In my review of
Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins
posted on Amazon.co.uk, I rate this classic book at the Four Stars level. This means I consider it to be Good and Well Worth Reading.
Here is my book review.
A direct marketing classic but heavy going in places. More for professionals than business owners.
Can a book first published eighty years ago teach you anything about advertising in the Internet age? It can if the book is “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins.
Claude Hopkins was a pioneer in advertising and copywriting but his impact today is probably seen most through his influence on the modern direct response marketing experts like Jay Abraham.. I have heard him say that he must have read this book over sixty times and that he gets something new from the book every time that he reads it.
It was Claude Hopkins who came up with the idea that advertising is just “salesmanship in print.” He is one of the foundation stones for direct response marketing and he pioneered ways of testing the different elements of copy against each other until the best, most successful version was found and could be rolled out as the main promotional campaign. This is the essence of scientific advertising.
His advertising laws are established in what has been proven to work and if you look at current copywriting guidelines, these rules are still valid.
The early chapters of Scientific Advertising are easy to read but I did find that the book became increasingly heavy going. However the book is a widely recognised marketing classic and a book that anyone who is serious about developing their marketing or copywriting knowledge has to read at least once. I’ve heard many well known copywriters say that they’ve read it multiple times.
It is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
It’s not essential for the general small business owner but I believe the subject of direct response marketing is vital.
This means knowing how to write effective sales copy and how it fits into marketing so I recommend
- The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don’t),
- The 24 Hour Marketing Miracle: The FIRST Marketing Book EVER to Be Backed Up By a 500% Money Back Guarantee (Value Mechanics) and two from legends who will be revered for as long as Hopkins,
- Jay Abraham with Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Earn the Competition and
- Dan Kennedy’s The Ultimate Marketing Plan: Target Your Audience! Get Out Your Message! Build Your Brand!.
[bestbooks]
Get To Know Me
[sos]
[6Steps]
