Tweet

How to Write Eye Catching Display Ads

Written by: John Brennan

Article Overview: A display or space or retail ad has a headline, layout and room in which to emphasize the "master formula." Most successful copywriters rate the headline and/or the lead sentence of an ad as the most important part of the ad, and in reality, you should do the same. After all, when your ad is surrounded by hundreds of other ads, and information or entertainment, what makes you think anyone is going to see your particular ad?

How to Write Eye Catching Display Ads

The truth is, they're not going to see your ad unless you can "grab" their attention and entice them to read all of what you have to say. Your headline, or lead sentence when no headline is used, has to make it more difficult for your prospect to ignore or pass over, than to stop and read your ad. If you don't capture
the attention of your reader with your headline, anything beyond is useless effort and wasted money.

Successful advertising headlines are written as promises, either implied or direct. The former promises to show you how to save money, make money, or attain a desired goal. The latter is a warning against something undesirable.

EXAMPLE OF A PROMISE: “Are You Ready To Become A Millionaire -
In Just 18 Months?”

EXAMPLE OF A WARNING: “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”

In both of these examples, I've posed a question as the headline. Headlines that ask a question seem to attract the reader's attention almost as surely as a moth is drawn to a flame. Once they've seen the question, they just can't seem to keep themselves from reading the rest of the ad to find out the answer. The best headline questions are those that challenge the reader; that involve their self-esteem, and do not allow them to dismiss your question with a simple yes or no.

"You'll be the envy of your friends" is another kind of "reader appeal" to incorporate into your headline whenever appropriate. The appeal has to do with basic psychology: everyone wants to be well thought of, and consequently, will read into the body of your ad to find out how they can gain the respect and accolades of their friends.

Wherever and whenever possible, use colloquialisms or words that are not usually found in advertisements. The idea is to shock or shake the reader out of their reverie and cause them to take notice of your ad. Most of the headlines you see day in and day out, have a certain sameness with just the words rearranged. Readers may see these headlines with their eyes, but their brain fails to focus on any of them because there's nothing different or out of the ordinary to arrest their attention.

EXAMPLE OF COLLOQUIALISM: “Are You Developing A POT BELLY?”

Another attention-grabber kind of head-line is the comparative price headline: “Three For Only $16, Regularly $16 Each!” Still another of the "tried and proven" kind of headlines is the specific question: “Do You Suffer From These Symptoms?” And of course, if you offer a strong guarantee, you should say so in your headline: “Your Money Refunded, If You Don't Make $100,000 Your First Year”

“How To” headlines have a very strong basic appeal, but in some instances, they're better used as book titles than advertising headlines. “Who else wants in on the finer things” - which your product or service presumably offers - is another approach with a very strong reader appeal. The psychology here being the need of
everyone to belong to a group - complete with status and prestige motivations.

Whenever, and as often as you can possibly work it in, you should use the word "you" in your headline, and throughout your copy. After all, your ad should be directed to "one" person, and the person reading your ad wants to feel that you're talking to them personally, not everyone who lives on their street.

Personalize, and be specific! You can throw the teachings of your English teachers out the window, and the rules of "third person, singular" or whatever else tends to inhibit your writing. Whenever you sit down to write advertising copy intended to pull the orders - sell the product - you should picture yourself in a one-on-one situation and "talk" to your reader just as if you sitting across from them at your dining room table. Say what you mean, and sell THEM on the product you’re offering. Be specific and ask them if these are the things that bother them - are these the things they want - and they're the ones you want to buy the product...

The layout you devise for your ad, or the frame you build around it, should also command attention. Either make it so spectacular that it stands out like lobster at a chili dinner, or so uncommonly simple that it catches the reader's eye because of its very simplicity. It's also important that you don't get cute with a lot of unrelated graphics and artwork. Your ad should convey the feeling of excitement and movement, but should not tire the eyes or disrupt the flow of the message you're trying to present. Any graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, its use and/or the copy you've written about it. Graphics should not be used as artistic touches, or to create an atmosphere. Any illustrations with your ad should compliment the selling of your product, and prove or substantiate specific points in your copy.

