How to Write Effective Advertising Copy

Writing advertising copy that grabs peoples attention and convinces them to take action is difficult, no doubt. But you can do it by following the guidelines given here:

Great Copy Basics Great advertising copy always captures peoples attention, touts benefits, keeps people interested and causes action.

Capture peoples attention People see hundreds, sometimes thousands of ads a day, so your ad needs to stand out to grab interest. Headlines are the best way to grab attention. Make sure your copy relates to the image on your ad. If you have some kind of joke or are implying something with vague copy, your tactic will likely backfire. You dont want to alienate those who dont get it.

Touts benefits Great copy always touts benefits above all else. People want to know whats in it for them. You need to clearly communicate how your product will solve the persons problem or give them some benefit they are now missing.

Keeps people interested After you write a great headline to grab peoples attention, you need to keep that attention with your benefits. Generally, detailed (yet brief) benefits work better than vague benefits. Give people something concrete to think about. For instance, instead of stating You wont have to vacuum as much, you could state Only vacuum once a month. The second statement is much more concrete and gives people a solid idea of what the product can do.

Causes action This should be your goal when writing copy  make the reader want to take action. This doesnt have to mean they purchase your product, but it means they ask for more information by calling you, visiting your Web site, or whatever action you want them to take.

Intermediate Copy Writing Advertising copy is hard to write because it has to be so many things at once: creative, readable, persuasive and entertaining.

How do you do this? By:

Writing short sentences. Wordiness will ruin your ad. Who wants to read a brochure printing piece that looks like the pages of the book? Why use seven words to say something when you could say it in three? Look for places to eliminate repetitive info, such as Annual payments of $XX a year. Annual and a year are not necessary  choose one or the other.

Not talking down to your customers. Keep your customers education and life experiences in mind when writing copy. Dont talk down to them, but dont talk above them either. You should do research so you know exactly who your target market is and the language they use and understand. Know the slang of your demographic  you dont want to embarrass yourself by accidentally using a sexual or drug-related slang term for a product.

Proofreading. Seeing grammatical or spelling errors can bring your credibility down very quickly. Proofreading is an easy step to take, but one that is often ignored. Dont let something as simple as watching for punctuation and grammar ruin your otherwise effective ad.

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