How to Write Advertising Copy

Advertising copy can definitely increase brand awareness, revenues, and ROI. If you have ever watched TV, seen billboards, or browsed the internet, then you are sure to have seen advertising copy in some way, shape or form. It is important to understand what advertising copy is, how to write advertising copy, and how it can reap great benefits for your business.

What is Advertising Copy?

Before getting started on how to write advertising copy, it is wise to learn some key terms. The simple definition of advertising copy is that it refers to the main text used in an advertisement. The purpose of advertising copy is to increase conversion rates and sales by persuading them to make that purchase. When it comes to the length of the advertising copy, it can vary. Short ad copies seem to be the most popular form when it comes to advertising consumer products. However, longer advertising can be very effective, especially when a strong headline and call to action are implemented.

Arguably, the headline is the most important part of the advertising copy. The headline is what will draw the target audience in to engage with the advertising copy, and ideally perform the call to action.

ad copy board

Key Ad Writing Elements

Listed below are a couple of significant ad writing elements that are effective when learning how to write advertising copy.

  • Credibility. An advertising copy should convey credibility in order to convince the consumer to make the purchase. Consumers value honesty and authenticity. On the other hand, consumers despise dishonesty and being misled – traits that will harm the company’s reputation and trust.
  • Catch your attention. This ties back to why a good headline is essential in order to hook the target audience. Moreover, keywords, slogans, and phrases are also important when it comes to grabbing the target audience’s attention. Advertisement copy is still an ad, and the point of an ad is to persuade and/or inform. It is kind of hard to do that when you don’t have the attention of the audience you’re trying to convince to purchase your product.
  • Provide benefits. Why buy when there is no value or benefit being added to the consumer’s life? Whether it is satisfying a craving, providing style, or saving money, providing benefits is critical in an advertisement copy just like it is with any advertisement. You must provide value to the customer for an effective ad copy.
  • Clear and concise. People tend to value simplicity; it’s easier to process. The ad copy should be easy to understand, brief, and thus more effective and persuasive.
  • Suitable and conforming. The copy has to be suitable and match the prospect’s needs.

Content Writing vs Ad Writing (Copywriting)

If you want to learn how to write advertising copy, you must learn some key terms. Although the two disciplines have a lot of similarities, it is important to differentiate content writing and ad writing.

Content Writing

The general purpose of content writing is to create content such as blogs, guides, videos, and more to help and inform readers regarding a specific question or problem. Additionally, content writing focuses on search engine optimization (SEO). Content writers do this by using primary and secondary keywords, internal and external links, and writing quality, informative content that both the readers and search engines would like. Content writers aim to create content that interests readers and ideally ranks high on search engines like Google. The objective is to gain more organic leads, keywords, and traffic. Content writing often involves writing blogs that help inform the readers while advancing the company’s marketing goals. You can definitely learn how to blog as a beginner to get your foot into content marketing.

blank billboard ad copy

Advertising Copy/Copywriting

Copy writing or advertising copy would be the creation of text in order to market and advertise. Copywriters can use various channels such as radio, billboards, magazines, and more. Some newer marketing mediums would include digital marketing, search ads, display ads, and so on. Unlike content writing, advertising focuses on advertising a product or service rather than just informing the consumer and helping solve a problem. Moreover, content writing focuses more on the long-term while advertising copy focuses more in the present. Advertising copy wants the reader to act on the call to action in order to purchase, subscribe, etc. Therefore, advertising copy aims to sell a product or service in a quick, yet effective way. Thus, if you want to know how to write advertising copy, you must know how to sell. Usually advertisers do this by making the ad copy interesting and memorable. A copywriter ultimately wants to find the best way to sell a product or service to increase sales. The purpose of advertising copy is to create strong messages that persuade readers as well as increase brand awareness.

Types of Advertising Copy

Although advertising copies have the objective to sell, they may differ in their approach. There are various types when it comes to how to write advertising copy. Ad writing could inform, inspire, be emotional, educational, and more. Here are some types of advertising copy to help you get started.

Human Interest Copy

This type of copy appeals to the emotions and senses of prospective customers. Appealing to emotions and senses is more memorable than simply stating facts and information. Human interest ad copy focuses on self-interests, families, and friends. Some forms that fall under than human interest copy would be humorous, fear, predicament, and story copy.

Educational Ad Copy

This type of ad writing aims to inform and convince the readers to purchase a product by educating them. This type of advertising copy educates the public about features, advantages, and benefits of the product. The goal is to create trust, knowledge of the product, and ultimately increase sales.

Reason Why Copy

This type offers reasons why the consumers are expected to buy the product of a certain brand. In contrast to the human interest copy, this copy type appeals to the intellect or judgement. It explains the product qualities and benefits with evidence like testimonials, guarantees, etc.

make ad copy

Institutional Ad Copy

This copy promotes not necessarily the goods and services but rather the business, institution, or organization. The goal is to create a positive image through its philosophy, objectives and policies.

Suggestive Ad Copy

This ad copy suggests or tries to convey the message to the readers and ideally make them purchase the product. This type of ad copy works best when the reader is unsure about the product quality and is overall indecisive about making the purchase.

Expository Copy

This type of advertising writing highlights the facts, features, benefits, of the products or services. Usually this copy is paired with buzzwords and other techniques to try to make the copy more memorable.

How to Write Advertising Copy

Now that you know what advertising writing is; how it compares and contrasts to content writing; and understand the different types of advertising copy, you can learn how to write advertising copy effectively to help your business.

  • Mirror the user’s objectives/goals. Phrase the ads in a way that directly appeals to the user’s wants and needs.
  • Include numbers or statistics in the headlines. Consumers like numbers or statistics in the headlines because it gets to the point. Including a price or statistics that back your product are effective in convincing consumer to purchase your product or service.
  • Appeal to user’s own interests. Generally, people care about their own self interests such as “protect your best interests.”This technique is often used in the legal sector because those who file lawsuits believe they are owed something. This type of ad copy appeals to entitlement and emotion to try to persuade the consumer.
  • Appeal to emotions. This is why click bait works. Reading something that creates a strong emotional response tend to make people click. Ad copy writers can use inspirational words, humor, fear for PSAs, provocative language, and other emotions to effectively inform or persuade the target audience.
  • Prioritize your best copy. When writing Google text ads, it is best to place the best copy in the first two headlines and the first description line. You want to deliver effective, compelling messages and make readers actually click.
  • Focus on the benefits. The consumer cares how the product or service benefits them whether it’s value, cost, features, etc. Highlighting the benefits in an advertising copy reels in the target audience.

how to write advertisement copy

Other Considerations

  • It is important to decide on the media channel for how to write advertising copy. What will be the most effective for your target audience? A blog, billboard, Google ads, newspaper ads, radio, etc.
  • Consider the power of social media and the benefits of advertising on Instagram
  • CTAs are critical whether it’s content marketing, advertising copy, and other marketing initiatives. You should really educate yourself on how to write the best call to action
  • Consider that when writing Google ads, you have a small space to write your advertising copy. Thus, you have to make quality, effective headlines and description to convince the readers.

Remember, there are other areas within your business to consider as well. If you know how to write advertising copy but have a confusing, unusable ecommerce site, then you won’t increase sales. Therefore, it is very wise to develop the best e-commerce business plan. Don’t forget about the design and aesthetics for your website, and be sure to avoid these web design mistakes. If you would like help designing and creating an ecommerce website, contact us at SEO Design Chicago to get started!

FAQs

  • How do you write an advertisement copy?
  • What is an ad copy example?
  • What is copywriting in advertising?
  • How do you write a good advertisement?
  • What is ad copy used for?

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