How to Create an Effective Print Ad

Writen by Ikechukwu Stanley 26th September, 2012

The Essentials of Advertising for Your Business  

Your business's print advertisements need to give readers a reason to be interested in your business; they must be clear, succinct, informative, and inviting. Your print ad has just a split second to attract attention and quickly explain why your product or service has some lasting benefits to those who read about it. This procedure can help you create an eye-catching print ad:

1. Hammer out your headlines

In nearly all cases, the headline is the single most-important element of a print ad. Strive to be clear and concise in your headlines. Avoid the temptation to become so “creative” that your meaning is lost or obscured.

Where the headline is placed within, the ad is as important as what the headline says. You need to make sure that the headline dominates the ad so it can be quickly understood. Too often, the headline, which includes the most important information within an ad, is lost in a muddle of too many type fonts, graphics, and other elements.

2. Shape your subheads.

In addition to the main headline, a subhead can impart secondary information. The headline must grab readers, but the subhead can explain the deal further. Not all ads require a subhead, but this element, generally set in smaller type, is there to give the reader additional information without cluttering up your ad.

3. Build your body copy

The body copy, also known as the sell copy, is where you can explain your offer in detail. But, like everything else in a good print ad, you need to keep the body copy brief — and possibly not include it at all.

4. Generate your graphics/image.

The graphic/image element of your ad is there to attract the readers’ eyes and interest them enough to read your body copy. The graphic/image element usually calls attention to, or complements, the headline — the two elements work together to create the overall ambience of the ad.

Make sure your ad's graphic/image element is relevant to what you’re selling. A photo of a girl in a bikini isn’t the best way to sell anything except bikinis. Health and fitness spas are always using bathing suit babes as their central graphic. (Are people really dumb enough to believe that those women are actually members?)

Note: The rules of graphics/image can be broken except if you know how to disrupt and when to disrupt.

Disruption is a unique way of ensuring that positive change is implemented and based on a firm knowledge of the category a brand operates within.

5. 
   Decide on a final layout.

The design and layout of an ad is everything. This figure illustrates a sample layout for a magazine ad. If you stick to this kind of layout, you can’t go wrong.

How to Design a Print Ad
If you have never designed a print advertisement, it can be somewhat intimidating at first. But by following some simple guidelines, you can be sure to have clear and effective ads in every issue of your newsletter. Be sure to check out our before and after redesign of a sample ad at the end of this article!

Contrast is Good
 
Space is at a premium for any print ad. How do you get your reader's attention working with such little room? The first step is to emphasize contrast. Although there are thousands of fonts available now, it is still important to remember to use only one or two in an ad. Too many typefaces can distract the reader and make your ad difficult to read.
Placing any type in all capitals is generally a bad idea as well. Text in all capitals has little contrast, as all the letters are the same height. Studies show that people’s brains process text written in lower case letters much better. In fact, the brain processes familiar words partly by the shape they form when written in lower case letters. By using all capitals, you slow your reader down, making it less likely he or she will actually read and comprehend your ad.
White space is also an important element to include in your ad. White space is essentially empty space. While it may seem to be a waste of precious space in so small an area, white space actually will make your ad clearer and more easily understood. Remember that, although you are trying to squeeze in all your information, a solid block of text won’t be read at all.

Balancing Act
 
Balance in a print advertisement is an important element as well. And this doesn’t mean you necessarily have to center everything in your ad. In fact, it is often more interesting to place elements of your ad aligned all to the right or all to the left. Try to get balance from strategically placing elements such as graphics, type, and logos in such a way that your ad flows well and is balanced across the space. If one side is heavy in type, place a large-scale logo or graphic on the other side.

Picture This
 
Studies show that ads with graphics or illustrations get read more often than ads with only text. And the best ads of all use images that are interesting and large! As a general rule, your graphics should take up at least a quarter of your available space and can go up from there. Small graphics are distracting to your readers and do not have enough interest to draw a reader into the ad.

