Ad Writing Basics
Advertising is expensive. It can cost you, your company, or your client hundreds or even thousands of dollars just to place a single one-time ad in a newspaper or magazine. Radio and television commercials can be even more expensive. And this is in addition to the costs of creating the ad. So the stakes are high. If the ad you write is ineffective, all that money goes down the drain. (No pressure!)
So to make sure you start off on the right foot, you need to know the basics of writing an effective advertisement.
The first thing you need to know is that there are two basic types of ads:
Awareness or brand advertising
Direct-response advertising
Awareness or brand advertising — also referred to as image advertising — is all about getting potential customers to remember and prefer the product. These tend to be the most clever and creative forms of advertising because they often employ humor, controversy, interesting concepts and wordplay, and other tactics to get people to think about the product in a positive way. Often there is no direct attempt to get the prospect to buy the product. This type of advertising just wants you to be aware. It's all about gaining mindshare.
Brand advertising often tries to associate a product or service with specific thoughts or feelings. When you see the Volvo logo, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Probably safety. What do you think of when you hear the word Jaguar or see that wild cat lunging from the dashboard? Prestige.
Brand Advertising
Brand advertising is usually created by advertising agencies and major design firms. That's because it is often a part of a major mass-advertising campaign with a huge budget. Brand advertising can also be developed for smaller businesses targeting local markets, such as pizzerias and retail stores.
Direct-Response Advertising
The other form of advertising, direct response, works very differently. It is not concerned with lofty ideas of awareness and mindshare. The primary concern of direct-response advertising is to generate a response of some kind. This type of ad wants you to call a toll-free number, visit a store, go to a Web site, use a coupon, or clip and mail back a reply form.
So while a brand advertisement wants to impress you, a direct-response ad wants to sell you.
Focus on the One Thing
In the Billy Crystal movie City Slickers, crusty old cowboy Curly says, “Want to know what life is really about? It's about one thing. That's it. Focus on that and the rest don't mean ___.” (If you can't fill in that blank yourself, watch the movie!)
Despite the differences between a brand ad and a direct-response ad, the ultimate writing rule is always the same. You need to take Curly's advice and decide: What is the one thing that you want the reader to think or do when they see the ad? Is it to:
Visit a store and buy the product?
Choose your product rather than the competition's?
Associate fun and excitement with the product name?
Visit a Web site and register?
Remember the product name?
Clip the coupon integrated with the ad to take advantage of a discount?
Form a positive impression of the product so that when a salesperson calls he'll be interested in learning more?
That's the real key to successful advertising. Focus relentlessly, exclusively, and without distraction on the one thing you want the reader to think or do, and then write the ad to accomplish that specific objective.
