Why Reading is so Vital to Marketing, Part Two

In Part One of this article—Why Reading is so Vital to Marketing—I posed the question, “Why put any copy in your advertisement at all?”

To answer that question, I began telling a story about how I was able to pick out two actual home buyers from a mass of 10,000 Open House visitors.

The Halteman Secret

It all started when our senior builder, Joe Halteman, began sharing his secret with me, , , “Get yourself a big piece of poster board and an easel. Draw a rendering of the front of your home at the top and put the price underneath it.”

I was all ears!

“Then fill up the rest of the poster with a long list of every conceivable feature in your home, , , twenty or thirty or forty items or more, , , even the stainless steel doggie door. (Bullet point copy, I do believe!)

“Now, , , here’s how you find your real live buyers. Your whole job as you greet your visitors is to watch that poster.

Actually, focus on the last line of the poster. Just watch everyone who reads it. The person you are looking for is the one who reads the last line.

“When you see someone read all the way to the bottom, you’ve found your buyer. Only then, do you walk up and say, , , ‘do you have any other questions?’”

I did exactly as he suggested. I watched. And I watched. And, as I live and breathe, I only saw two people read the whole poster.

“I Sold a New Home to Both of Them!”

Quite a start-up for the young Kronz boys. (Click on the remake of the poster to enlarge.)

Now I have to tell you Papa Joe’s punch line when he commissioned me to do the poster. As an advertiser, tattoo this on the insides of your eyelids,“The process of reading qualifies buyers!”

Folks, the only people who read long copy are buyers (or potential buyers). Who is it you are hunting? Dah?

The key then is simple, , , Err! Get (more) people to read your ads. Or, make readers out of your marginal and non-readers. Hence the importance of readability. So then, you must increase the readership of your ads. You need readers! Another way to put it is,

“The More They Read, The More They Buy”

Consider this, , , the only time you read about ink-jet printers is when you are about to buy an ink-jet printer. The same thing holds true regarding all the product you read about. You read the labels on cans when you are about to buy the food.

But, making your ads more readable is a complex issue. I submit that there are at least five sciences involved that you should learn about and use.

In the days that follow, I will post five lessons covering The Five Sciences of Readability, plus my conclusion to the long copy-short copy argument.

Wayne Kronz

P.S. Included here is my re-make of the poster I created at Mr. Joe Halteman's suggestion. It is correct, to the best of my memory :>) (Actual rendering of home.)

P.P.S. If this line of thinking makes sense to you, email your friends about this blog, , , remember, all of this career-boosting information is absolutely FREE.

Plus my bonus, , , When Not to Use a Lot of Sales Copy.