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Direct Mail Catalogs & Brochures: Write Captions That Sell
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By Alan Sharpe
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Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, glancing atthe photos and reading the accompanying captions only when aparticular image arouses their interest. That's when you havetheir attention. And so that's when you sell them.
My advice for writing captions is to never describe what readerscan see for themselves in your photo.
If your photo shows a man in a golf shirt, for example, don'tplace a caption beneath the photo that simply says "New GolfShirt." Instead, write a subhead that communicates a benefitthat the reader cannot see, one that the photographer couldnever capture. Write something like this:
NEVER A HOLE IN ONE: Our newGlengarry Golf Shirt features a Teflon fabric protector thatforms an invisible shield around fibers for superb protectionagainst tears and punctures.
My second piece of solicited advice (you subscribed to thenewsletter, after all) is to start your captions, wheneverpossible, with a pithy intro phrase. In five words or fewer,capture the essence of what you are saying with a clever wordplay, like the one above. Here¡¯s another example.
My local newspaper ran a story about the problem that my city isfacing this summer with some homeowners watering their lawnsevery day when they should be watering every other day toconserve water. The story was illustrated with a photograph of acity bylaw officer, in uniform, at the door of a homeowner whowas in the very act of breaking the bylaw. The photo captionbegan:
LAWN ORDER: Bylaw EnforcementOfficer Jack Phillips issues a warning to homeowner . ..
That caption put a smile on my face and forced me to read thestory. Your captions and subheads will do the same if you makethem clever, interesting and laden with benefits that interestyour readers.
© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this articleonline and in print provided the links remain live and thecontent remains unaltered (including the "About the author"message).
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