The key to writing a successful ad is knowing your audience and understanding what will motivate them to buy. You should already know what makes your target market tick before you even consider writing an advertisement. You also need to be clear on what you can offer them and what you are trying to achieve.

There’s nothing to stop you writing the advertisement yourself. However, if you are struggling to come up with the right words, you could hire a freelance copywriter or an advertising agency.

 

Grabbing attention with your advert

Clarity is key. Focus on a single, clear message and use the headline, an illustration or both to grab the reader’s attention.

The simple approach is usually best. A successful headline might highlight the key benefit your product offers, or arouse the interest of your target audience. Look through the ads in the publications you are planning to advertise in to give you a good idea of what works and what doesn’t.

Any online advertising copy must include the keywords and phrases that people are most likely to use when searching for a business like yours.

 

Building the body copy of an ad

Once you’ve got the reader’s attention, the body copy adds more information. Again the key is to concentrate on what your target reader is interested in and what you are trying to achieve.

Big brands sometimes produce ads with no body copy at all: the illustration along with their brand name is enough to convey the image they are after. At the other end of the scale, ads in specialist magazines may include more extensive details for the enthusiast.

Straightforward, punchy writing works best. Keep sentences short.

If in doubt, leave it out. Don’t be afraid of having plenty of white space in your advertisement. But do make sure you have given the reader the information they need to take the next step. It’s essential to make it easy for them to do what you want them to do. So make sure you include your contact details, and consider encouraging them to act by including a deadline.

 

 


 

Top Tips

  1. How do I set about writing an ad for my product or service?

 

First be clear about the purpose of your proposed advertisement. There can be several different reasons for advertising, so make sure you know exactly what you want the reader to do as a result of seeing your ad. Also, be sure about who it is you want to address and what will appeal to them – and what might put them off.

Then think about what you will have to say to persuade your readers to act, and where the advertisement ought to be placed so that it reaches as many targets as possible. When you begin writing, forget about trying to get it right first time, and never go with the first version until you have created several options.

Do not begin work on your advertisement without taking time to decide on your basic objectives first. You may want to appeal to the trade or the public. You may want to announce a sale, sell your product straight off the page (or from an online advert), elicit enquiries, persuade people to visit your website or store – or perhaps recruit new employees. It is these objectives that will dictate the tone and pace of your advertising copy and the level of detail it goes into. Once you are clear about exactly what you are trying to do, you will be able to develop your ideas logically and write a convincing ad.

 

  1. What are the essential elements of a good advertisement?

 

To produce consistently good results, remember the useful acronym ‘AIDA’. This stands for attention, interest, desire and action, the sequence through which you are aiming to lead your reader.

Attention – the first requirement is to get noticed among a crowd of similar advertisements. Keywords will dictate whether your ad appears prominently in search results online.

Interest – the advertisement must offer something immediately that will engage the reader’s interest.

Desire – the text or pictures must stimulate desire for the product.

Action – your advertisement must encourage people to click on a link, pick up the phone or visit your premises. Small businesses can only justify the cost of advertising if there is an appropriate action at the end of the sequence.

In practice, you will normally use four basic elements to produce these reactions. In a printed advertisement, these will usually be an image of some sort, a headline, some body copy and something clearly indicating what you want the reader to do next (the ‘call to action’). An ad that tries to take short cuts and leaves out any of the four stages of AIDA is unlikely to be effective. Online ads are short and sweet but they still need to meet the AIDA criteria.

 

3.What should I say in my advert?

Successful ads sell by appealing to the reader, so a list of benefits is always more powerful than a list of features. Try to write from the readers’ point of view, focusing on what interests them and what will make them act. List all the benefits your product or service can offer. Then cut back your list ruthlessly to isolate a single, powerful benefit (known in the trade as a USP, or Unique Selling Proposition) and build a headline around that.

Every ad should have a headline, your name and your contact details. Thespace that is left is all you have to play with when writing body copy. Depending on the size of your ad, there may only be room for three or four bullet points and a line or two of copy. Adverts should be concise and compelling and give enough information to lead the reader on to take action. Hone, condense and adapt your copy until you have the right balance. Draft several versions and try them out on people whose judgement you trust. Online advertising copy can be constantly tested and improved to boost results.

