I am not a copywriter, in fact, far from it. I am one of those people who had to work twice as hard to master a skill, like copy writing. If the goal at hand is that important to me, then I work at it. If it is not that important to me, I outsource. However, communicating with my clients is so important and not something, I could outsource. Especially, if I want to be myself.
If you can relate to this scenario, then you will be happy to know that copy writing is not really a talent, but a skill. Anyone can learn a skill by repetition. In the next few days, I will be writing about one or two copy writing aspects, techniques, and mindset that work for my business and me.
1. Be Direct and straightforward.
Get right to the point. Eliminate any unnecessary words. The longer the drum roll, the more likely you will lose the reader.
Kenneth Roman (the king of Madison Avenue and former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather) said this…
“Your reader does not have much time. If you want to hold the attention of busy people, your writing must cut through to the heart of the matter and should only require a minimum of time and effort on the reader’s part.”
Anyone who has to write ad copy has to deal with the problem of being understood by everyone. Ordinary mortals might not understand your meaning if you fail to use simple language.
2. Use the lead argument to kick off your ad.
Give the most compelling and strong impact to your first paragraph. By offering, some kind of benefit can help in most cases.
Once you have drafted your first paragraph, build on your description of product’s key advantages. Tell readers what they should know about your product and repeat it often.
3. Speak directly to your audience.
Some copywriters tend to write as if they were communicating with an inanimate mass. This is not a good approach. Speak directly to your readers, addressing them as YOU. Use personal phrases, direct questions, or requests of readers, exclamations, and chatty sentences.
4. Use Present Tense.
The present allows you express the idea in your copy that this is what is happening and this is what you should do. It can also be used to express a future incident that is sure to occur.
5. Use Logic And Emotion.
Your ad should not only inform readers about a specific advantage, such as, “Our service makes your teeth whiter,” about an emotional benefit, as well as, “See how much the ladies like your smile when you use our toothpaste.”
6. Keep Your Paragraph Short and Sweet.
Readability studies have made it quite clear on this topic: the longer your paragraphs, the fewer people will read them.
7. Be Positive.
While you may get more open rate with a alarming bad news headline, most people do not really follow through, mainly because of the negativity. Always frame the positives of your product.
8. Don’t get carried away with exclamation marks.
Exclamation marks often serve as a refuge for writers who lack emotion in style.
9. Repeat Your Product’s Name.
It’s a good idea to repeat your product’s name as often as possible in ads.
10. Avoid stating the obvious.
Stay far away from clichés like “best in the world”, “the first”, “everybody’s favorite”, “The least expensive”…etc. Avoid all the overworked generalities.
11. Use subheads every 25 lines.
The most effective subheads will keep the reader interested, and let him/her get the gist of your pitch without having to read it from start to finish.
12. Be cordial.
People who are warm, sincere and amiable are most likely to write successful ads.
Again, during the next few days, the time we spend together will be used to focus on creating better selling systems, marketing approaches, brand positioning, competitive advantage, creating new products, services, identifying new opportunities, forging successful joint venture or strategic alliance deals – all done by addressing simple copywriting strategies.
Why should YOU be excited by this? Because, from an advertising basis, it is probably the most profitable proposition anyone will ever offer you.
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Abe Cherian
