Writing Effective Ad Copy

You and I are bombarded with ads, both classified and display, nearly every time we go online, or open a newspaper or magazine. How many do you actually read? Me, neither.

Why not? Were both business people and consumers, so at least some of these products and services should appeal to us on one level or another. Shouldnt they?

A major reason we dont read many of these ads is because they are, as the French never said, "junque". This much truer online than in print, of course, because few business people hire amateurs to write their print ads. Yet online, many just seem to copy the ineffective ads they see in so many places.

You want your ads to generate traffic for your site or get an email response. True? Then you want to place the most compelling ads you can write, so you get the best return.

Remember AIDA. Not Ida, not aids, but AIDA. Attention, Interest, Desire and Action: these are the four components of an effective ad. Your finest ad will include all four and youd be well advised to spend some time writing the best you can. Or why bother?

**ATTENTION** You may remember the old birthday card that simply read - Sex! - in large letters across the front. Inside, the copy started with "Now that I have your attention..." Thats certainly the key. If you dont capture the readers attention immediately, the rest is moot.

But "everybody" is using FREE and MONEY, so if you really want to catch the readers attention, youd best be different. Use your gray matter - what would grab **your** eyeballs?

**INTEREST** Once you have the readers attention, youll only keep it by having something interesting to offer. In a sales letter you have a short paragraph in which to achieve that; in an ad, you have a few words. And dont give away the store, just tantalize. Youre building interest here, not closing the sale.

**DESIRE** You captured the readers attention, you sparked some interest in that person, now you have to make the reader want more information, at the very least. Heres where you plug some, or at least one, of the benefits of buying what youre offering.

Forget the features (It has a stainless steel doodad.), they only have value in terms of the benefits they provide (Doodad is guaranteed never to rust, shed on the furniture or cause unsightly pimples!). People buy benefits, not features. So what is a major benefit in owning what youre selling?

**ACTION** By now, if you wrote a great ad, the person reading it is all aquiver with the need to have what youre got - or at least find out more (giving you a shot at him-her-it). So request, even demand, action!

On late-night cable, its always "Have your credit card ready and call...". Thats an action instruction: telling the person to take action and to do it now. But do it nicely, dont get wild-eyed and drive him-her away. "Hurry over to http://myplace.sel well help you now!" or similar, would be fine.

Now that you know, or were reminded, about AIDA, go back and really read some of the ads that succeed in capturing your attention. Why did they grab you? Is the whole ad good, or just the headline? What can you learn from this ad or that? Nobodys got a lock on good ideas - we all learn from each other.

© 2001 Kent E. Butler All rights reserved

About the Author

Kent Butler has been writing for business for 30+ years and objects to tech-speak.If you want to get the best from your computer and Internet experiences, claim your free membership (with Kent) in The Newbie Club (all plain English!) by going to http://newbieclub.com/cgi-bin/sgx/d.cgi?GetHelp

:To contact see details below.


keb@bayserve.net
http://www.butlermarketinggroup.com/