CLAUDE HOPKINS: THE CREATOR OF MODERN ADVERTISING

Breaking Down The Strategy

Most marketers regard David Ogilvy as the greatest advertiser to ever live.

I agreed… until a few months back when I saw this Ogilvy quote that changed my stance.

In the quote he is referring to a book called ‘Scientific Advertising’ By Claude Hopkins.

At the time I was a little confused.

Who in the world is Claude Hopkins?
Why has no one told me about him?
What made him (& his book) so good?

And down the rabbit hole I went.

1 book, 2 podcasts, 7 blog articles, and 8 hours later…

I’ve pulled together his 6 best lessons that you need to know (especially if you’re a marketer).

Here they are:

Lesson 1: If Your Product Is Good, Give It Away

How many marketers spend 1000’s of hours (and million of dollars) trying to market a product that sells itself?

The answer: Too many.

If you’re product:

• Solves a problem

• Is actually beneficial for users

• And is worth the money you charge

Your sole aim should be to get the product in the hands of as many of your target audience as possible.

Claude uses an awesome example of this in his book, he says:

If your product or service is as good as you say it is - everyone will happily hand over their money after using it.

This approach honestly reminds me of the Apple Stores.

They don’t push benefits or features down your throat, instead, they just have all their products laid out for you to try.

Lesson 2: You Write Headlines Wrong

This was kinda directed at myself.

Because all of my life I’ve seen headlines as a “hook”. With my sole aim being to grab as much attention as possible with it.

But this is not the way Claude see’s headlines. He see’s it as a way to address your target audience clearly.

He says:

And when he says that, he really means it literally.

Just take a look at the famed ad he wrote for Van Camp’s Milk.

The headline is just him letting his target audience know this was addressed to them.

Crazy.

But it clearly works, I mean… which wife who buys condensed milk wouldn’t read this?

Lesson 3: Advertising = Salesmanship

Hopkins is NOT (and I repeat) NOT a fan of ads for brand awareness.

In fact, right at the start of the Scientific Advertising book he says:

He even says that when he will never write something in an ad that a salesmen wouldn’t say in person.

I’m honestly not sure if this applies to all ads, especially in the modern age.

Still, I think it’s an awesome way to frame how you think about writing ads.

Lesson 4: Know Your Shit

Hopkins believes that the best adverts come from advertisers who know more than anyone else about the product.

The more the advertiser knows → The better the ad will be.

Why?

Because he’ll know exactly what to say about the product + why the people should buy it.

A great example of this from Hopkins, is the time he had to write an ad for a decaf coffee brand.

At the time, the brand were really struggling to sell their product because it lacked the thing everyone drank coffee for - the kick.

But after hours of researching, Hopkins uncovered a key medical fact: caffeine stimulation comes two hours after drinking.

So the immediate bracing effects which people seek from coffee are not lost when the caffeine is removed.

This became the cornerstone of one of his most successful campaigns.

This is one of my favourite lessons from Hopkins, and it ties perfectly with one of my favourite Claude Hopkins quotes:

Lesson 5: Be Specific

A lot of people make very vague claims about their product and expect it to convince people to buy.

• The purest beer

• The most reliable bank

• The fastest payments platform

But Claude says that claims like this hold no weight when it comes to advertising.

You have to get specific.

Another one of Claude’s famous case studies was around a brand that was advertising they had the “purest beer” - which obviously wasn’t performing too well.

So Claude came in and changed the headline to “We wash our bottles 7 times”.

And it became one of the most successful beer ads of all time.

Why?

They no longer told people they had the purest beer - they showed them with a specific example.

The more specific you are, the more people will believe you.

Lesson 6: Never Guess

The book isn’t called “Scientific Advertising” for no reason. It’s called it because Hopkins revolutionised advertising with the way he would base his ads on “Science”.

Which leads me to one of his most famous advertising philosophies - never guess.

Hopkins says:

And he’s right.

But you aren’t able to do that by spending hours writing an ad, publishing it, and then hoping for the best.

Instead, Hopkins uses a testing approach which has been coined as “The Scientific Advertising Method”.

Any modern-day marketer (especially media buyers) will probably laugh at this and think “Duh”. But before Hopkins this trial then scale approach didn’t exist.

People saw ads as an art. It was only when Claude Hopkins implemented this testing approach that it became a science.

And it would be a sin to not include this in this breakdown.

It’s safe to say that Claude Hopkins is truly one of the greatest marketers to ever live.

The fact I never learned about him in school is crazy to me.

But it also just goes to show how important it is to go out of your way to learn from the greats in your industry.

Hope you found this breakdown worth it!

If you did, why not forward the email to a friend? :)

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

This has been a breakdown of Claude Hopkins’ marketing lessons. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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