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12 Tips for Better Ad Copy
by Rich Pulham
So you are ready to send out a new promotional piece or have created a web page to sell a new product. You want this promotion to be really effective in increasing sales. Before you launch, use these tips to be sure you have created the ad copy that will bring you the results you desire.
1. Write a Compelling Headline
Does your headline grab the reader and pull him into the ad or web page? Your headline should catch the reader's attention and make him want to read more. Present a benefit, something that will solve a problem and make his life better.
Don't stop with writing one headline. You don't want just a headline, you want a great headline. That rarely happens on the first attempt. Write and write again until you have a bunch of headlines to choose from. Pick the best one and polish it until it is perfect.
2. Make Your Headline Look Good
Ugly, clunky headlines turn off the reader so its shape and look must look pleasing to the eye. Headlines generally look best centered on the page. You can't center a headline if it reaches from margin to margin. Break long headlines into two lines. They look better and are easier to read. Have the two lines proportional in size. And don't start a line with a two-letter preposition. Looking at your headline from a distance will help you see if it looks good.
3. Make the Reader Want More
Your first sentence should draw the reader in and make him want to read the paragraph. Your first paragraph should make your reader want to read the next paragraph. And so forth. Be sure you write to the reader and give reasons to read on. What will he get out of this? Get right to the point. Don't waste his time.
4. Focus on Benefits
Don't just talk about the features of your product or service, give benefits. How will buying your product make the reader's life better? How will he feel after purchasing your product? The clearer you paint that image in your reader's mind, the more positively he will react to your offer.
5. Create Excitement
Write a boring ad or web page and your reader will think you have a boring product. Create excitement and you will build enthusiasm in your reader. His feelings about your product will determine whether he responds to your offer.
6. Write Readable Copy
Hard-to-read copy can discourage the reader from continuing. Keep fonts from becoming too small, especially if you are writing to an older audience. If you are having trouble fitting your copy on a page, rewrite it in fewer words. Make sentences and paragraphs short. Use subheads and graphics to break up text into digestible chunks. Highlight important points. And read the copy aloud to find awkward syntax and grammar.
7. Write TO Your Reader
Remember who you are writing to. Use the word "you" and "your" often. This gives the reader the feeling your are speaking directly to him. Limit your use of "we" and "our." Your reader doesn't care about you. He's only interested in himself and what your offer will do for him.
8. Express Your Personality
The reader will not connect with a faceless corporate image. He wants to feel that a person is talking to him, someone who cares about him and his problems. Come back to your copy later and see if you get a sense of the personality of the person who wrote it.
9. Inspire Mental Images
Your goal is to trigger mental images of your reader using your product or service. Strong mental images are very similar to our memory of past events. They become real in our mind. Attach emotions to those images and you can create desire. With desire, you can motivate your reader to accept your proposition.
10. Offer Proof
Work testimonials and guarantees into your copy. They convince the reader he is not alone in his belief in your offer. If others have accepted it, so should he. Guarantees also take the risk out of acting.
11. Make Your Offer Irresistible
Give your reader a reason to act immediately. Bonuses for acting now will motivate your reader. If he waits, he will lose out on those extras. If he acts now, he will get more. Greed is a powerful motivator.
12. Write a Killer P.S.
Putting a P.S. at the end of your copy will attract a reader like a magnet. He may have skipped over the rest of your copy but the P.S. is a grabber. That gets read. Summarize your offer and why the reader should act now. Polish the P.S. until you have it perfect.
Follow these tips and you will create ad copy that brings results.
For more of Rich's articles on internet marketing, go to www.InternetContentDevelopers.com
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