I recently picked up the paper and read a very interesting advertorial.  This is an advertisement that looks an editorial.  It was the “Amish Heaters” Advertisement.  You may have seen it on TV or seen it in your local newspaper.

Those who have a GREAT understanding of lead generation wrote this Ad in my opinion.  I could take time to break down the whole article but you could do a whole study on this ad and the discussions would be endless.

What I want to focus on is the Headline and the “sub-headline” What was the purpose and then what was the intent.  The purpose of the headline you would think would be to sell more heaters and yes that is the end result they are looking for but take closer look and you will see that there is allot more to this headline.  What was the Intent.....

The intent of the ad is the ultimate question that we need to come to a conclusion upon and that is whether or not they wanted the reader to believe they were getting the complete heater for free or not?

Lets take a look at the headline:

It’s purpose is to share some “GOOD NEWS” that you may not have heard or need to know. This does a few things:

1. Makes a news worthy announcement
2. Acts as an endorsement
3. Pre-qualifies readers by placing heaters in the headline.
4. Creates curiosity to read more
5. The word free does not exist there.

The sub headlines SCREAM BENIFTS BENEFITS BENEFITS……

1. Heat bills drop (save money)
2. Bone soothing warmth (visualization)
3. Custom Finish “FEE” Looks like FREE (play on words)
4. Built By Real Amish Craftsmen. (Authenticity)
5. Get The Heaters For FREE  (Heaters free not the casing) Not made as clear

The second sub headline provides sense of urgency to move the customer to action quickly.

1. FREE deal EXPIRES 2 days after PUB.  (Fear Of Loss)
2. Keep Up with demand (greed factor) everyone’s getting one so should you.
3. GET one FREE don’t miss today’s headline. (Fear of loss)

Each time I evaluate this add I am amazed at the level of understanding these writers of have the psychology of consumers buying habits.  Each word is thought out and placed where it needs to be for a reason.

Is  it a SIN to use psychology to increase sales?  Some would say that it is manipulative others would say that it is good marketing.  The fact that they mention “custom finish fee” for the cabinet I am sure would exonerate them in any court of law.

But right underneath it they mention that you can get the “heater for free” This is a play on the understanding of the word heater. Combine this with a sense of urgency and you have a Marvelous ad that will generate allot of calls of people who understand a heater to be the whole package not he actual electric heater by itself without custom cabinets which are sold at a separate cost.

I will leave the final decision up to the consumer as to how they feel when they call and find out that they have to pay for the custom cabinets.  Good copywriters know how to get a consumer to hang on to every word that feeds into what the consumer wants to believe. 

I wanted to believe it was FREE and that what I focused on throughout the whole AD…

Kip Charles Is The Owner and Founder of Brydge Me a Lead Generation & Marketing  Company.  For more information about how we can help you generate leads at an affrodable price call 1-800-985-2749