How can we make our Advertising as Effective as Possible.
The answer is to test. Test again. And then test some more. If ad A receives a two percent response rate, and ad B receives three percent, then we can deduce that ad B will continue to outperform ad A on a larger scale.
Testing takes time, however, and can be expensive if not kept in check. Therefore, its ideal to start with some proven tested known ideas and work from there.
For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there.
If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense.
So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but its better to have a starting point before you test.
Sometimes a little tweak here or there is all that...