- If you decide to use pictures, remember they are in the ad to help sell goods. That's all. They take up expensive ad space and should tell a story at first glance. It should be of the product in use or the results of using the product. Other examples are before and after pictures, and reward or attainment pictures, like a student receiving a diploma in an educational advertisement.
- Business people often change their ad campaigns too often. They get tired of seeing their ad before the public does. You need to be tracking your ad results to know what works, and stick with them until you develop new ads that prove themselves through measurable results. In the mail order world, there are ads that have run unchanged for 40 years because testing shows they still draw inquiries.
- Times change, but people do not. The basic human wants and desires are the same as they were 60 years ago and will be 60 years from now. The words 'Free' and 'New' are just as powerful. Ads that appeal to self-interest and desire for self-improvement still work. Ads that offer news still work. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just learn how it goes around.
- Don't try to create an advertisement in fifteen minutes. This is one of the worst things you can do. Rushing the creation of advertising will most likely result in a terrible ad. You should have a few done and ready, and some on the drawing board at all times. Design them in various sizes and you will always be ready to take advantage of any situation.
- After you have finished your ad, print it on your printer in the exact size that you will be running it. Take a copy of the publication you will be running it in, and tape it on the page. That will give you a good idea of what it will look like when it goes to press. Keep changing it until you are satisfied how it looks.
- Test. Test. Test. Test. You need to test every component in an ad to see what works best. What headline, what offer, what price point, etc. If you have two different headlines that you feel are very strong, you can test both using a split run. Just remember to test one at a time and use a key-code. A key-code is something that identifies the specific ad someone is responding to, such as a department number, a special phone number, or a coupon with a code on it.
While print advertising is still a major tool in your marketing tool chest, to be good at it you will have to develop a series of skills including copywriting, tracking, ROI analysis, and price negotiating. You will also need to learn how to integrate your print advertising into a coordinated marketing plan.