Why People See Your Ad But Don’t Act

Getting noticed is only the first step. The right message gives readers a reason to take the next one.

When a business advertises with Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly, one of the best things we can hear is, “I saw your ad in OCW.”

There is, however, an even better version of that sentence: “I saw your ad in OCW, so I called.”

Or visited the business. Went to the website. Scanned the QR code. Attended the event. Registered for the sale. Placed a bid.

Getting noticed is an important part of advertising, but it is only the beginning. Once an advertisement has someone’s attention, it needs to give that person a clear reason and an easy way to take the next step.

At Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly, we work with advertising from many different types of businesses. In any given edition, readers may find auctions, real estate, agricultural businesses, construction companies, retailers, professional services and community events. The businesses may be very different, but effective advertisements tend to have something in common: the reader knows what to do next.

Consider an auction advertisement. Great photographs of tractors, trucks, equipment or real estate may get someone’s attention, but interested bidders also need to quickly find the auction date, closing time and bidding information.

The same applies to a contractor advertising a new building package. A photograph may make someone stop and look, but if the goal is to generate estimates, the phone number and offer need to be easy to find.

A retailer promoting a weekend sale needs the dates, location and offer to stand out. An advertiser promoting an event needs to make the when and where obvious.

In each case, the advertisement has a job beyond simply announcing that the business exists.

Before an advertisement is created, one of the most useful questions an advertiser can ask is: What do I want an OCW reader to do after seeing this ad?

The answer might be to call, visit a store, request an estimate, attend an event, bid online, visit a website or scan a QR code. Once that goal is identified, the rest of the advertisement can be designed around helping the reader get there.

That can be harder than it sounds.

Businesses naturally want to tell customers everything they do. When they purchase advertising space, there can be a temptation to fill every available inch with products, services, photographs, phone numbers, web addresses, social media information and as much copy as will possibly fit.

But more information does not automatically create a more effective advertisement.

Sometimes the opposite happens. When everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized. The most important message becomes buried among all the other information competing for the reader’s attention.

White space isn’t wasted advertising space. Used correctly, it helps direct the eye toward the information that matters most.

The way people interact with advertising has also changed, and that is especially important for Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly.

OCW is now a digital weekly publication, which means an advertisement can do things traditional print advertising could not. A reader can see a web address and immediately visit it. A QR code can lead directly to an auction, product page, registration form or special offer. An advertisement can become a doorway to much more information than could ever fit inside the original ad space.

And the weekly edition is no longer the only place OCW can connect businesses with readers.

As Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly continues expanding its website, social media presence and other digital features, advertisers have additional opportunities to reach audiences beyond the pages of a single edition. That makes it even more important to think of an advertisement not simply as a box on a page, but as one part of a larger marketing presence.

There is another ingredient that can make a strong call to action even more effective: a reason to act now.

“Visit our website” tells the reader what to do.

“Online bidding closes Sunday at 8 p.m.” tells the reader what to do and gives them a deadline.

“Call for an estimate” is useful.

“Call now to get your project scheduled for fall” gives a potential customer a reason not to put it off.

Sales, deadlines, events, seasonal services and limited availability can all create legitimate urgency. That matters because interested customers are still busy people. They may fully intend to visit a website later, make a phone call after dinner or look up an auction when they get home.

Then life happens.

The phone rings. Dinner needs to be made. Another notification appears. Tomorrow gets busy.

“Later” has a bad habit of becoming “never.”

Of course, none of this means design is unimportant. Quite the opposite. A well-designed advertisement can help a reader understand the message faster by creating a clear visual hierarchy and directing attention to the most important information.

But a beautiful advertisement that leaves the reader wondering what it is actually advertising, or what to do next, still has a problem.

One simple way to evaluate an advertisement is what we like to call the five-second test.

Look at the ad for about five seconds and then look away.

What do you remember?

Can you name the business? Do you know what it was advertising? Did you notice the sale, event, product or service? Did you know what you were supposed to do next?

If the important information survived those five seconds, the advertisement is probably headed in the right direction.

If it didn’t, the answer may not be adding more.

It may be deciding what matters most and giving that message room to do its job.

At Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly, our goal isn’t simply to place an advertiser’s artwork into the next digital edition and consider the job finished. We want the businesses that advertise with OCW to get value from the space they purchase. That means thinking about the message, the design, the call to action and how advertising can work alongside OCW’s growing digital presence.

Because hearing someone say, “I saw your ad in Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly,” is good.

Hearing them say, “I saw your ad in Oklahoma’s Choice Weekly, so I called,” is even better.

And ultimately, that’s the point of advertising.

ANESA K. CHASTAIN JONES, 

General Manager/Graphics Director, 

918-285-1314, graphics@oklahomaschoiceweekly.com