Drew Eric Whitman Quotes

“A classic study of 2,500 ads appearing in the Saturday Evening Post was conducted from 1939 to 1940 by researcher Harold J. Rudolph. The results show that the shorter the headline, the greater the readership.”

“According to Haldeman-Julius, the two strongest appeals were sex and self-improvement.”

“Advertising is a subset of communication. Sales is a subset of advertising. Persuasion is a subset of sales. And psychology is a subset of persuasion.”

“Direct marketing guru Gary Halbert swore by Courier for sales letters.”

“Evidence can be facts, figures, testimonials, endorsements, research, charts, videos—you name it — as long as you, the advertiser, didn’t create it yourself.”

“Express only one thought in a sentence, no more. Use your next sentence to say the next thing.”

“Fact: By the time you’ve finished reading CA$HVERTISING, you’ll know more about how to create powerfully effective, money-making advertising than 99 percent of your competitors will know in their entire careers — guaranteed.”

“For easiest online reading, use Arial for 12-point text and larger. Smaller than 12 point? Verdana, but rarely go smaller than 10 point. For a more formal look, use Georgia. For older readers, use 14 point.”

“Getting action requires two steps: Make it easy to act, and then ask for action.”

“Human beings are biologically programmed with the following eight desires:
1. Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension.
2. Enjoyment of food and beverages.
3. Freedom from fear, pain, and danger.
4. Sexual companionship.
5. Comfortable living conditions.
6. To be superior, winning, keeping up with the Joneses.
7. Care and protection of loved ones.
8. Social approval.”

“It doesn’t matter if you sell to doctors or pizzeria owners; people believe testimonials. They have since the very first one was used in 1926 by Ponds, the cold-cream company.”

“Listen: Your goal is not to create new fears, but to tap into existing fears, either those on the forefront of consumers’ minds, or those that require a little digging to uncover.”

“Not only is it pleasant for us to satisfy our eight primary desires, but it’s also pleasant for us to read about how others have satisfied them.”

“Psychologists tell us there are three primary types of groups, regardless of the group’s purpose:
1. Aspirational — Groups to which you’d like to belong.
2. Associative — Groups that share your ideals and values.
3. Dissociative — Groups to which you do not want to belong.”

“Studying psychology to boost the effectiveness of your ads isn’t evil. It simply teaches you:
1. What people want.
2. How they feel about what they want.
3. Why they act as they do.

And once you know this, you can:
1. Better understand how to satisfy your customers.
2. Influence more people to buy.
3. Get your quality products into more people’s hands.
4. Help add more satisfaction to their lives.

See? It’s not so bad after all, is it? Not if you start with a quality product.”

“The features are the attributes. The benefits are what you get from those attributes.”

“The first use of any product is inside the consumers’ minds. Imagining the use of something that appeals to you increases your desire for it.”

“The less imagery you convey, the less your message occupies consumers’ brains, the less likely it is that you’ll influence them.”

“To understand why people buy, we should know people and have a keen sense of human nature. We should know how people think how people live, and be acquainted with the standards and customs affecting their everyday lives. We should fully know their needs and their wants and be able to distinguish between the two. An understanding of why people buy is gained by a willingness to acquire proved and tested principles of commercial psychology to selling.”

“Your copy and images should always represent the positive end results. In this way your prospect is less likely to critically analyze the pros and cons of the actual product, and base their purchase decision on the ultimate benefit it will provide them.”