 

  1. How do I catch the right people’s attention and make them respond?

There are several ways of making your ad stand out on the printed page. Focus particularly on:

A good picture (illustrations catch the eye ahead of headlines).

A strong headline (five times as many people read the headline, compared with the body copy).

Making use of white space (leave ‘breathing space’ inside the border and do not clutter the ad with too much text).

To engage the right audience, the headline should ideally appeal to that segment of the market, and that segment only. For example, ‘Lose two stone in six weeks’ will only interest the overweight and ‘Stop smoking without pills’ will specifically attract would-be non-smokers who are nervous about the idea of taking drugs. On the other hand, ‘Simply the best’ is weak, because it is so general that it could apply to many products and companies.

Concentrate most of your time and effort on writing a strong, appealing headline that will attract the right audience, spell out a positive benefit and lure the reader to find out more. Your picture should amplify the headline’s message. If it needs a caption, you are using the wrong picture.

Make responding as easy as possible by including a freephone number, your email address and your website address. Create a deadline, such as a closing date for your offer, that will provide a spur to the reader to act now, rather than putting off the decision.

When it comes to wirting online ads, always put yourself in your customers’ shoes — what words and phrases would they typically use to find a product or service like yours? Make sure the words you select are also prominent on your website and landing pages. It’s best to use specific words and terms if you want to stand out. Google’s Keyword tool can help you find the best words and phrases for your business. Using location words is also the best way to target customers in your area.

 

  1. What copywriters’ tricks and techniques will work for me?

Copy should be to the point, punchy and unambiguous. Once you have written something, leave it for a while before editing it so that it becomes polished – every word that is left in must earn its keep. Try to keep to facts and specifics, such as promises and prices (make sure you can justify these if challenged).

Tips for producing good copy include:

  • Assemble notes of your key points first and tick them off as you begin to include them.
  • Put yourself in the readers’ position. Consider what will interest them. Use a friendly, direct style, more like speech than formal writing.
  • Write as though you are talking to your customer – talk to the reader directly, using ‘you’ and ‘we’ to make your message personal.
  • Steer clear of long and pompous words, jargon or obscure sayings, in favour of short, lively, ordinary vocabulary.
  • Emphasise or even repeat your main points, to make sure they are understood and remembered.
  • Avoid exaggerating and using too many superlatives.
  • Whatever you write, leave it overnight before sending it onwards – you’ll be surprised how frequently a fresh eye improves things.
  • Humour can be effective – or it can ruin everything if it misfires. Unless you are certain you can control the effects you create, and absolutely sure you know your audience inside out, do not take the risk. What works for one customer may offend others.
  • Proven techniques and tricks of the trade include:
  • Focusing tightly on your product or service’s USP, rather than trying to say too much.
  • Emphasising newsworthiness or topicality. Adding a topical angle can attract attention. Timing your advertisement to coincide with a big event or a sporting, local or national occasion can boost response rates.
  • Demonstrating endorsement by a respected person or body.
  • Featuring positive testimonials from satisfied customers.
  • Linking your advertisement to an attractive offer.
  • Using before-and-after photo sequences.
  • Introducing humour, as long as you use it with care.

 

  1. Should I get a professional to write the ad?

Yes, if you can afford it. But advertising agencies and copywriters do not come cheap and no-one can guarantee results. The only true test is to run the advertisement and monitor responses, testing and adjusting as you go. A professional will be able to avoid pitfalls that a novice may not spot, but many small firms with limited budgets do design their own advertisements and achieve reasonable results.

To find an agency, try the Advertising Association or search online for agencies and copywriters in your area. Many agencies will not take you on unless you are going to spend at least £5,000 (or, in some cases, £10,000). When you interview agencies or freelance copywriters, you should be looking for two things: will the writer understand the nature of your markets, and can you see real evidence of ingenuity and creative flair? You are paying for ideas, strategy and, finally, results. If the professionals cannot give you an extra edge in these areas, you might as well do it yourself.

 

When briefing an agency or copywriter, make sure you provide:

  • A clear statement of your objectives.
  • Details of your budget limits.
  • A list of the benefits offered by your product or service.
  • A customer profile and a short list of happy customers the copywriters can interview.

