10 Top Tips – For Writting Effective Copy (Advertisements)

Have you ever gone to write an advertisement or some marketing material for your company and wondered “what should I include”?

Have you every asked yourself “Whats the most important thing to high light about my business”?

This How To Article provides 10 do’s and don’t that have been proven to work just by using the simple principle of making the copy about YOUR customer and Not about YOUR business.

WHY ABOUT THE CUSTOMER

The truth is all people like to hear about themselves and there own problems no one much cares about how great a company is and how fantastic there products/services are. What people are really interested in, is what is in it for them.

If you follow these top tips then you will never be worried or concerned about writing copy again and you may even find that writing advertisements and marketing material for your company will actually be enjoyable instead of tedious & worrisome.

• Make your core message about your customer not yourself

• When reading your copy back, ask yourself “is this wording about us and our business or is it about our customers?”

• Do not write about the features of your product/service, write about the benefits. By doing this you will shift the focus from you to your customer.

• Learn and know what the benefits are and express them because if you don’t know what the benefits are? then how would you expect your customers to know?

• Include the word ‘You’ or ‘Your’ when writing copy, by doing this it will force you to have a personal conversation with your reader / customer.

• If you have a USP be sure to include it in all of your copy writing. If you do not have a USP then simply ask yourself “what sets you apart from everyone else?”

• Position yourself within your copy as a bold leader, in doing this you will own a category in your customer’s mind. State clearly that you are a leader within your chosen field because if you don’t and prefer to leave this to someone else to do then you will be waiting a very long time.

• Phrases like Leading, Best, Top, Most Prominent are purely subjective phrases and should be included when ever possible; do not be shy or scared to use them.

• Be very careful with pricing and offers. This can have a big impact on how your product or service is perceived. It is highly probable that your customers are not necessarily buying on price alone. By emphasising other areas such as USP’s and leadership you shouldn’t have to decrease your prices. Reductions such as 10% off are the opposite of leadership. Leadership is saying “Here I am”…..“here’s my product”…..”it’s incredible”….”this is why it is not cheap”….”this is why you should buy it”. The second you start to offer reductions here there and everywhere is the second you lose your perceived value. If you want to give someone a deal it is far more profitable to keep the price as it is but add something on. Two for one, or “if you buy this then you will get XYZ.

• Always include a concise call to action. “I’ve told you what the product/service is, here’s what you need to do, DO IT NOW”

So what are you waiting for? Go write some excellent copy for your business and witness some fantastic results. You may even find that your website content can do with some updating, why not read your website content now and see if you can incorperate these top tips.