This is a huge pet peeve of mine. If you are a copywriter writing a dollars off offer, do not omit the cents.
Tacking on cents makes the savings seem bigger. Take a look: (a) Save $100 (b) Save $100.00
Which would you go for?
Obviously, when you’re talking about what something will cost, generally you should do the reverse and omit the cents. (Unless the price is so low that the retailer in question needs those cents to turn a reasonable profit, in which case test it.)
Adding cents to savings may seem like nitpicking -- but it’s those little nitpicky copy tweaks that can sometimes make the difference between an OK response rate and a great response rate.
Got any copywriting pet peeves of your own that you wish marketers would stop doing? Post them below and help me educate the world. :-)
Comments about this Blog Entry
Mar 10, 2008 -
Sean D'Souza of
www.psychotactics.com says:
Um, sorry to nitpick, but your banner ad says: Only 5 days to save $600 (and no cents)
[Grin]
Mar 11, 2008 -
Tad Clarke of
MarketingSherpa says:
Sean, thanks for the comment and keeping our marketing team on their toes. So noted and fixed.
Mar 11, 2008 -
Ernest Nicastro of
Positive Response says:
I first came across this tip in one of the great Herschell Gordon Lewis's many books years ago. I think another one of his tips similar to this was using or not using a comma in pricing. This depends on whether you want to make the amount seem bigger, "You get all of these bonuses - valued at $1,127.39 - for FREE." or smaller, "You get all of this for only $1127.39."
Um, sorry to nitpick, but your banner ad says: Only 5 days to save $600 (and no cents) [Grin]