The Young Copy Blog
Great Ad Copy: deviantART
This morning (Friday, January 9, 2009) I was reading my daily intake of email newsletters. As a professional advertising copywriter, I study print ads, online ads, persuasive ad copywriting techniques, and a dozen other attributes that lead to great ad copy. I rarely click on ads unless I think the copy is written well and has a perfect balance of ad copy and design. Keep in mind that great advertising utilizes a balance of copy and design. I’ll write on great design in future blog posts. But today I noticed an ad from deviantART in one of my newsletters. You see the image below? Notice the “Connect With Over 1 Billion” copy. Wait, there’s more. And it gets better.
1 billion pageviews, that’s a lot
First I noticed the “1 Billion” in light green. Against the dark patterned background, the green text stands out. It’s bold. It’s nice. And “1 Billion” is enough to grab anyone’s attention. Okay, so connect with over 1 billion what, you ask? I’ll show you a bit more, but without revealing the ad in its entirety. The third line of copy says, “Pageviews.” If you know anything about site traffic (you should be studying your Google Analytics reports), you know that one billion pageviews is a lot of traffic. That doesn’t equate to visitors as each visitor could view dozens of pages. And if you are getting visitors that view dozens of pages, you’ve got potential customers, especially when it adds up to a billion pageviews. But in how long? A week, a month, a year?
1 billion pageviews a month, wow!
It’s a month. One billion pageviews a month is some seriously good traffic. Of course you have to convert at least the industry standard of 1-5% of those visitors to customers. Can it be done? Yes, if you target the right audience, but that’s another blog post or one for the Resource Center. I know, our Resource Center is lacking a few hundred articles. When I’m not busy helping clients increase their revenue, I’ll throw down a few hundred words or so and post a new article. Until then, let’s stay focused on this awesome advertisement.
Are they kidding?
And then they add “Really. No Kidding.” Absolutely brilliant. It’s so matter-of-fact. I’m still intrigued at who or what the brand is behind the scenes. But they don’t reveal the brand until the last piece of the ad is in place, hidden in the lower right-hand corner against a white background. The designer changed the contrast from white copy/dark background to dark copy/white background. Sort of nice, don’t you think? It stands out. It’s obviously designed by a professional.
Time to reveal the complete ad
So far there’s no mention of the brand. No company name. No website address, phone number, or email. You probably wouldn’t need the website, phone, and email address. After all, you just click on the ad itself and go right to the website. So what’s the brand? What’s the site? I want to know. Time to reveal the ad in its full glory.
deviantART. That’s the brand. I’ve never heard of deviantART, but I like the name. Dictionary.com defines “deviant” as “–adjective- deviating or departing from the norm; characterized by deviation: deviant social behavior” or as “-noun- a person or thing that deviates or departs markedly from the accepted norm.” Already I’m a fan. If you know me personally, or read my newsletters and other blog posts, you’ll know that I too am deviant. That’s what makes a great writer, great marketer, and just all-out great company.
Too big for a newsletter ad
You may be thinking, “this ad is huge for an email newsletter.” You’re right. I’m presenting the ad to you in full size. The size, in addition to great ad copy and ad design, helps grab your attention. I clicked on it right away. When I read email newsletters, I skim the headlines (make sure you utilize headlines in your newsletters). I skimmed over the headlines and before I could finish, the deviantART ad caught my attention.
I’m not affiliated
I’m not affiliated with deviantART in any way, but I would like to know the metrics on conversion rates for this ad. Hopefully I can get an interview with them in the near future and report back to you. That should be interesting. Make sure you subscribe to my blog using your favorite RSS reader to get the latest updates.
Tell me what you think
Like the ad or hate the ad? Does it draw your attention? Can you show me one that’s better? Post your feedback in the comments below.