 

  1. What kind of illustrations and headlines work best?

Show the product in action wherever possible and include people in the shot to liven it up and add scale. Make sure photographs feature the same type of individual as the members of your target audience. Only use professionally taken shots, with good contrast. Digital images must be taken with a high-resolution camera. All image and no information makes for disappointing results.

The headlines that work best usually ask a question, spring a surprise or offer an explanation. Do not be afraid of using long headlines: research shows they pull better. You do not have to be too clever in the headline. Workmanlike headlines that focus on a single strong message can produce good results.

Any images must show the product or the essence of the idea you want to convey. A well-chosen picture can also create the right atmosphere for your advertisement. Its size has to be in proportion to the ad as a whole.

If there is no room for a picture, introduce something to create a difference in visual scale – a logo for example, can help to make an ad interesting as well as reinforcing your company image. The logo would normally appear in the bottom right-hand corner.

Headlines need to be of a reasonable size and ought to feed off your illustration, rather than merely repeating in words what the picture is saying. Make the headline specific and vigorous. Avoid clichés and outmoded language.

 

 

  1. What legal issues should I be aware of?

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s advertising standards watchdog. It has six main areas of concern.

Truthfulness: Goods or services must be described accurately and must be fit for their purpose. There are also rules about sale prices. The goods must have been on offer at a particular price for 28 days before an advertiser can claim to be selling it at 50% off.

Decency: Advertisements must not cause offence on the grounds of race, sex, religion or disability.

Health Benefits: What health products can claim to do and how they are promoted are monitored very closely.

Safety: Nothing can be portrayed that will glamourise dangerous practices, such as speeding or smoking cigarettes. Nor can anything be advertised which may encourage people to break the law.

Children: Advertisements are not allowed that encourage children to spend too much or indulge in unhealthy habits, such as eating too many sugary snacks.

Environment: Products which claim to be environmentally-friendly must provide unambiguous evidence to support the claims.

The Safe Home Ordering Protection Scheme (SHOPS) (which replaced the Mail Order Protection Scheme) is designed to protect customers who order goods via the internet, by post or over the phone and who send money but never receive what they have paid for (where the company goes into administration, liquidation or ceases trading). Companies in this field need to register with SHOPS and must pay a membership fee. They must also undertake to hold reasonable stocks before advertising, to deliver orders within 30 days and to accept the return of undamaged goods within a minimum period of seven days.

Bear in minds that the internet has its own codes of practice which govern issues relating to distance selling and visual access (www.w3.org).

The Data Protection Act could also affect you if your company uses mailing lists. Contact the Information Commissioner (via the Information Commissioner website).

As for knocking your competitors, as long as your claims are truthful, there is no law to stop you. If you choose this route, though, you may unleash an ugly knocking campaign that may well put customers off. You must decide what is best for you in the long run.

 

 

 

  1. Should all my advertising stick to the same house style?

It is definitely worth developing the discipline of a house style. It is all part of building brand awareness. If your advertising goes through significant changes of style and content, readers will be confused – unless your current image is so poor that any change at all would be an improvement.

 

  1. Do ads address my existing customers need to be approached differently?

It has been found that satisfied customers frequently read advertisements about products they have already bought, so you should not try to differentiate between prospects and existing customers. Although advertising always offers the opportunity to reach out to entirely new customers, in most industries repeat or replacement orders from existing customers are likely to form the backbone of your business.

When it comes to addressing your existing customers, advertising is not the only route. By obtaining your customers’ names, addresses and email addresses you can speak to them directly.

Remember that there are codes of practice that control unsolicited mail and emails. You must give your customers the opportunity to be removed from your mailing lists. That said, if the offers you are communicating are fresh and worthwhile, people will be happy to stick with you.

 

Checking your ad

Once you’ve drafted your ad, leave it overnight before you read it through. If you can, get the ad properly laid out before you check it.

Then put yourself in the shoes of one of your target customers and have a look at the ad:

  • Does it grab your attention?
  • Would it stand out from all the other ads in the publication?
  • Does it make a strong promise that you can keep?
  • Would it encourage you to respond?

Finally, test the ad with customers and suppliers before you use it in the media.