Tested Advertising Methods John Caples Review

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples

Review - 4.5 Stars

I have just finished reading "Tested Advertising Methods : Fifth Edition" by John Caples and revised by Fred E. Hahn.

No wonder it is considered a direct response marketing classic.

Apart from a little too much repetition, I think it is a terrific book.

John Caples - Systematic Tested Advertising Methods

John Caples is another of the classic advertising men like Claude Hopkins and Robert Collier with a prodigious talent for copywriting.

Caples was a naval engineer turned advertising man - and like all engineers thrived on analysis and he developed the Tested Advertising Methods.

The only thing that interested him was advertising that sold - and he systematically tested little changes to see if they would work better.

If they did, he learnt. If they didn't, he also learnt. 

John Caples - A Creative Genius

But John Caples wasn't just about analytical research.

He was also a creative genius with words.

At the age of 25 and within months of starting as a copywriter he created one of THE classic headlines to sell a correspondence course in playing the piano.

"They Laughed When I Sat Down
At The Piano
But When I Started To Play!-
 

It was immensely successful and since then has been adapted many times and is quoted in most books on copywriting.

Within a month, John Caples himself had reworked the headline to sell a French correspondence course:

"They grinned when the waiter spoke to me in French -

but their laughter turned to amazement at my reply"

 

Same kind of emotional pull - embarrassment turns to respect.

The last time I saw the twist, it was on the upgraded Magnetic Marketing System (affiliate link) from Dan Kennedy.

""They all laughed when I said my business was growing by leaps and bounds despite the recession angst - but they don't have THE MAGNETIC MARKETING SYSTEM..."

Tested Advertising Methods - Headlines

This John Caples book is particularly strong on headlines and the results of headlines which have worked against those that didn't.

If the headline doesn't capture the reader's attention, the advert is ignored.

These few chapter will pay for the cost of the book on its own many times over.

The rest of the book is also packed with stuff that works - and when you see it, you understand why - or at least I do, most of the time. 

Tested Advertising Methods Revised by Fred Hahn

When I reviewed Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins I said it was very good but the writing style is old fashioned.

Fred Hahn has done an excellent job (or labour of love) in bringing Tested Advertising Methods up to date with this revision in 1997.

Modern adverts are used as well as the old classics and you can see how things have developed.

Overall Recommendation on "Tested Advertising Methods" by John Caples

Read this book.

I rate "Tested Advertising Methods" as a 4.5 star book which is a strong buy recommendation.

For much of the book, I thought I had found a five star book - but in the end, the repetition got to me and I have docked it half a point.

My copy is covered in highlights and I will be updating my copywriting notes with huge chunks of this book.

While Tested Advertising Methods and John Caples are referred to in many modern copywriting books, I don't believe that there is any substitute for reading the original.

Tested Advertising Methods is rightly regarded as a copywriting and direct response marketing classic.

Buying Your Copy Of Tested Advertising Methods from Amazon

Links through to the Tested Advertisng Methods pages for Amazon.com and Amazon.co..uk (affiliate links)

What Do You Think of Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples?

I am very interested to hear what you think about Tested Advertising Methods if you have read it.

Is it right that this book by John Caples is regarded as an all time classic or do you,  for example, prefer Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.  

Tested Advertising Methods is one of the books selected by the legendary Gary Halbert as the best copywriting books.

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Comments

[Paul]

Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples is one of the classics recommended by the late great Gary Halbert in his list of best copywriting books.

http://businesscoaching.typepad.com/business_books/2009/11/best-copywriting-books-from-gary-halbert.html

[nancy]

It is so good because Caples was in the mail order advertising business for forty-something years, and that's one of the few kinds of advertising that gets real feedback. Ads can be tested and the results can be compared. So Caples gives you FACTS rather than opinions about what works in advertising. Not only that, but the book is extremely readable. I'm the author of Self-Help Stuff That Works, and I'm an expert on putting the most useful information into a readable form, and this book is as good as it gets. As David Ogilvy says in the introduction, "This is, without a doubt, the most USEFUL book about advertising that I have ever read." No more endorsement than that is needed!

[Paul Simister]

Nancy, thanks for your comment on Tested Advertising Methods.

It is a terrific book, there's no doubt about that and all marketing and copywriting professional need to read it.

It's also a great read for small business owners who want to understand more about the marketing message.

This is about as close to a five star rating as I get, without it actually getting one.