Follow the Reader
 
When consider how to design an ad, it is helpful to know what type of market you are speaking to. Some ads need to take a formal tone, while others can benefit from being playful and fun. In general, though, all readers follow the same type of pattern when scanning an ad. Most people read ads in a kind of reversed “S” pattern. That is, they scan an ad beginning at the top left and end up down at the bottom right. It is helpful to remember this pattern when you are laying out your ad.

Call to Action
 
When designing a print ad, don’t forget the main purpose of the ad—to sell! You have to give the reader a clear path to take. This can be as simple as remembering to place a phone number in a prominent place in the ad. Or it can be more detailed and can include such elements as coupons, special offers, or a web address. This should be both the starting and ending point of your print ad design. Know before you start what your objective is, and end by critically examining your ad to make sure that it meets that goal.

Mistakes to Avoid
 
Too much clutter – Don’t forget the importance of white space. If you can’t fit in all the information you had hoped to, consider going with a larger sized ad, or editing down your information to a more manageable amount.
Unclear message – Make sure you know what you are trying to get your reader to do before you start to design your ad. Keep this objective in mind at all times and review your ad when you are done to make sure this has been accomplished.
Errors – Even though it may seem easy to proofread such a small set of type, sometimes errors show up and are glossed over through every time. To be safe, have someone else review your ad for you also.
Lack of contact information – This common error is particularly frustrating for readers. You may have convinced your reader to contact you or purchase your products, but if they can’t easily find contact information, they will probably not bother to look much further.

Before & After
 
Below is an ad before a redesign and after some changes. The ideas presented above were used to clean up this ad and make it more effective, clear, and more likely to be read. Notice that, even though, there seems to be less text in the after ad, in fact they both give the same information. Which ad do you prefer? Which do you think is more likely to be read?

Ikechukwu Stanley: Public Relations

Public relations (PR) is a way for companies, organizations or people to enhance their reputations. This task typically is performed by public relations professionals or PR firms on behalf of their clients. PR usually involves communicating with the media and through the media to present the clients in the most favorable way possible. It also often involves cooperative efforts with other people and organizations to create good will within the community and enhance the client's image.

Image is Important

The business world can be extremely competitive. Companies typically want to have something that makes them stand out from the crowd, something that makes them more appealing and interesting to both members of the public and the media. A favorable image can help increase a company's sales, and negative publicity can damage a company's reputation and decrease sales.

PR Departments

PR can give consumers and the media a better understanding of how a company works. Within a company, a PR department might also be called a public information department or a customer relations department. These departments assist customers if they have any problems with the company. They usually try to show the company at its best. PR departments also might conduct research to learn how satisfied customers are with the company and its products.

Tools Used

There are many tools and methods that a public relations department can use to enhance a company's image. The tools that have been traditionally used include news releases and announcements that are sent to the media, newsletters that are sent to customers and appearances at public events, such as trade shows or conventions. With the proliferation of the Internet, PR departments now can also use tools such as blogs and social media networks to accomplish their goals

Providing a Positive Spin

Many people have the perception of PR as a way to "spin" news and information, which means to portray the news or information in the best possible way for the company. For example, if a company announces layoffs, its PR department might claim that the company is lowering its costs and making itself more efficient, so it will be better able to serve its customers and offer lower prices. As long as those things are true, then the PR department is doing its job of protecting its reputation and image. Stretching the truth to create a positive spin, however, can end up being detrimental to the company if exaggerations or even half-truths are exposed.

Working in Public Relations

There are certain skills that are helpful for people who work in public relations. These include a high level of communication skills, both written and verbal. A PR person also must be adept at multitasking and time management. He or she might have some form of media background or training to understand how the media works. Organizational and planning skills also are important in public relations.

A PR employee must be able to work well under pressure. He or she must have the ability to answer a barrage of questions from the media and members of the public, if necessary. If a company comes under a verbal attack, it is the PR department that must take control of the situation. The PR department must effectively respond to the criticism to protect the company’s reputation.

A public relations employee usually has a relevant college degree, such as a bachelor's degree in communications, journalism or marketing. Competition for jobs in PR is fierce. A talented public relations worker might be able to work his or her way up from a junior account executive to an account director in about five years. The hours can be long and the job can be stressful, but for successful PR workers, the pay can be good because of the importance that companies place on their reputations.