In fact, I was literally born in a school setting.
On May 19, 1975, my parents were at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan -- on a field trip with my mom’s 8th grade class -- when my twin brother and I entered the world two months early.
With all this seemingly insider knowledge about teaching, you’d think I might have had an advantage in school, especially when it came to taking tests.
But, like most people, tests made me nervous. I could study for days, but it still wouldn’t eliminate the sweaty palms and stomach aches I felt prior to putting my pencil to paper.
Today, however, tests take on a new meaning. Because of my curiosity, I am actually drawn to certain types of tests.
And here’s a fact: Many of your prospects also enjoy taking tests.
Presenting prospects with tests in the headlines of your marketing materials is a proven way to generate more responses.
By reading this far, you’ve confirmed how well a test works on you. Go ahead and re-read the subject line of this post to see what I mean.
In a previous article, I mentioned a legendary advertisement headline created in the early 1900s by Maxwell Sackheim that read, “Do You Make These Mistakes in English?”
This advertisement, which ran for 40 years without any changes, uses a headline that appeals to your curiosity. A perceived test that you can take yourself makes the advertisement difficult to ignore.
Here are a few similar headlines you can adapt to fit your own industry:
Can You Spot the Design Flaws in This Kitchen Remodel?
Does Your Mortgage Broker Ask You These Questions?
Do You Know These 5 Indicators That Signal the Start of a Recession?
When writing tests for use in your marketing materials, the key is to create “answers” that reinforce why it’s necessary to use your product or service.
For example, a publisher might use the headline in the third bullet above to demonstrate how you receive exclusive information as a subscriber to their magazine. Or, a mortgage professional might use the second headline to highlight characteristics that set his services apart from the competition.
Coming up with test ideas for marketing materials is often easier after reading samples. Here is a rare copy of Sackheim’s advertisement to help with your brainstorming. (If you can’t read the text, click on the image for a larger view.)
