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Marketing Quick Tips
Improving Readability For
Print Advertising
1. DON'T USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS: PEOPLE RECOGNIZE WORDS BASED ON THEIR SHAPE, NOT THE ACTUAL LETTERS IN THE WORDS. ALL CAPS ARE BLOCKY AND HARD TO READ, CAUSING THE READER TO LABOR, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, TO MAKE OUT THE WORDS. ONLY USE ALL CAPS IN SHORT BURSTS, 2 OR 3 WORDS MAXIMUM, TO EMPHASIZE IMPORTANT WORDS. ENTIRE SENTENCES (OR HEAVEN FORBID, PARAGRAPHS) OF ALL CAPS WILL DESTROY YOUR RESULTS. SEE WHAT WE MEAN?
2. Be Careful With Reverse Type: Reverse type is light-colored type on a black background; in many cases it's hard to read, especially if its the main text of an ad or website. The eye is conditioned through years of reading to expect black words on white paper (or screen), and reversing that out usually makes for an uncomfortable experience. You can use reverse type, however, in headlines and coupons to make shorter blocks of text stand out more.
3. Leave Enough "White Space" In The Ad: There is nothing wrong with having a lot of text in a marketing piece (provided, of course, that its interesting and relevant), but make sure you leave enough white space around the paragraphs and headlines to give the reader some room to "breathe!" Otherwise, your reader will experience text-based claustrophobia and avoid your ad at all costs.
4. Something Else Interesting About Reading: The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch sutdy at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and we awlyas thought slpeling was ipmornatt."
5. Understand Reading Habits: The combination of the human eye and brain can scan and absorb the content of a typical 8.5 x 11 printed advertisement in about 2 to 3 seconds. And in that critical 2 to 3 seconds, the Reticular Activator is running that content through the "relevant and/or important" filter to see if it's worth spending any conscious bandwidth on. The brain does NOT have to read each word or sentence to know what is going on. To that end, it is absolutely critical that your ads make the most important and relevant pieces easy to see and understand. They should flow in a logical manner from the top to the bottom of the page, and they should allow the reader to know exactly what you want him to think and do, all in a split second.
Quick Tips Index
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