Expert: Sean Trapani - 8/25/2008

Question
Hi Sean. I am a graphic designer. I have inherited my bosses work. He was
the marketing director and he did all the writing. My company will not replace
him, just give me most of his work except the marketing. My questions is
this:  How do I write copy? Is there any online courses or books I can read to
help me?  Also, I design all the ads and place them in magazines. What
criteria should I use to find out if I should advertise in a particular magazine,
and for how many issues through the year should I place the ads? Thanks.

Answer
Bob,

You might want to start looking for a new job.

In the words of Alexander Pope, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing; drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring."

In other words, any decision maker who knows so little about marketing, and the various skill sets involved, as to say "hey, let's let the graphic designer write our copy and make media buys" will ultimately lead you, and your employer, into dangerous territory.

This isn't a slight to you, Bob. Think about it. It took you years to understand design theory, page layout, color theory, psychology of shapes as it relates to images and typography, etc.

Often, designers get a "pass" from the suits because we use fancy, schmancy software and speak in jargon they don't know. But as you probably know, the knowledge of InDesign or Photoshop doesn't make someone a good designer. And the ability to write a memo or get an "A" in a college sophomore composition course doesn't make someone a good copywriter.

The copywriter understands nexus of the product relevance and the consumer, and uses long-practiced rhetorical techniques to make the selling nearly invisible. Your customer will forgive a color mistake. They might not forgive your company speaking to them (via ad copy) in the wrong way.

Unfortunately, you can't read a couple of books or attend a weekend seminar to become a good copywriter. It takes years and thousands of mistakes to learn from. That's why there are master's level course tracts to prepare for it, in some of the most prestigious schools in the US, blending psychology, branding theory, demographic studies, advertising theory & history, along with plenty of baseline writing prowess.

You can search through some of my earlier posts for some books on copywriting, but these will only point you in the right direction. "Hey, Whipple. Squeeze This." 3rd edition is a good place to start.

As for the rest of your question - media selection - the short answer is this:  take a poll of your company's current customers. Find out what magazines they read. When learn you the name of the magazine that the largest percentage of your current customers read, you'll know that other people, similar to your customers, probably read the same publications. This is a VERY simplistic answer, Bob, and I could write a book (or teach a course, as I do) on the business side of advertising and how it relates to targeting and media selection.

I hate to say it, Bob. But I fear that your employer may be putting you in a position to fail by asking you to do these things. And if your immediate boss doesn't get it, you might want to leave a paper trail with someone else to politely, and respectfully voice your concerns (and CYA).


Best of luck,

Sean Trapani