Many businesses make the common mistake of writing the copy for their own print ads.  Most owners have their set ideas of what they want the ad to say. The problem is, the ad becomes cluttered with negligent information about their business that has little to no effect in attracting attention to the ad, nor does it help persuade the reader to take the desired call to action.

 

Print ads should have one clear message and one message only.  Along with compelling visual aids, the right copy for your print ad can mean the difference between a dinger and a dud. 

 

Before identifying what your message should be, you need to first identify:

 

1. Who is your target audience?
2. What action do you want your audience to take as a result of the ad?
3. What benefit does your product or service offer the consumer?
4. How is this product or service relevant to their lives?

 

The amount of copy in an ad is also an important element.  Different ads serve different purposes.  Branding or awareness ads focus on logos or a particular image that relates to the business and therefore contain less copy.  Advertorials and direct response ads are content driven and are almost completely centered around the copy.  Before you write, you have to decide what type of ad you are creating and why. 

 

Remember, things that you think are important to note about your business and product aren’t necessarily important to the consumer.  Hailing yourself as the ‘premier’ or ‘exclusive’ retailer of a certain product doesn’t necessarily benefit the consumer.  Instead, touting that you guarantee the best prices or accept competitors’ coupons are benefits that would interest consumers. 

 

If you would more information regarding our copywriting services, please email Stacey@tcr-marketing.com