Claude C. Hopkins Quotes

“A man coined to superlative must expect that his every statement will be taken with some caution.”

“Address the people you seek, and them only.”

“Advertising pictures should not be eccentric. Don’t treat your subject lightly. Don’t lessen respect for your self or your article by any attempt at frivolity. People do not patronize a clown. There are two things about which men should not joke. One is business, one is home. An eccentric picture may do you serious damage. One may gain attention by wearing a fools cap. But he would ruin his selling prospects.”

“Almost any questions can be answered, cheaply, quickly and finally, by a test campaign. And that’s the way to answer them – not by arguments around a table.”

“Changing people’s habits is very expensive.”

“Do nothing to merely interest, assume or attract. This is not your province. Do only that wins the people you are after in the cheapest possible way.”

“Don't think of people in the mass. This gives you a blurred view.”

“Every reader of your ad is interested, else he would not be a reader. You are dealing with someone willing to listen. Then do your level best. That reader, if you lose him now, May never again be a reader.”

“Fine writing is a distinct disadvantage. So is unique literary style. They take attention from the subject.”

“Genius is the art of taking pains.”

“Impressive claims are made far more impressive by making them exact.”

“In the same way it is found that an offer limited to a certain class of people is far more effective than a general offer.”

“Literary qualifications have no more to do with it than oratory has with salesmanship. One must be able to express himself briefly, clearly, and convincingly, just as a salesman must.”

“No generality has any weight whatever. It is like saying “how do you do?” When you have no intention of inquiring about one’s health. But specific claims when made in print are taken at their value.”

“People are like sheep. They cannot judge values, nor can you and I. We judge things largely by others’ impressions, by popular favour. We go with the crowd. So the most effective thing I have ever found in advertising is the trend of the crowd. That is a factor not to be overlooked.”

“People don’t buy from clowns.”

“People will not be bored. They may listen politely at a dinner table to boasts and personalities, life history, etc. But in print, they choose their own companions, their own subjects. They were to be amused or benefitted.”

“Platitudes and generalities roll of the human understanding like water from a duck.”

“Remember the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interests or profit. They seek service for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a common mistake and a costly mistake in advertising.”

“Scientific advertising has altered many old plans and conceptions. It has proved many long-established methods to be folly.”

“The best ads ask no one to buy. That is useless. Often they do not quote a price. They do not say that dealers handle the product. The ads are based entirely on service. They offer wanted information.”

“The compass of accurate knowledge directs the shortest, safest, cheapest course to any destination.”

“The man who wins out and survives does so only because of superior science and strategy.”

“The only purpose of advertising is to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales.”

“The only readers we get are people whom our subject interests. No one reads ads for amusement, long or short... Give them enough to take action.”

“The right name is an advertisement in itself.”

“The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific.”

“The writing of headline is one of the great journalistic arts. They either conceal or reveal am interest.”

“Use pictures only to attract those who may profit you. Use them only when they form a better selling argument than the same amount of space set in type.”

“We are influenced by our surroundings. The prosperous mingle with the prosperous, so do those of certain likes and inclinations. The higher we ascend the farther we proceed from ordinary humanity. That will not do in advertising.”