing strategies, measurable results, palmolive soap, quaker oats, scientific advertising, small fortune, successful marketing, toothpaste



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