Scientific Advertising
by Claude C. Hopkins · first published 1966
82% recommend18% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, fluff-free foundation of copywriting and ad testing, with concrete examples of tracking and A/B-style testing. Suits founders and marketers who want to measure which channels and messages work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2009–2020Tested advertising methods
John Caples
Recommended by 13 · mentioned by 1413 recommend · 14 mention13 recommend · 1413 recommend
2018–2023How to write a good advertisement
Victor O. Schwab
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 43 recommend · 4 mention3 recommend · 43 recommend
2010–2018Cashvertising
Drew Eric Whitman
Recommended by 7 · mentioned by 77 recommend · 7 mention7 recommend · 77 recommend
2007–2026Ogilvy on advertising
David Ogilvy
Recommended by 23 · mentioned by 3523 recommend · 35 mention23 recommend · 3523 recommend
2009–2025Confessions of an advertising man
David Ogilvy, Matthieu Deloison
Recommended by 3 · mentioned by 93 recommend · 9 mention3 recommend · 93 recommend
2007–2025Made to stick
Chip Heath, Dan Heath, ʻAlizah Raʻanan
Recommended by 70 · mentioned by 8670 recommend · 86 mention70 recommend · 8670 recommend
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Patrick Lencioni
Recommended by 44 · mentioned by 5444 recommend · 54 mention44 recommend · 5444 recommend
2007–2025SPIN selling
Neil Rackham
Recommended by 52 · mentioned by 6252 recommend · 62 mention52 recommend · 6252 recommend
Read Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins, the granddaddy of all copywriting books. Do it now. It's very short, it's available online for free, and it has no fluff and all useful information. It was written a few years ago,…
on “Ask HN: Tips for writing compelling web copy.” ↗…Chet Holmes 2. Zig Ziglar's The Secrets of Closing the Sale 3. Brian Tracy's The Psychology of Selling Copywriting: The 3 Best Books (All out of print): 1. Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples 2. Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins 3. Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz If I could add a fourth it would be: 4. The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy If you want to get even deeper, here is a longer…
on “Ask HN: Best way to learn copywriting and sales?” ↗…can't tell which activities made a difference (or in which direction). You need other data to understand what's happening. A better book than Ogilvy on Advertising, in this regards, is Claude C. Hopkins' Scientific Advertising. It lays out all the principles for testing ads, back when we didn't have any concept of analytics. The basic method was: Try different things in different markets to see what works best. Keep doing it…
on “The perils of PR” ↗…good. I think these are excellent books on SEM: "Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day" by Jennifer Grappone "Getting Noticed on Google" by Ben Norman And if it isn't measured, it isn't managed: "Scientific Advertising" Claude C. Hopkins
on “Ask HN: How do you build an audience?” ↗…by Robert Cialdini, Be My Guest - Conrad Hilton Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, The Success System That Never Fails - W. Clement Stone, Winning Through Intimidation - Robert Ringer, Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins, The Ultimate Marketing Plan - Dan Kennedy, How to Win Friends and influence People - Dale Carnegie, The Psychology of Intelligence - CIA Manual - Richard Heuer https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intellig...…
on “The Best Business Book I’ve Ever Read (2014)” ↗…topic altogether. Make sure you're not neglecting critical areas because you're uncomfortable with them. If lack of confidence/knowledge is an issue, I'd recommend picking up a copy of Claude Hopkins "Scientific Advertising". It's only 80 pages, there's pdfs of it floating around on-line, and I think it gets the principles down nicely.
on “Don't Read the Comments” ↗"Scientific Advertising" Claude Hopkins "Tested Advertising" Caples (4th edition or earlier only) "How I Raised Myself from a Failure to Success in Selling" Betger "How to Write a Good Advertisement" Schwab. "How to Write…
on “Ask HN: Best way to learn copywriting and sales?” ↗Advertising copy gets tested since decades. Read "Scientific Advertising" by Hopkins from the 1920s.
on “Email Marketing Subject Line Comparison” ↗Benjamin Graham, Claude Hopkins. Both wandered into fields full of failed artists and wild gamblers, and turned them into something closer to a science. The Intelligent Investor and Scientific Advertising are the only two books I know of that can give the same person the same epiphany twice.
on “Ask HN: Whom do you admire most?” ↗…that we need more research. Also, some suggested reading for anyone who's interested: Traction: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22091581-traction (Good comparison of different marketing channels) Scientific Advertising: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2621927-scientific-adver... (1923 book on measuring marketing) Positioning: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/760025.Positioning (First book to properly capture…
on “What do we really know about the effectiveness of digital advertising?” ↗The gold standard I held myself to while in the copywriting business was: -Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (c. 1923) It is more a book about A/B testing from the literal grandfather of the practice and while some of the examples may be outdated, it is not hard to see parallels with whatever…
on “Ask HN: How can I learn copywriting?” ↗"Scientific Advertising" by Claude C. Hopkins. This book is turning 100 years old next year, but what I loved about it is that because it predates the Internet (and even TV and the mass proliferation of radio), it doesn't get…
on “Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?” ↗…Tribes: We need you to lead us All marketers are liars This is marketing Etc. Ries & Trout Positioning: The battle for your mind The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Etc. Scientific Advertising - Claude Hopkins https://www.foundingsales.com/ The Little Red Book of Selling - Gitomer Learning to use online channels, in my opinion, requires a lot of work. Companies like Google have useful…
on “My solopreneur story: zero to $45K/mo in 2 years” ↗…how highlighting a single trait in the coal he was advertising saved a mine or how he repeatedly sold the Harvard Classics through using half a dozen of different approaches, or pick up something like Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins. I personally think that the only Ninja in Tech should be a Marketing Ninja, because when great advertisers sell you, you don't notice it. Well, maybe server admins too, but i digress.
on “On the phenomenon of bullshit jobs” ↗…Ramsinghani) M&A - Winning (Jack Welch) - M&A chapter - Connecting the Dots (John Chambers) - M&A chapter Marketing - Data-Driven Marketing (Mark Jeffery) - Positioning (Al Ries and Jack Trout) - Scientific Advertising (Claude Hopkins) - Traction (Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares) - Behind the Cloud (Marc Benioff and Carlye Adler) - Ogilvy on Advertising (David Ogilvy) - Marketing High Technology (William Davidow)…
on “Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?” ↗