Tips to Create Winning Ad Copy

Saturday, December 22, 2007


Ad copywriting is advertising with a zing. The zing that delivers a kick right where it's needed.

Ad copywriting is so much more than mere advertising and marketing. It's the expression of an idea, a mindset, and ideology. You can virtually make or break an image using this powerful medium of expression. You can literally paint the town red or let the world pass by you, unaware of your flimsy existence or rather inexistence!

That is what ad copywriting is capable of doing!

Now, the million dollar question. Sometimes though, its worth much more than that!

What goes into ad copywriting that actually wins you a million dollars?

Although in the ad copywriting world, the rule is that there is no rule, there is still a basic framework that defines an ad copy that would qualify for a decent one. Once it qualifies the threshold, it's a mad world out there. However, before bothering ourselves with the mad world of ad copywriting, here are a few tips to deal with the sane path that leads to that mad world!

  • Objective: This is the pumping station of the entire concept of ad copywriting. Be very sure of the objective and formulate it in the most lucid and precise way possible.

  • Identify target group: This is an important precursor to developing the correct approach towards effective ad copywriting. If you want yourself to be heard then you've got to make sure that you speak a language that your target group understands.

  • Idea: Once the objective is clear and the target group is established, you need to nurture the bee in your bonnet i.e... zero in on an idea for the ad copywriting and develop it further. This would help in preparing the Copy Platform.

  • Copy Platform: It's a loose outline of the ad copy giving an idea about the objective, the concept of the ad and the desired response. More often than not, a Copy Platform is only an informal stepping stone on the way to effective ad copywriting. It is formulated in the head of the copywriter and might be put down on paper for only for a formal presentation of the process of ad copywriting.

  • Headline: The headline should be short and clear, powerful and arresting, something that would guarantee a second glance. Some copywriters prefer using visually delightful figures in ad copywriting to achieve this goal. However, no one is judging here!

  • Content: Again, while ad copywriting, it's a good idea to keep it lucid and precise although quite a few copywriters with page-long texts have succeeded in selling products like no other ads have. However, creativity is the keyword in ad copywriting, although that word gets thrown around a lot. Anything out of the ordinary attracts attention. That works in ad copywriting as well. So keep it less ordinary. But make sure that what you deem to be less ordinary should also turn out to be appealing at large.

  • Appealing at large: A very important factor in ad copywriting. For, that's an issue that is pretty subjective. What you consider appealing might not turn out to be so for the next fellow. That's why - at large! That is, in ad copywriting, you need to look at the larger picture. In fact, that is why two different samples of ad copywriting marketing two different products but otherwise developed on the same pattern might give astronomically different results. In ad copywriting, what works for one might not work for another. So, make it your business to know what your target group wants and finds appealing. At large!

  • Language: You're using ad copywriting as a medium to talk to your audience. So make sure that you speak their language. In ad copywriting, it's important that you bear in mind that any literary writing which might be otherwise eligible for the Man Booker prize might not win you any customers. So, keep it creative but not literary! By which, we mean that in the world of ad copywriting, you have the license to commit deliberate and obvious syntactical mistakes if it's fetching you an appraising audience!

  • Words: Don't waste them. That's what ad copywriting dictates. Treat your ad copy headline as your resume title. Ad copywriting requires that you say as much as you can in as little as possible. But make sure you say it all!

Ad copywriting is actually about breaking rules. It's about breaking out of stereotypes. However, make sure you do it brilliantly!