Once you have your readers' attention, the only way you're going to keep it, is by quickly and emphatically telling them what your product will do for them.

Your potential buyer doesn't care in the least how long it's taken you to produce the product, how long you've been in business, nor how many years you've spent learning your craft. They want to know specifically how they're going to benefit from the purchase of your product.

Generally, their wants will fall into one of the following categories: Better health, more comfort, more money, more leisure time, more popularity, greater beauty, success and/or security.

Even though you have your reader's attention, you must follow through with an enumeration of the benefits they can gain. In essence, you must reiterate the advantages, comfort and happiness they'll enjoy - as you have implied in your headline.

Related Articles
  Social Networking: A prime location for advertising
  How to Develop the Writing Habit-Even if You Don’t Have Time to Write
  PoP (Point of Purchase) Visual Merchandising
  How to find the right job for you, in just 7 simple steps
  How Copying Canadian Tire Can Help Grow Your Small Business Big Time

Article Tags: ads, advertising



Related Forum Posts
Re: Quote of the Day - "Have the courage to follow your heart an - [quote="GT Bulmer":102twzd2]Hi, Evan: I haven't yet managed to capitalize on the longings of my heart as successfully as Jobs did[/quote:102twzd2] Hi GT - I woke up thinking about this post and I have a challenge for you for May if you're up to it. Here it is: Write the blog post / article you were born to write. Write something that you can pour your heart and all your passion into. Write something where you can change the life of the person reading it. Write something where if you look back in 10 years you'll be really proud of what you created. Can you do that? I'd love to read it (and I bet a lot of others will too!)
Re: Are you on Twitter? - i am karl louis Yes of-course that one of my favourite social media site..I also like it because of some awesome features of it like: Display meta data through hover tooltips Add a Built-in URL shortener Auto Complete in Tweets Text links in tweets
Re: Social media - [quote="jacksonp":aysz1kbw]I prefer twitter,That one is the most important social media for increasing good traffic and creating new valuable contacts.I also like it because of some awesome features of it like: Auto Complete in Tweets Text links in tweets Display meta data through hover tooltips Use the sidebar more effectively to display information Highlight specific users Add a Built-in URL shortener[/quote:aysz1kbw] What Twitter tool are you using that provides those features? I use Hootsuite, TweetDeck, and recently added TweetMiner to manage day-to-day tweeting, scheduled tweets, etc.
Re: Do Articles For Businesswomen need to be written differently - I don't think that as a general rule an article [i:11csddi3]needs[/i:11csddi3] to be written "for women." In my opinion, the two important writing rules are: 1) Write for your targeted audience. If it happens to be predominantly women or predominantly men, then write accordingly (if you have the ability to make that distinction in your writing). 2) Write in your own voice. Be natural. If you are a serious writer, your style will become apparent over time and you will develop a following. It may happen that your style is more attractive to one sex or the other. If so, you may be able to advance your writing career by further cultivating your sensitivity within that style. Bottom line: I do believe that certain styles appeal to women, certain styles appeal to men and if you know the distinction, have the ability to write in a particular style and choose to target one sex or the other, then go for it. But I don't think that it is a necessity in today's market. GT :-]
4 Ideas for Viral Marketing - 1. Purchase the branding rights to a viral E-book. Allow people to give away your free E-book to their visitors. Then, their visitors will also give it away. This will just continue to spread your ad all over the Internet. 2. If you have the ability to set up a forum or other bulletin board, you really have a great tool. Allow people to use your online discussion board for their own website. Some people don't have one. Just include your banner ad at the top of the board. 3. Write an E-book. Allow people to place an advertisement in your free E-book if, in exchange, they give away the E-book to their web visitors or E-zine subscribers. 4. Write articles that pertain to your product or service. Allow people to reprint your articles on their website, in their E-zine, newsletter, magazine or E-books. Include your resource box and the option for article reprints at the bottom of each article.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Getting The Media Attention You Deserve

Work at Home Moms and Their Bad Rap?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.