Whether it’s a brochure, Web site, sales sheet or letter, there are some facts or ideas in every printed marketing piece that are more important than others. Maybe you want to highlight a special price or a key benefit to your consumer. But your main messages are probably buried in your copy. We need to unbury them!

Ask yourself, “If someone looked at this and would only remember three things, what would I want them to remember?” No cheating — no more than three. Now that we know what they are, we have to give them proper prominence.

Here’s how you should NOT do it. Do not bold the key words. We’ve all seen ads that have 30 percent of the copy bolded. It looks amateurish and the bolding actually makes the copy harder to read. Same with underlining. Underline a word or two and itfs effective. Underline half the sentences and it becomes a blur.

So how do you effectively call attention to the most important messages? Try one or more of these techniques:

œ Cut the copy. Don’t bury your message in more words than necessary.

œ Use a subhead to deliver a big punch.

œ Use white space to create a “frame” around your important fact.

œ Put a postscript (P.S.) on your marketing piece. Studies show it will have a much higher readership than your body copy.

Don’t assume your audience will be able to ferret out the information you consider critical. Make sure you don’t make it even harder for them to find it. Instead, use some of these tips to take their hand and lead them right where they need to be.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and the author of “99.3 Random Acts of Marketing.” He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com.