This Single Mistake Could Be Burning Your Ad Budget

How is it possible that ads can have a good offer, a strong reason to buy, and still not perform? 

There is one change you can make today to make sure you turn someone scrolling on the couch into an eager client.

Why Many Ads Don’t Even Get Read

Imagine if you heard about a great novel. You’ve heard that it has unforgettable characters, a thrilling plot, and a lasting impact on you.

That sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

So you decide to try it out. You walk into the bookstore and look all over for it. 

You finally find it, but…

The cover is horrifically ugly. The title is boring.

You may be asking how this links to writing ads, and here’s the link:

You must start off with a bang; a good first impression.

If your hook is forgettable, then your whole ad falls apart.

Here’s why:

The Most Important Part Of An Ad

Our human attention span is getting worse. 

In fact, it is 1 second shorter than a goldfish’s!

We have to accept this and work around short attention spans - this can be done by interesting the reader from the start.

The start being the headline and the image used for the ad.

Advertising legend David Ogilvy once ordered a deep case study into imagery.

The results?

He found that people first looked at an ad’s image. If the image interested them, then they would scan the headline.

In other words…

You can have the most life-changing ad ever. It could literally be on how to achieve world peace.

But if you don’t have a graphic that stands out or a memorable headline… Then it’s all for nothing.

The Hack To Creating Irresistible Images

We can split the art behind graphics into 2 simple sections:

1. How they interest the reader into wanting to read on,

2. The colours chosen.

You may be asking,

“The colours? Why do the colours matter?”

I thought it was ridiculous too. Then I read about this research conducted:

 “People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. About 90% of this assessment is based on colours alone.” - Researcher Satyendra Singh

The best way to make your graphic stand out is to see what your competitors aren’t doing - you want to stand out like a peacock in a field of pigeons.

Check the background colour of the site you want to advertise on. If the background is white, then make the graphic a darker colour.

Because that’s not what people will be used to, making them interested.

So now that’s 50% of grabbing attention. Let’s get onto the final part:

An unforgettable headline.

How Do You Write A Good Headline?

As mentioned before, the next thing people scan after the image is the header.

This is the final component of a hook. Here is how to master it:

Marketing legend and bestselling author Dan Kennedy has a way to stretch your brain to write perfect headers.

This single question will be game-changing…

“If you wrote a headline and told the reader how to get in touch with you afterwards, would the ad sell itself?”

Basically, if you didn’t write an ad and JUST wrote a header, would people buy it?

The headline should sell itself.

In the earlier example of the novel, the cover and the title sell the book.

Because no one will read if they aren’t given a reason to.

The First Thing You Can Do Today To Improve Ad Results

Look back over your proposed graphics and headlines. Make sure that:

The graphic stands out.

The headline would sell itself with how interesting it is.

If you’re using Facebook ads, then make sure that your image size is at least 1200x628 pixels wide. This is the standard size.

If you need help writing ads for your business to fully book your calendar with clients, then get in touch with us today.