Profiting From Newspaper Ads

When faced with many advertising alternatives, many PCOs turn to their local newspaper to advertise their services. Newspaper advertising is practical and of reasonable cost for service companies like pest control. The principles of advertising in a newspaper are much the same as for advertising in the Yellow Pages. The main difference is that newspaper advertising has a limited life, usually less than a day, so it is important that your ad has "stopping power."

In 1843, the first ad agency was opened by Volney Palmer and ever since, the "What makes a good advertisement?" argument has raged on. The argument has never been settled. No one has discovered the magic bullet that will ensure a targeted hit every time. But despite the argument, we all know that some ads are successful and some are not. This article will offer suggestions that may make your newspaper advertising pull in the calls to help your company grow and prosper in 2000.

Before discussing strategies in newspaper ad development, let’s look at what your ad should not be:

• It should not be so creative that the true message is hidden. Think about the eye catching, cute and clever TV commercials you’ve seen but that you just can’t recall what product the commercial advertised. In these cases, the ad was creative and entertaining, but not effective at making you aware of the product.

• It should not be designed with copywriters and art directors in mind first and consumers second. It’s important to target your ad to your potential audience, address their concerns and point out your benefits to offset those concerns.

Regardless of the medium, there is one advertising rule that applies to any kind of advertising in any kind of industry: be simple, clear and direct. Newspaper readers spend only seconds scanning ads, so an ad will probably go unread if it requires too much effort to understand it. Avoid subtle, play-on-words that require the reader to think deeply to understand the meaning.

The evolution of an ad. Remember one fundamental fact: advertising cannot create a desire for, nor can it sell, a pest control service. It can only focus existing needs toward a particular pest control service provider. This is why aiming your ad at your target audience is so important.

Not sure what your ad should do? Any ad, whether it’s for the newspaper or Yellow Pages, should begin by stressing the main benefit you provide to your customers. Is it your rapid response? Is it your pest specialty? Is it your personal service?

Your ads should arouse curiosity and invite readership. Point out an unrecognized need by discussing potential insect damage or problems of which people may be unaware.

Make an offer. Many newspaper ads fail to make it clear exactly what the company is offering. Is it a discount? Is it a new service? A really great ad will cause the reader to react by calling you.

Write stoppable headlines. Probably the best technique to stop readers as they scan the morning paper is an eye-catching headline. Most ad writers spend considerably more time writing an enticing headline than they do in writing the actual ad copy because the headline is the most important component of an ad. So, start with the headline and back it up with body copy. Think of the headline as the "ad for the ad." A headline can be as short or as long as it needs to be to get your point across and catch the reader’s attention.

Getting started. Start with the reader in mind, not your service or your company. Think of what’s really important to the reader before you begin writing. The reader’s own concerns, desires, fears and problems are more important to them than your service. Focus on the prospect and how your service will provide a solution to the problem. Least important to the reader is your company itself. For example, many pest control companies highlight their number of years of service in the community but fail to translate this into a benefit to the reader.

Write as many reasons as you can why readers should buy your service. Then decide which are most important and begin writing body copy about this benefit.

Use a plain, conversational style as you write. Avoid technical jargon and unclear references.

Decide what you want readers to do — then ask them to do it. Do you want them to call? Are you offering a discount with an ending date? At the end of the copy, spell out the desired action you wish the reader to take and mention the reasons to take it. If the desired action is a phone call, put your phone number prominently at the bottom of your ad. A dotted line around the phone number that looks like a coupon will also attract attention.

Photos or illustrations. Next to the headline, a strong visual element that supports the main idea attracts attention. Together, the headline and strong visual element should pass on your message alone. The reader should understand the meaning of the ad from these two elements alone. Then, when readers are sufficiently interested they will read the body copy.

In ad tests, simple graphics attract the most interest. If, however, the headline is strong, a graphic may not be needed at all.

Frequency. If you commit to advertising in your local newspaper, be prepared to repeat your ad at least three times in fairly rapid succession. It’s likely that your ad in a weekly paper each week for 6 weeks in your busy season will bring in more calls than one ad every month.

Be observant. Study ads from other industries and discover ways to create similar concepts to advertise your pest control service.

Track your leads. Until you track leads from all of your marketing efforts, you can only guess at their effectiveness. Simply instruct the people who answer your phones to inquire as to where the caller heard about your service. Keep a running tab and in time, you’ll be able to draw conclusions about what works best for your particular company and what does not.

Newspaper ads are part of an integrated marketing plan. Newspaper ads are most likely not your only means of marketing. To present a unified image, try to maintain a similar look in your newspaper ads, Yellow Page ads, direct marketing efforts, company literature and your image in general. That way, each independent effort will support the others.

DON’T EXPECT TOO MUCH. Wonderful, eye-catching newspaper advertising isn’t the cure-all to your marketing concerns, however. It won’t sell a bad service or business. If your technicians do not carry your good image directly to the customer, no amount of advertising can help. Once the word is out that your service is inferior, prospective customers will not call. If you don’t back up what you advertise with good service, you’ll be wasting precious ad dollars.

Advertising experts agree (by research through consumer studies) that in ads, certain words are more appealing than others are. Some eye-catching words include:

• New

• New & Improved

• Now

• Amazing

• Fast

• Easy

• Introducing

• Unique

• Free

• Sale

• Special

• How to _____

• How to avoid _____

• Yours free

• Free trial offer

• Discount

• Free inspection

Write at least 10 headlines for your ad and test them by getting reaction from others. Here are some examples and comments on several types of headlines:

• Headline #1: XYZ Pest Control. This generic headline containing only the
company name does little to move a reader to action.

• Headline #2: XYZ Pest Control Helps Prevent Insect Problems. This company’s
benefit is pest prevention, so that’s the ad’s concept. Still, this isn’t very strong.

• Headline #3: Homeowners: XYZ Pest Control Helps Prevent Insect Problems.
This version is stronger, targets a specific audience and explains a benefit. This
is good if your targeted audience is specifically owners of single-family homes.

• Headline #4: How more than 200 homeowners benefit from pest prevention
services. In this example, we have: 1) targeted our audience (homeowners);
2) explained the benefit (pest prevention); and, 3) promised important news,
leading the reader into the copy ("How..." lead in).

• Headline #5: Homeowners: Do you make these 3 mistakes when keeping
pests out of your home? Using a question in a headline is an effective method
to lead the reader in the copy as well. The first two "mistakes" could be based
on your observations in your geographical area about specific pest problems
and the third mistake must be "Not calling XYZ Pest Control."

• Headline #6: Three ways homeowners are keeping insects out of their
homes. Working in the reverse of #5, this headline offers efforts a homeowner
can make to exclude pests. The last of the three ways is "Call XYZ Pest Control."