Do you punctuate your advertising?
Discussion
I've got a proof back from our Yell advert and there isn't one piece of punctuation to be found, anywhere.
Now I do like to see a nice bit of punctuation, but as it's predominantly a graphic do the usual rules apply? The use of case is correct, but everything else punctuation wise is missing. Is this a sin or is it normal?
Now I do like to see a nice bit of punctuation, but as it's predominantly a graphic do the usual rules apply? The use of case is correct, but everything else punctuation wise is missing. Is this a sin or is it normal?
The rest of it is just an ordered list of services we offer.
I think the heading needs punctuating, the girls head should extend all the way to the text in the same way as the blokes fingers do and the line "Remote desktop maintenance" should be changed to "Desktop PC maintenance" and moved to second in the list.
I'm happy with the overall style and the colour scheme (it goes with our other company literature etc.) but we've reduced the size of the advert for this year so I need to make best use of the available space.
Ah right, I see the issue.
I think it looks about right, the only issues being:
1) 'Over 20 years experience' probably needs an apostrophe at the end of 'years'
2) Postcode is missing
I think your concern over punctuation in the headline is not helped by the font with its clumsy outline. A different font might help.
Also, the impact is lost a bit because you have the company name above the headline - I'd move this to above the phone number
Visually the hand on the left doesn't go with the girl on the right. Is it her hand? No, it's a man's. What's he holding and is he going to stick it in the girl's eye? By the time you've figured those out, you've forgotten what the advert is about. I think EITHER girl on phone OR bloke with thingy, but not both in that layout.
I think it looks about right, the only issues being:
1) 'Over 20 years experience' probably needs an apostrophe at the end of 'years'
2) Postcode is missing
I think your concern over punctuation in the headline is not helped by the font with its clumsy outline. A different font might help.
Also, the impact is lost a bit because you have the company name above the headline - I'd move this to above the phone number
Visually the hand on the left doesn't go with the girl on the right. Is it her hand? No, it's a man's. What's he holding and is he going to stick it in the girl's eye? By the time you've figured those out, you've forgotten what the advert is about. I think EITHER girl on phone OR bloke with thingy, but not both in that layout.
Keep the girl - loose the hand and make the list of services stand out more.
You say you're making the advert smaller to save costs this year, maybe no ad would save you even more. Do you know how much response you get from a Yellow Pages ad? Is that a YP specific IP telephone number with incoming call stats, so you can test and measure response?
You say you're making the advert smaller to save costs this year, maybe no ad would save you even more. Do you know how much response you get from a Yellow Pages ad? Is that a YP specific IP telephone number with incoming call stats, so you can test and measure response?
Couple of general comments about the ad.
First, given that the title includes the word 'support' - soft, fluffy, comforting - the email address is then 'sales@' which suggests no comfort, just cost. Maybe use 'support@'?
Also, do you need the full business address? Given your business type, wouldn't just 'Werrington, Peterborough' do? May even cut down your junk snail mail.
First, given that the title includes the word 'support' - soft, fluffy, comforting - the email address is then 'sales@' which suggests no comfort, just cost. Maybe use 'support@'?
Also, do you need the full business address? Given your business type, wouldn't just 'Werrington, Peterborough' do? May even cut down your junk snail mail.
BliarOut said:
I think the heading needs punctuating, the girls head should extend all the way to the text in the same way as the blokes fingers do and the line "Remote desktop maintenance" should be changed to "Desktop PC maintenance" and moved to second in the list.
I'm happy with the overall style and the colour scheme (it goes with our other company literature etc.) but we've reduced the size of the advert for this year so I need to make best use of the available space.
My other thought with the clip art is does it *actually add anything*?
There may very well be a number of other ads in the yellow pages with attractive clip art and offering the same services, but in that situation your ad will simply be hidden in the sea. Not only that the valuable space you could have used for a bolder set of customer benefits is lost.
To illustrate my points consider the headline:
IT support when you need it most
Nice, but for me there is little impact - no reason for me to call. Put yourself in the shoes of someone looking through the Yellow Pages. Why are they looking, and what for? Compare the first headline with:
Do you need IT support NOW?
There's an obvious answer - the internal speech in the viewers brain says 'yes' - and then they start reading.
Then start thinking about the keywords. You should be able to make silent 'ticks' appear on the customer's spec-sheet in the first sentence. Maybe:
Rapid, friendly, support and installations with 20 years of proven results.
Then you can start listing the areas of expertise.
As a tip - if you want to stop people dead and view a headline - make the headline white inside a black background. No-one else does it, and you will stand out.
Images are all wrong IMHO - You've got the girl looking at the end of the cable, which makes it look like she's looking at the end of it because she's holding it - and the arm obviously isn't hers, makes it look v. odd and not very professionally done (The TNR and plain black company name and lots of squashed text don't help either).
If I honestly saw that and was looking for similar services, I'd wonder if you weren't doing well enough to pay someone to layout/design the advert properly for you. Sorry.
If I honestly saw that and was looking for similar services, I'd wonder if you weren't doing well enough to pay someone to layout/design the advert properly for you. Sorry.
Edited by LivinLaVidaLotus on Monday 21st December 16:17
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