How to Write an Ad That Adds to Your Bottom
Line
Whether your company is business-to-business
or business-to-consumer, selling almost anything in today s economic climate
is a challenging task. If your sales effort feels like you re pushing boulders
up steep hills, it s time to take a close look at your media advertising,
especially the advertising you do in newspapers and magazines. The kind
called print.
Print advertising, unlike broadcast and
the Web, allows you to target your audience with a fair amount of accuracy.
Plus, it gives you an environment in which you have the room and time to
make your case with a prospect who s inclined to linger over words.
If you can capture attention with an intriguing,
standout headline, there s a good chance your future customer or client
will want to know more about your product or service. At this critical
moment, your prospect should encounter readable, engaging, highly persuasive
copy. And it helps enormously if the picture that goes with the words is
eye-grabbing and relevant to your message.
Chances are, you re not going to be taking
on this simple job yourself. You may have an ad agency working
on your behalf. Or an in-house marketing communications group. Or maybe
even a freelance copywriter. If money is tight, or you want to be meaningfully
involved in the process, a good freelancer may be the way to go.
But whether you re the one who actually
creates the ad, or you re overseeing someone else s effort, it s a critical
enough component of your sales cycle to merit your closest attention.
So here s a brief list of ten guidelines
that will help you ensure that your print messages work as hard for your
company as you do. Read them, heed them, and keep them in mind as you write
or review that all-important ad.
1. Define exactly what you re selling before
you sit down to create the ad.
2. Know who you re selling to. Keep that
person in mind as you write your ad.
3. Come up with a clear statement of the
benefits of what you re selling. Features are important, but it s the perceived
value that prompts action by the reader.
4. Write as if you re one-on-one with the
reader. Think of ads that drew you in. They spoke to you. And
they assumed you possessed a certain level of intelligence.
5. Stay away from ego statements unless
you re skilled enough to be humble or modest or humorous. Smuckers
is an odd name for a line of jams and preserves, but they turned it to
their advantage with the famous line, With a name like Smuckers,
it s got to be good.
6. Make sure there s a strong connection
between your headline and main visual. You want each to amplify the
other in order to make a dynamic statement of benefit. Fresh donuts need
to be made early in the morning, which is why Dunkin Donuts showed
a sleepy guy named Fred crawling out of bed before sunup because it was
Time to make the donuts.
7. Choose your ad environment carefully.
Your better mousetrap may not be appreciated in Gourmet magazine.
8. Study competitive ads and make sure
that yours is different. Work hard to make it stand out.
9. Solicit comments. Track results.
Change your approach if there seems to be a problem.
10. Be certain your product or service
lives up to any claims. No matter how brilliantly conceived and executed
your ad is, it s satisfied customers and clients who create your best advertising.
Author-Bio: Gary Watson writes ads that
add to the bottom line.
To learn more, visit him at http://www.GWCopy.com
or call 508.651.9737 |
