You spend a great deal of time planning your marketing activity, so why wouldn’t you take the time to ensure you are putting every effort into your ad design? Your advertising needs to grab the attention of your customer and provide an adequate return on your advertising investment.

The image above was put out by NewsMediaWorks and is a useful tool that highlights things to consider when building an advert. NewsMediaWorks then correlates this graph with other information to determine what are the key things driving consumer response. For their full analysis, visit their official website. I have provided a summary for you below

Headline
Their study showed a strong correlation to purchase intention and the headline – 90% of the work of an advert is done in the HEADLINE. In this world of sound bites and 140-character news blasts, why are we surprised that the headline is so important? Just take a look at what you digest through the print and digital media world, it is all driven by a strong headline.

Invest in the Image
We’ve said it before, the image sells. The NewsMediaWorks research showed a very high correlation between the image and intention to purchase or trial. The image needs to be attention grabbing and relevant to the product. An awesome picture makes all the difference, so invest some time and money on getting the right one.

Copy Sells
This is not about long or short form copy – just great copy! Consumers want to be informed and engaged. If they are interested, they want to know the benefits, the why, the what’s in it for me? Just make it relevant, concise and engaging.

Declutter!
Stop trying to stuff everything in to a postage stamp-sized advert. If your advert is not appealing, if it is too busy, if you are verbose rather than concise, if it looks congested, then people will not read, recall or respond. The advert size should be a function of how much you want to say, what impact you wish to make, what perception of your company you want to convey, and what budget you can allocate.

The MOST Important Stuff!
To make it VERY easy, NewsMediaWorks have summarised the relationship between an advert feature and consumer behaviour.

57% correlation between
Strong ad headline and purchase intention

36% correlation between
Great copy and intention to trial or buy a product

61% correlation between
Attractive visuals and Ad stand-out

46% correlation between
Clever creative and memorability

38% correlation between
Dull and boring ads and brand attitudes

There are a lot more things associated with good advert design, and we will cover many of them in future newsletters.