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HOW TO WRITE BETTER ADVERTISING COPY
by Brian Konradt
A successful
marketing plan relies heavily on the pulling-power of advertising copy. Writing
result-oriented ad copy is difficult, as it must appeal to, entice, and
convince consumers to take action. There is no definitive formula to write
perfect ad copy; it is based on a number of factors, including ad placement,
demographic, even the consumer’s mood when they see your ad. So how is any
writer supposed to pen a stunning piece of advertising copy -- copy that
sizzles and sells? The following tips will jumpstart your creative thinking and
help you write a better ad.
KNOW THE BASICS
All
good advertising copy is comprised of the same basic elements. Good advertising
copy always:
Grabs Attention: Consumers are inundated
with ads, so it’s vital that your ad catches the eye and immediately grabs
interest. You could do this with a headline or slogan (such as VW’s
“Drivers Wanted” campaign), color or layout (Target’s new
colorful, simple ads are a testimony to this) or illustration (such as the Red
Bull characters or Zoloft’s depressed ball and his ladybug friend).
Promises Credible Benefit: To feel compelled by an ad, the
consumer must stand to gain something; the product is often not enough. What
would the consumer gain by using your product or service? This could be
tangible, like a free gift; prestige, power or fame. But remember: you must be
able to make good on that promise, so don’t offer anything unreasonable.
Keeps Interest: Grabbing the consumer’s attention
isn’t enough; you’ve got to be able to keep that attention for at
least a few seconds. This is where your benefits come into play or a product
description that sets your offer apart from the others
Generates
Action: This is the ultimate point of advertising copy -- it must make
the reader react in some way. This doesn’t necessarily translate to buying
the product immediately or using the service. Your ad could be a positioning
tool to enable the reader to think about you in a certain light. Speak to your
audience, or the audience you’d like to reach, and you’ll be
surprised how frequently they come to you in the future.
KNOW THE
MEDIUM
How you write your advertising copy will be heavily based
on where you will place your ad. If it’s a billboard ad, you’ll need
a super catchy headline and simple design due to the speed at which people will
pass. Online ads are similar; consumers are so inundated with Internet
advertising that yours must be quick and catchy. Magazine advertising is the
most versatile, but this is solely dependent on the size of your ad and how
many other ads compete with yours. If you’ve got a full page, feel free to
experiment; more page space gives you more creative space. If the ad is tiny,
you’ll need to keep things as simple as possible.
KNOW THE
STYLE
Advertising copy is a unique type of writing. As the ad
copywriter, your aim is to balance creativity and readability into something
persuasive and entertaining. Keep the following points in mind when you write
your copy:
Be Succinct: Messy wordiness will completely
destroy an ad campaign. Use short sentences with as many familiar words as
possible; save the thesaurus for a thesis or dissertation. Always make sure to
use precise phrasing (why use five adjectives when one good action verb would
do?); and eliminate any redundancies, such as “little tiny” or
“annual payments of $XXX per year.”
Talk To Your
Audience, Not At Them: Though you are announcing the availability of a
product or service, avoid being clinical or overly formal. Write as if
you’re talking to your ideal customer; use a style they’d use, words
they’d be familiar with, slang they’d probably know. But be
absolutely certain that you’re using these terms and phrases correctly. A
recent McDonald’s campaign attempted to reach a certain audience by using
the phrase “I’d hit it” in reference to a cheeseburger, unaware
that the phrase is almost always used as a sexual reference.
Avoid Clichés: It’s easy for writers new to
advertising copy to fall into this trap, but it’s a trap that can severely
damage the writing. Clichés fail to ignite the imagination; and
consumers so numb to the phrases will often skip right past them, effectively
ruining the succinct element of your ad. If you find yourself tempted to use a
cliché, think about the message you want to convey with that
cliché and try to rephrase it in a more imaginative, personal way.
Always Proofread: It’s an obvious point, but you’d
be surprised how many ads run in a magazine or on a billboard with an error of
some sort. Go through your advertising copy carefully to make sure that every
word is spelled correctly, the grammar is impeccable and the punctuation is
dead on. Even the best ads can be ruined by a misplaced comma or dangling
modifier.
© B. Konradt
Brian Konradt is
a freelance writer and founder of FreelanceWriting.Com (http://www.freelancewriting.com), a free web site to help
writers master the business and creative sides of freelance writing, and
BookCatcher.com (http://www.bookcatcher.com), a free website to help authors
promote their books.
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1)
Start & Run a Copywriting Business Steve Slaunwhite by
Erik Joseph
2)
Teach Yourself Copywriting by J. Jonathan
Gabay
3)
How to Write Great Copy: Learn the Unwritten Rules of
Copywriting by Dominic Gettins
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