By Robert W. Bly
People frequently ask me to
recommend my 10 favorite marketing books:
1) How to Write a Good Advertisement by Vic Schwab (Wilshire Book Company, 1962). A
common-sense course in how to write advertising copy that gets people to buy
your product or service, written by a plain-speaking veteran mail order
copywriter in 1960.
Best part: 100 “archetypal”
headlines that people are still using in various forms today to create new
controls (e.g., “When Doctors Feel Rotten, This is What They Do”).
Availability: Still in print
(Wilshire Publishing) and available on amazon.com.
2) My First 50 Years in
Advertising by Max Sackheim (Prentice-Hall, 1970). Another plain-speaking,
common-sense guide that stresses salesmanship over creativity, and results over
awards. The author was one of the originators of the Book of the Month Club.
Best part: The oversize format
allows full-size reproductions (large enough for the copy to be legible) of
many classic direct response ads (e.g., “They Thought I Was Crazy to Ship Live
Maine Lobsters as Far as 1,800 Miles from the Ocean”).
Availability: Out of print
and difficult to find.
3) The Robert Collier Letter Book
by Robert Collier. While Schwab and Sackheim concentrate on space ads, Collier
focuses on the art of writing sales letters, of which he is a master. You learn
how to write persuasive sales letters in a friendly, natural, conversational
style.
Best part: While some of the
letters may seem old-fashioned and dated, Collier’s timeless principles still
apply.
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
4) Reality in Advertising by
Rosser Reeves (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961). The book in which Reeves introduced the
now-famous concept of USP (the Unique Selling Proposition).
Best part: The idea that
every successful ad must (a) offer a benefit, (b) the benefit must
differentiate your product from the competition, and (c) the benefit must be
big enough to motivate buyers to purchase your product instead of others.
Availability: Out of print
and difficult to get.
5)
Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. A copywriting guide by one of
the greatest direct-response copywriters of the 20th century.
Best part: The notion that
advertising does not create desires; rather, it focuses already existing
desires onto your product.
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
6) Tested Advertising Methods,
Fifth Edition by John Caples, revised by Fred Hahn (Prentice-Hall, 1997).
An updated version of John Caples’ classic book on the principles of persuasion
as proven through A/B spit tests.
Best part: The A/B split
headline tests with the results (e.g., for an air conditioner, “How to have a
cool, quiet bedroom – even on hot nights” pulled 2 ½ times the response of “Get
rid of that humidity with a new room cooler that also dries the air”).
Availability: In print. Available in bookstores and
online.
7) Confessions of an Advertising
Man by David Ogilvy (Atheneum). Charming autobiography of legendary ad man David
Ogilvy, packed with useful advice on how to create effective advertising.
Best part: Chapter 6 on “How
to Write Potent Copy.”
Availability: Out of print and difficult to get.
8) Scientific Advertising by
Claude Hopkins (Bell Publishing, 1920). A book on the philosophy that
advertising’s purpose is to sell, not entertain or win creative awards – and
how to apply this philosophy to create winning ads.
Best part: His observation
that “specifics sell; superlatives roll off the human understanding like water
off a duck’s back.”
Availability: Since the copyright has expired, this book
is now in the public domain and is available as a free downloadable e-book on
several Web sites including http://www.marketingresource.com/html/reports/r-scientificadvertising.html.
You can also buy it as a paperback on amazon.com.
9)
Method Marketing by Denny Hatch (Bonus Books, 1999). A book on how to
write successful direct response copy by putting yourself in the customer’s
shoes. Packed with case histories of modern direct response success stories,
including Bill Bonner of Agora Publishing, and Martin Edelston of Boardroom.
Best part: The introduction
of the concept of method marketing, which states: “You cannot write copy
without getting inside the head of the person to whom you are communicating and
becoming that person.”
Availability: In print and available on amazon.com; also
on Denny’s Web site www.methodmarketing.com.
10) Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by
Joseph Sugarman (DelStar, 1998). How to write successful advertising copy by a
modern master of the space ad.
Best part: The 24
psychological triggers that get people to buy.
Availability: In print and available on amazon.com.
Have I left any out? Yes, many. But this list is a good
start. Here’s to happy – and profitable
– reading.
About the author:
Robert W. Bly is a freelance copywriter and the author of more than 50 books including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Direct Marketing (Alpha). His e-mail address is rwbly@bly.com and his Web site address is www.bly.com.