How to Make Print Ads Work

In designing or approving print ads, here's a good rule of thumb: think two seconds. On average, people look at a print ad for no more than two seconds (see Giep Franzen, Advertising Effectiveness: Findings from Empirical Research. NTC Publications, Oxfordshire, 1994). That is a chillingly short time to hook them with a seductive sales pitch. Your ads have to become “two-second hookers.”

High-Impact Visuals

It takes something special to make your ad cut through—to stop people scanning and pay attention. High impact visuals are often the key.

Visuals are often better “hookers” than headlines, because in 90% of cases people look at the visual before the words. About 1.5 seconds of the two seconds spent on the average ad is devoted to the picture, and only about 0.5 seconds to the copy.

Visuals also communicate faster than words. In the same time it takes us to mentally process a visual, we can read only about 10 words. But when using visuals to cut through, don't lose sight of what follows. The ad must also communicate the brand and deliver a positive message. So, the high-impact visual should also reinforce the main message—not just get attention.

Double Duty

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Dr. Max Sutherland is a marketing psychologist who works as an independent marketing consultant in Australia and the United States. He is the author of Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer and an adjunct professor at Bond University in Australia. You can reach him at msutherland@compuserve.com.