In 1904, a relatively unknown copywriter called John E Kennedy uttered three words that would change the face of advertising and persuasion forever. Those words were ‘Salesmanship in Print’.

A simple description of advertising that has yet to be improved upon.

Kennedy’s slightly more detailed description of what advertising is about appears in his classic book ‘Reason Why Advertising’.
His first point is that the only reason to advertise is to make sales - not to become wider known.

“If [businesses] hired a salesman, for instance, they would not accept for long statements from him that he was ‘making a general impression on the trade’. So why is it different for advertising?”

The next point for successful persuasion is that you must get the message right for your audience. The salesman on paper must first analyze the proposition thoroughly to identify a ‘Responsive Chord’ to strike with the audience, then create the appropriate ‘Personality’ for their advertising and then deliver a powerful ‘Reason Why.’

And Kennedy makes clear that the people who matter are your target buyers - not the rest of the readers.

“It is not necessary to attract the attention of every reader in a 430,000 circulation in order to sell 500 loads of hay but it is vitally necessary that you convince at least 500 probable purchasers that you have the kind of hay they need at the price they can afford to pay for it.”

Kennedy comments that “The mistaken idea of attracting the attention of the greatest number is what costs a fortune to advertisers annually.”

He summarizes “The striving to attract attention instead of striving to positively sell goods is the basis of all advertising misunderstanding.”

Kennedy’s writing may be almost 100 years old but his perspective is as relevant today as it was then.
Your advertising and marketing must be targeted at the people who are likely to buy your product or service. And it must give them a convincing and persuasive reason why they should do so.

For more wisdom from the advertising legends, visit the library available at www.secretsofmarketinglegends.com.