More people read captions on pictures than copy. That’s why it’s a good place to say “clap” if you think Tandem CEO Ricky Knox should do a Schweppes ad.

14 amazing tips you can use to improve ROI on your print advertising

This is part two of a summary of David Ogilvy’s classic book “Ogilvy on advertising”.( Click here if you missed part one). We’re writing this series as we’re working on our first big advertising campaign at Tandem Bank this year and we want to share the most useful things we learn about marketing and branding with you as we go.

Print advertising was Ogilvy’s speciality and although the book was originally written in 1983, he has lots of interesting insights that remain relevant. Most are principles that still hold true in the world of digital marketing.

Here’s his 14 must-knows about print advertising, which make a great place to start testing if your current copy is not performing as well as you’d like it to.

1. Headlines get 5x the readership
   Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with the body copy.
2. This headline promises a benefit to YOU the reader
   Put the promise in the headline. That’s what most people read.
3. BIG UPDATE: Headlines containing news perform better
   It can be the announcement of a new product, an improvement to an old product or even a new use for an old product.
   Headlines with news are recalled by 22% more people than headlines without news.
4. Now Suddenly Introducing Amazing New Headlines
   See how that caught your eye, even amongst a sea of headlines? The words in bold are tried and tested attention-grabbers. Why not use them?
5. How to write a good headline
   People are attracted to useful information, so ‘how to’ also performs above average.
6. Your Brand and Headline work better in Tandem
   If most people only read the headlines, you need to put your brand in there if possible. See what I’ve done?
7. Lazy Marketers need to read this headline
   If you’re advertising to a niche, make sure to call out that niche in your headline.
8. Short Headlines get read
   Which is great, but…
9. Longer Headlines can often lead to more sales for your business
   So they’re good too.
10. “28% more people will remember this headline”
    Because it’s in quotations.
11. Don’t write ‘headless wonders’ like this. You need a headline.
12. Stay ahead-line of the game
    By not using tricky headlines like the above with puns and double meanings. They just confuse people. You’re competing with hundreds of other headlines. People just don’t have time to understand them and quickly move on.
13. Blind headlines
    That don’t say what the product or the promise is perform 20% worse.
14. London loves headlines
    About London. Include the name of the city you are advertising in if the publication is local to a city. People are most interested in the city where they live as it feels like news and to use a facebook term, has higher relevance to them.

Have you got proof that any of these work/don’t work anymore from your own experience? Let us know in the comments below.

10 claps = I read the image caption and agree,
Now I’m going to check out part three.
Click here to go back to part one.