#430 How to Write Ads That Sell

Key takeaways

Success in advertising and business depends on working diligently and with discipline, often more than on talent alone.
Understanding human nature, psychology, and customer needs is fundamental to creating compelling, truthful ads.
Headlines are the most critical component of an advertisement; spend significant time crafting them to maximize engagement.
Research and attention to detail, no matter how dry or small, can lead to major breakthroughs and profits.
Service orientation—focusing on what benefits the customer—builds trust, loyalty, and superior results.
Consistency in messaging and sticking with proven methods often yields the best return. Don’t frequently change a winning formula.
Attention to the small details and pains in your product’s creation can be a powerful marketing tool.
Genius in advertising is about taking pains—through research, effort, and meticulous preparation—to uncover the core truth that resonates with consumers.
Always treat advertising as salesmanship—speak directly to the individual’s needs and desires, just as you would in person.

Summary

Claude Hopkins’ Core Philosophy and Work Ethic

This section discusses Claude Hopkins' emphasis on the importance of hard work, dedication, and the pursuit of excellence. Hopkins believed that working twice as long as others was the key to higher achievement in advertising and business. He supported himself from a young age, working long hours and viewing work as both a duty and a form of play when aligned with passion. His life exemplifies the idea that extraordinary hours and persistence can yield extraordinary results, not necessarily exceptional talent.

Lessons on Salesmanship and Human Nature in Advertising

Hopkins' approach to effective advertising centers on understanding human nature and serving the customer’s needs, rather than selfish promotion. He advocates for personalized, truthful storytelling that highlights the product’s quality and the pains it alleviates. Repeating the importance of offering service, he underscores that good advertising mimics salesmanship—direct, honest, and customer-focused—and that treating individuals as prospects to be understood and helped is core to success.

The Power of Headlines and Simplicity in Advertising

A major theme is the significance of headlines and their role in capturing attention. Hopkins emphasizes spending hours crafting headlines, as they determine whether a reader engages with the full message. He champions simplicity, specific facts, and the importance of telling the truth. Effective headlines promise benefits vividly and accurately, making them the most crucial part of an ad’s success.

Research, Data, and the Art of Taking Pains

Hopkins advocates for deep research and extensive preparation before creating an ad. He highlights how even a tiny detail, discovered through meticulous study, can form the foundation of a highly successful campaign. The core idea is that genius in advertising is about taking pains—reading volumes, understanding psychology, and finding that one pivotal insight that transforms a campaign.

Psychology and Human Motivation in Advertising

Understanding human instincts such as curiosity and tribal belonging is key. Hopkins explains that offering exclusivity or appealing to group identity can significantly enhance an offer’s effectiveness. He stresses that advertising must appeal to human desires for happiness, beauty, and success, and should emphasize service rather than selfish promotion to resonate effectively.

Consistency and Staying Close to the Customer's Heart

The importance of consistency in messaging and remaining close to the customer’s needs and perceptions is a recurring theme. Once an ad or campaign works, it should not be changed unnecessarily. Hopkins argues for a focus on service, transparency, and being genuine—crafting messages that speak directly to the individual as if in person, emphasizing trust and understanding.

Case Studies and Practical Examples of Advertising Successes

Throughout the episode, Hopkins’ real-world examples—such as Schlitz Beer’s emphasis on purity and truth, or the door-to-door brush sales—illustrate core principles. The stories reinforce that honesty, simplicity, and genuine service create remarkable results, often outpacing traditional advertising methods. These case studies serve as lessons in how matching human psychology with factual storytelling leads to success.

The Role of Headlines and Focused Messaging

Focusing on powerful headlines that promise benefits directly related to the customer’s needs can drastically multiply ad performance. Hopkins dedicates extensive effort to crafting the perfect headline, understanding that it’s the crucial gateway to engaging potential buyers. Clear, benefit-driven, and specific headlines are the foundation of effective advertising.

Final Lessons and the Importance of Effort in Advertising

Hopkins concludes by emphasizing the value of effort—reading, researching, and meticulous preparation—as essential to success. He advocates for the discipline of taking pains, continually seeking better insights, and understanding human nature deeply. Consistent effort and dedication, he argues, are what separate successful advertisers from the mediocre.

Show notes

Claude Hopkins was the greatest copywriter of all time. His ideas were so valuable that when he wrote them down in a book the founder of his advertising firm locked the manuscript in a safe for 20 years.

When the book was finally published it sold over 8 million copies. David Ogilvy said that nobody should work in advertising until they had read the book seven times.

This episode is what I learned by reading Claude Hopkins' autobiography My Life In Advertising and his legendary book Scientific Advertising.

Made possible by:

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Vanta: ⁠⁠https://vanta.com/founders

Some of my favorite quotes:

0:00 — "Any man who by a lifetime of excessive application learns more about anything than others owes a statement to his successors."

5:12 — "The man who works twice as long as his fellows is bound to go twice as far, especially in advertising."

5:30 — "If I have gone higher than others in advertising or done more, the fact is not due to exceptional ability but to exceptional hours."

6:48 — "To poverty I owe the fact that I never went to college. I spent those four years in the school of experience instead of the school of theory."

9:08 — "Which is work and which is play? If a thing is useful, they call it work. If it's useless, they call it play. But one is hard as the other. All the difference I see lies in the attitude of the mind."

9:32 — "I came to love work as other men love golf. I love it still. The love of work can be cultivated just like the love of play."

9:58 — "We do best what we like best."

13:05 — "A good product is its own best salesman. It is uphill work to sell goods without samples."

15:00 — "We must never judge humanity by ourselves. The things we want, the things we like may appeal to a small minority."

15:23 — "We must submit all things in advertising to the court of public opinion."

17:48 — "Some of the greatest successes I have ever known in advertising were ignorant men. One wrote copy which would induce a farmer to mortgage his barn to respond, but every sentence had to be edited for grammar."

20:23 — "John Powers created a new concept of advertising. He told the truth, but told it in a rugged and fascinating way."

25:47 — "Study salesmen, canvassers, and fakers if you want to know how to sell goods. No argument in the world can ever compare with one dramatic demonstration."

26:35 — "The average salesman seeks favors. He seeks profit for himself. His plea is, 'Buy my goods.' He makes a selfish appeal to selfish people, and of course, he meets resistance. I was selling service."

28:45 — "We must treat people in advertising as we treat them in person."

31:23 — "Others have never told this story. It will startle everyone in print. I gave purity a meaning." (On Schlitz Beer jumping from 5th to 1st.)

32:03 — "Tell the pains that you take to excel. The maker is too close to his product. He sees in his methods only the ordinary."

34:08 — "The greatest two faults in advertising lie in boasts and in selfishness. People will listen if you talk service to them. They will turn their backs when you seek to impress an advantage for yourself."

41:23 — "People will do anything to cure a trouble, but little to prevent it. Prevention offers slight appeal to humanity in general. They want to be told of rewards."

1:01:30 — "Genius is the art of taking pains. The advertising man who spares the midnight oil will never get very far. This is no lazy man's field."