You’re probably familiar with the idea that in copywriting every word counts.

But how about the difference a single letter can make?

There’s a fairly famous case…

…where an ad with the headline…

“Put Music In Your Life”

…was running quite successfully.

Then one day the typesetters made a mistake and the ad ran with the headline…

“Puts Music In Your Life”.

The response was vastly higher.

Good illustration of the power of active verbs in copy.

I was reminded of this today when I saw a display ad for a local insurance company…

“Save Up To $50 On Our Insurance.  Find Out How…”

Now, my first thought was that it would be much more effective to make this…

“…Your Insurance”

…and that the writer had simply been a little sloppy.

That would have been bad enough.

But when I looked a little more closely at the ad I discovered that the offer was a saving if the customer bundled together a number of different policies from the insurer.

It struck me that this is a pretty weak offer.

The $50 savings touted is not that big to begin with and the “conditions” reduce the appeal still further.

As an offer to existing clients, it makes sense.

But for new customer generation?

I think it will do poorly.

Another example of poor marketing from a financial institution…

…too focused on themselves rather than the customer.

P.S. “Happy Thanksgiving” to all readers in the USA today.  Best wishes and have a wonderful day!