Alright, let’s gab about them ads in the newspaper, you know, the ones that tell you what to buy and where to go. Folks call ‘em “newspaper advertisements,” kinda fancy, huh? But to me, they’re just ads, plain and simple.
Now, these ads, they come in different shapes and sizes. Some are just little squiggly words, real cheap-like, they call them “Classified Text Ads.” You know, the ones you gotta squint to read, looking for a used tractor or a lost dog. Then there are them bigger ones, with pictures and all, trying to sell you fancy cars and whatnot. And there’s those really big ones, taking up half a page, those are for the big shots, the stores in the city trying to get us country folk to drive all the way in.
So, how do you make a good ad, one that actually gets people to open their wallets? Well, first off, you gotta grab their attention. You need a headline, something that makes ‘em stop and say, “Well, I’ll be darned!” Something like, “Free Pie with Every Purchase!” That’ll get ‘em lookin’.
- Catchy Headline is Important: Gotta make folks stop and read.
- Clear Call to Action: Tell ‘em what you want ‘em to do.
- Benefits, Benefits, Benefits: Tell ‘em what they get, not just what it is.
Then you gotta tell ‘em what to do. You can’t just leave ‘em hanging! You gotta say, “Come on down to the store!” or “Call this number now!” Gotta be clear, like a bell ringin’ on a Sunday mornin’. That’s what them city folk call a “call to action.” Sounds fancy, but it just means tellin’ folks what you want ‘em to do.
And don’t forget to tell ‘em why they should bother. Don’t just say you’re selling apples, say you’re selling the sweetest, juiciest apples they ever tasted. Don’t say you’re sellin’ shoes, say you’re sellin’ shoes that’ll make their feet feel like they’re walkin’ on clouds. People wanna know what’s in it for them, not just what you’re sellin’. That’s what they call “benefits-oriented copy.” Again with the fancy words, but it just means tellin’ folks what they get, not just what it is.
Now, if you’re one of them big businesses, wanting to put an ad in the paper, you gotta talk to the newspaper people. They got a whole department just for ads. You gotta tell ‘em when you want your ad to run. You can’t just show up on Tuesday and expect your ad to be in the paper on Wednesday. It takes time, you know? Like bakin’ a good cake, you can’t rush it.
And you gotta make sure you understand what they need from you. They got rules, just like everythin’ else in life. You can’t just scribble somethin’ on a napkin and expect them to print it. Gotta be neat, gotta be clear. Gotta follow their rules, or your ad won’t see the light of day.
Now, some folks might say, “Why bother with newspaper ads? Ain’t nobody readin’ newspapers no more.” But I say, that’s just hogwash. Sure, there’s them radios and them TVs now, but folks still read the paper. Especially us older folks. We like to sit down with a cup of coffee and read the paper in the mornin’. It’s a habit, you know? And them ads in the paper, they’re part of that habit. Radio ads, well, they’re just voices in the air, you hear them and then they’re gone. But a newspaper ad, well, you can look at it as long as you want. You can cut it out and stick it on your fridge. You can’t do that with a radio ad.
So, them ads, they’re important. They tell us what’s going on, what’s for sale, what’s new in town. They connect the folks who are sellin’ with the folks who are buyin’. They even try to change how we think about things. Maybe an ad convinces you that you need a newfangled gadget you never even knew existed. That’s the power of advertising, you see. It’s about tellin’ folks what they need, even if they don’t know it yet.
So next time you’re readin’ the paper, don’t just skip over the ads. Take a look. See what they’re sellin’. See how they’re tryin’ to get your attention. You might just find somethin’ you need, or somethin’ you want, or somethin’ you never even knew you couldn’t live without. And that, my friends, is the whole point of them ads in the newspaper.
