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Ten Tips For Writing Copy That Sells

Guest post by: Jessica Swanson

Article Overview: If you’re going to write an ad that generates a dynamic and powerful response, follow the ten tips to ensure your success.

Ten Tips For Writing Copy That Sells

If you're going to write an ad that generates a dynamic and powerful response, follow the ten tips below to ensure your success:

1. Highlight a Single Benefit.

It's important to create focused ad-copy so that your prospects don't become confused and overwhelmed. Choose a single benefit of your product or service that you wish to highlight above everything else. This is your "principle selling position" or PSP.

In order to create a PSP, ask yourself how your product or service is different than your competitors. Are you faster? More reliable? Provide better customer service? Make sure to paint a picture that shows your potential clients and customers exactly how your product or service will improve their life or solve their problems.

2. Write A Compelling Headline.

Today's consumers are exposed to thousands and thousands of ads every day, so in order to process all this information, they generally skim over information. If your headline doesn't instantly grab their attention, you've most likely lost them. To create the most powerful statement, base your headline around your PSP.

3. Highlight Your Strongest Selling Points.

The first few paragraphs in your ad-copy are incredibly important. You want to create a strong desire for your product or service by highlighting some of the most compelling benefits. Put together a bulleted list of the benefits your customer will receive by doing business with you.

4. Write Directly To Your Target Market.

Always imagine exactly who you are writing for and then right directly to them. Are you writing to women? Men? Teenagers? Individuals struggling with their weight? It's important that your language suits your intended audience so that they are better able to relate to you.

5. Use The Power Of Multimedia.

As our audiences become more and more distracted, we need to create better ways to capture their attention. Using audio and video in your ads, engages more of the senses and, as a result, creates a much more interactive experience for your potential clients and customers.

6. Create Emotional Connections.

Write copy that creates emotional connections through targeted benefits. For example, imagine that you're selling facial cream. A feature might be that it contains retinol. However, that isn't going to elicit any sort of emotional response. Instead, you should say, "Eliminates Wrinkles!" or even better, "Use Acme Cream and Instantly Look Ten Years Younger!" You have now turned a boring feature into a strong emotional benefit linked to people's strong desire to look younger.

7. Use Testimonials.

Obviously, it's much more important what other people say about you and your small business than what you say yourself. So, make sure to include real and convincing testimonials of clients and customers singing your praises. Ask for permission to include their full name and a link to their website if applicable.

8. Write In A Natural Voice. The best way to write is in a very natural and unaffected tone. In fact, just write it exactly how you would say it. You want to make sure that your prospects feel comfortable reading your copy.

9. Incorporate A Call To Action.

End by telling the reader what to do; e.g. "Ring now" or "Click here to order now for immediate delivery!" Needless to say, ordering details must be clearly visible and simple to follow.

10. Ask For The Sale.

At some point, you will need to come out and ask your prospect to purchase your product or services. When you do, make sure to incorporate one of the following three items:

- A Great Deal: "40% off!"

- A Sense Of Urgency: "Only Ten Slots Available!"

- Risk-Free: "Backed By Our 30-day, No-Questions-Asked, Money-Back Guarantee!"

So, the next time that you are faced with writing an ad (whether it be a sales letter, brochure, newspaper ad or the likes), make sure to incorporate these ten tips for the best possible results.

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Article Tags: adcopy, copy writing, marketing, small business marketing



Related Forum Posts
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Business Tips - How about: Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively? Tips on how to deal with difficult customers? Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers? The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else. Chris
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - Writing, Article Spinning, Backlinking.
Re: Will 2009 be the year you write your book? - Writing a book takes time but its sure rewarding! Thanks for the info.


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