You Don't Say - The Overwhelming Temptation Not To State The Obvious, And Why Not Doing So, Costs You -- Big-Time

Photo by David Garfinkel. Yeah, it's not as good as the other ones on this blog. You got a problem with that?

Duh. This wonderfully obvious street sign, at the corner of Rivera Street and 14th Avenue in San Francisco, is a shining example of what a lot of people will laugh at you for doing, but you've got to do anyway... if you want to capture the maximum number of sales with your copy.

It's... stating the obvious.

I pass this sign several times a week, driving through my neighborhood.  It's a blatant reminder of what I constantly need to remember to do as a copywriter.

In the back rooms of direct marketing, there are horror stories galore of direct mail campaigns that wasted thousands of dollars because the customer was given no way to order. Zero way to contact the company. The information was never included in the copy before the mailing was sent out to the marketplace. (So don't think it's happened only to you... it's happened to all of us.)

We tend to leave out the obvious because

• It just wouldn't look cool to state the obvious (it would show we're not hip, or we're writing to dweebs who simply don't know the score), or
• We simply overlook the obvious, because it's obvious to us. By doing so, we forget that it's not obvious to the rest of the world, particularly the part of the rest of the world that has money they would like to give us, if only we gave them a reason and a way to do so.
• We're more committed to meeting a deadline (arbitrary, or truly necessary) than we are to getting enough information in our marketing message to give customers everything they need in order to buy.

The next time you have an ad ready to run, or a letter ready to mail, or an email about to go out, or a Web page ready to release... ask yourself, have you included all the obvious things?

If you haven't, take the extra time you need to get it right. Your profit just might depend on it.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Comments

[Katie Cummings]

Excellent post! Once I wrote a short story and a reader didn't know what the gender of the main character was. Granted it was obvious to most discerning readers and short story writing may not be where you want to state the obvious, but it still demonstrates the main point.

I've come across several ads and wanted more information, but couldn't get it because there was nothing provided to tell me where to go. If you want people to follow you have to lead.

Thank you, David, for pointing out the obvious that's often forgotten.

Katie

[James]

What a great point David :) I reckon there's *a lot* of people falling in to trap #1 (it wouldn't be 'cool' to state the obvious)...

[just1ced]

Hi. i just want to share with you guys that i came across this print ads blog site and i was amazed by how the ads communicate to their audience. i believe simple and direct to the point is the key to relaying the message exactly the way you wanted your audience to perceive it. just throw the obvious.

[Copywriter, Kevin Francis]

A simple and yet so fundamental point. Problem is, we get caught up in our own world and end up making a huge number of assumptions that the audience "knows what we mean". They don't! It has to be spelt out.

David, you once said that, painful though it may be, copywriters need to realise that the audience doesn't necessarily "like" reading our stuff and they may not read all of our "masterpieces"! It's to deal with this reality that the principles of direct response copy were developed.

Lesson?

1. Stick to the tried and true principles.

2. If possible, get a third party to review the ad for you.

Thanks for the post!

Kevin Francis