Bullhorn in hand, the man on the downtown street corner screams his message out to whoever can hear. I’m sure you’ve heard one of these guys, but have you ever listened? Neither have I. The fact is, loud and intrusive just doesn’t cut it when it comes to persuading - people just tune that stuff out as “noise.”

The same holds true with your Yellow Page ad design: a noisy or “busy” design repulses the eye, sending prospects looking elsewhere and killing your response rate! Look at your current Yellow Page ad; does your chaotic-looking ad create a jittery feeling? What’s the signal to noise ratio: do you have lots of bulleted information but no overall message?

All the elements of your Yellow Page ad should work together to produce an organized flow of emotionally engaging and relevant information to the prospect. A well-designed ad should welcome prospects in, guiding them through the ad to ensure they read and “get” the message.

Professional Yellow Page ad designers achieve this affect through proper eyeflow. Eyeflow is simply the way in which the reader’s eye is (or isn’t) guided through your entire ad. The goal of your Yellow Page design is to attract attention and then gently escort the reader from one element to the next in a natural progression that ultimately deposits your prospect at your “call to action” (phone number). By the time prospects get there, they will have absorbed all the necessary information to “feel good” about calling you. If your ad has been properly developed, punching in your phone number will feel like the natural and right thing to do.

Most advertisers know that readers follow a “Z pattern” when looking at ads. That is, they start at the upper left corner then move right. They then zag diagonally to the lower left corner and to the right again. There are numerous variations (and zig-zags) but most patterns end up in the same place... the lower right corner. Use this fact to help guide prospects through your advertisement.

Eliminate chaos, create tranquility and improve eyeflow by:

• Adhering to the natural eye-movement patterns of your prospects.

• Maintaining the proper size relationships between the 4 ad elements (headline, artwork, body copy and call-to-action) so that they don't compete with each and help build a natural eyeflow through your ad.

• Incorporating adequate negative (empty) space so the various elements have breathing room and can be organized in a visually pleasing manner. Remember, negative space is expensive too! Develop it as carefully as your content.

• Using ONLY ONE dominant graphic element that sucks readers in and helps reinforce your main headline concept.

There are many factors that will influence the eyeflow and success rate of your next Yellow Pages ad. Want to learn more? Give me a call at 800-726-7006 and I’ll be happy to guide you through.

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