Written by Kevin Smith - This article posted with permission of Online Success Magazine


This is part twenty seven of a serial.

Once you've mapped out the basic structure of your ad it's time to settle on its tone.

By tone I mean one of the following...

* Casual
* Formal
* Excited/manic
* Up-market/luxurious
* Academic/scientific

The tone of your ad is determined by the people the ad is aimed at. Are you selling to scientists? Lawyers? Soldiers? Whoever it is you're selling to, the tone of your ad has to fit the expectations of that group.

Let's take a closer look at the role tone has to play in your ad.
Casual or formal?

Whether you take a casual or formal tone generally depends on the age of your target market.

As a rule of thumb, if your ad is aimed at people under 50 then you should take a more casual tone. If your ad is aimed at people 50 years or older you should take a more formal tone.

If you're not sure, I recommend you adopt a casual tone.

A casual tone uses everyday language. The resulting ad will be quite chatty. A formal tone is more likely to adhere to the traditional rules of grammar, and will sound a little stuffy when read aloud. The following example illustrates the difference...

Example 1
You can expect to double the value of your investment portfolio within a 2 year timeframe

Example 2
You'll double your money in just 2 years!

Example 1 takes a formal tone. As a result, it's harder to understand, and takes longer to read. Example 2 is more casual. It's also more powerful, and much easier to read.

It's a mistake to think that you must adopt a formal tone simply because your industry is conservative by nature.

I've written a lot of ads for the investment industry, and I've always used informal language. A very senior executive once described my advertising as 'chatty'. This wasn't meant to be a compliment.

In my country the investment industry is very conservative, and this is reflected in its advertising. The informal ads that I wrote were unique in the industry at the time. And it quickly became clear to me that this less formal approach was helping our response rate.

I've mailed hundreds of thousands of sales letters. I've placed hundreds of ads in publications. I've received tens of thousands of responses. Despite this, over an entire decade I've had only 3 complaints about my informal use of grammar.

The opinions and prejudices of a few people don't matter. The only thing that matters, in terms of the tone you take, is whether your ad is working.
Excited/manic

Sometimes, an excited or manic tone is appropriate. This works well if you're trying to pass yourself off as someone who offers insane pricing.

There are plenty of examples of a manic tone on local television commercials. I'm sure we've all seen the kind of ads where the owner of the company comes on dressed as a chicken, and offers to slash prices so low his accountant will commit suicide.

As a general rule, you should avoid this tone unless you're a very good writer. It may look simple, but requires great skill to pull it off.
Up-market/luxurious

Up-market and/or luxurious products generally benefit from a more formal tone.

Some products (and the target market for those products) lend themselves to an exclusive tone. If you offer such a product then you'll get more sales by adopting an exclusive tone. For example...

Example 3
Maxwells has provided clothing of distinction to the discerning gentleman for 77 years

** While Builder99 did NOT write the above article he is pleased to include it in this growing list of Power-Blog Directory articles

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