One of the most enjoyable parts of what I do when helping clients with marketing is proofing ads. Having been a student of marketing, copywriting and advertising I hear Yogi Berra in my head saying “you can observe a lot just by watching.” 

And you know what? This never changes. Errors from layout as well as placement are so common. Sometimes a well-meaning person changes a tested font or something else that causes the un-proofed ad to tank.

Here are a few things that I have seen just in the last few months.

• A radio announcer for an urban doc spoke so fast on his ad, the docs phone number was not identifiable. Needless to say, a totally failed radio campaign, and a very costly error. Almost unbelievably, another client’s radio ad was shortened with the phone number omitted!
• A TV campaign was run that had no call to action inserted in the ad where space was left just for that purpose.
• An artist didn’t like the submitted newsprint layout, so she substitutes images and rearranges tested headlines.
• A salesperson takes a ¼ page ad that is designed to be a “booster”
• Usually run for a couple hundred bucks turns the same content into a half page ad costing over $2000.
• Testimonials omitted. No clear call to action. No offer. No deadline.
• No website URL in an on-line ad. 

And so the end result is no reason at all for patients to see only you.

The list could go on forever. It makes no difference in the media you are using; basically the same rules will still apply.

Of course, these are all preventable by very careful attention to the ad structure, layout and component function, no matter where your media goes. 

Now, this advice is just as important if not more so with Social Media where the wrong viral content could crush you within hours.

Needless to say, we have saved our clients from many needless disasters by tweaking, fine tuning and making sure all is as good as can be BEFORE a campaign ever launches. 

And as busy as we get in DPC, don’t miss the business basics of “fresh eyes” and thorough reviews prior to approvals.

And always, the binding legal documents to back you up!