6 Rules for Writing Better Ad Copy
An advertising text is not just a pile of epithets seasoned with calls to action and time limits. A good ad copy is like a good painting. It will gather crowds of people around it.
How ad copy differs from other texts
The language of advertising is markedly different from other ways of communication in the information field that surrounds each person. The placement of advertising texts has a specific goal — to convey information about products or services to the consumer as quickly as possible while emphasizing their benefits.
A dynamic call to action, which advertising is, should not be wordy or contain complex syntactic structures. Simple short phrases that easily convey the content of the advertising text predominate here. You can alternate them with more complex ones, but always keep in mind that the shorter the text is, the more convenient it is for perception.
6 Tips For Writing Excellent Ad Copy
Captivating headline
There is a long-established formula for creating compelling headlines, AIDA:
- Attention;
- Interest;
- Desire;
- Action.
The elements are arranged in order of importance, and it is no coincidence that attention comes first. This is the most important component, thanks to which the visitor who found it in the search engine must decide in half a second whether to leave or stay.
The headline should explain the essence of the article and intrigue the client to read on.
You can strengthen the title with a subheading. You can use it to describe the benefits of the proposal for the client and the benefits of goods over other analogs. It helps a lot to use in the subheadings of keywords, by which the client often comes from a search engine.
Table of contents
An advertisement written according to the rules does not guarantee that all visitors to the website will read it. You have to understand that the visitor first scans the page, and if their eyes are not hooked on something, they will leave without starting to read the text.
If a title is catchy, readers will skim your text, picking up certain passages. Do you want the whole material to be read? Title each chapter to make it easier for a reader to navigate. They will help your customer make a quicker decision, providing general information about the products and services you're advertising.
Headings are written according to the same rules as the main title. They note the main benefits of the product and its advantages directly and simply.
Formatting
Not only do headlines help readers navigate through an ad copy. You can achieve even better results with formatting. Bullet lists, arrows, and other markers assist in organizing your text properly and making a call to action more powerful.
In the visual form of communication, formatting serves as an amplifier. Emphasis can easily be placed using italics, bold, color, underline, etc.
Statisticians have estimated that simply highlighting certain words in the background already makes the text more expressive and increases its readability by 20%.
Postscript
An ordinary postscript, written through P.S. and P.P.S., becomes an inherently powerful sales driver when you include the last paragraphs of an advertising text that capture the main point. The impact on customers is phenomenal.
Postscripts can include:
- Information about the bonus that is not in the main text;
- A reference point for the location of the order button;
- A description of the promotion offered in addition to those already announced;
- An emphasis on the existing limitations in the action of the offer.
Words are important
We all perceive words differently. Therefore, you should use them carefully and responsibly to convey the author's main idea to the potential client.
The author can use words as a tool to produce various manipulations to enhance the advertisement's expressiveness. There are three basic techniques for this:
- repetitive words;
- emotional words;
- words of affirmation.
Repetitions are justified when synonyms and defining phrases are used in the advertising text to emphasize the importance of the product offered. These expressions should carry through the entire text of the main idea without change, so in the following paragraph, new information is allowed, which will only complement the main idea.
Words filled with emotion, properly chosen to accurately represent the main idea and directed to the target audience, guarantee the success of the text to advertise the product. The same idea can be presented in different ways, but the leading role will be played by emotional coloring.
Ad copies must not contain negations. Only words of affirmation will cause a positive attitude. It is possible to include double negation, but such a construction complicates the perception of the main meaning.
Limited offers
You can use limited offers to speed up the purchase of a product or service. This technique works well for advertising products, training, and services. Restricting the offer by the time of an action or the number of products will noticeably increase traffic to the site and enhance sales.