When I was in so much debt I had to live under a false name, I used to write anything legal for anyone.
One client sold a slimming product - a racket that still works today.
It was doing so well we were running full page ads in the big national papers.
Suddenly the law changed. You couldn't run any ads without stressing that your product wouldn't work without a calorie controlled diet.
My clients panicked. What to do?
I simply began the ad by saying Doctors agree, you can't lose weight without a calorie-controlled diet.
Saying that made a virtue of necessity. The ad did better.
Almost all the rest of the ad was just before and after pictures of happy slimmers.
Visual testimonials.
It worked like a charm. I learned that visual testimonials are so strong that you could run one with someone's face above the copy plus a caption saying "posed by professional model" and it would still work.
The testimonial gives you credibility.
As one of the greatest advertising men of the 20th Century, James Webb Young, noted: "The hardest thing for the mail order advertiser is to be believed".
You don't think the mail-order business relates to you?
Think again.
If you sell anything on the internet - anything at all - you are selling directly at a distance.
Just like those old mail order guys.
And if you're selling face to face, here's a testimonial you need to see.
Best
Drayton
Please write to Al@draytonbird.co.uk and ask him.
Hi Drayton. Interesting article.
It appears to me that the context of your advert was intentionally misleading.
My view is that amounts to telling a lie. We could have a technical discussion as to whether this is so but….
can you tell me how doing this increases your credibility?
Thanks
Colin
Can you tell me how telling lies gives you credibility?
I don’t know what you mean by the word “context”, Colin.
Or about telling lies.
To the contrary, the points I was making were very simple.
1. Telling the truth – “doctors agree” – strengthened the ad.
2. Pictures are so powerful that even when posed they work.
I never said I did that – I saw someone else who did.
However in later years when working for charities they usually requested I use posed pictures to protect identities.
The alternative – which perhaps you would prefer – is to use no pictures and thus get fewer donations.