How to Write Ad Copy That Sells

By: Dina Giolitto

When I write copy for my advertising clients, I always check to
make sure the three key elements are in place. 1. psychology, 2.
logic, and 3. creativity. These are three very different aspects
of ad writing, which, when combined, produce a highly effective
message. Master the technique of each, and create ads that
really sell!

It doesn’t matter which part you address when. You can write out
a first draft and then go back and insert the missing aspects,
or you can craft your copy piece by piece and then put it all
together at the end. For the most part, I tend to piece together
my message, but you can work however you’d like.

Advertising wouldn’t be advertising without psychology. How else
would you persuade or convince people that your product is
outstanding in its category? What other way is there to go about
creating a need for what you sell? Persuasion relies on
emotional appeal, and emotions are driven by our psychological
make-up. A long time ago, someone thought up the AIDA method,
which is good enough to serve my purpose in explaining the
psychology of advertising. It’s really very simple. A.I.D.A.
Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

Attention: Capture your audience’s attention right away, with a
riveting photo and headline. Exceptional ads showcase headlines
and images that work together. (Read more about this in the
paragraph about creativity.)

Interest: If you wrote a good headline, likely they’ll be
intrigued and continue reading. Your ad copy is where you can
isolate a fear, problem, concern or need of theirs. Then go
right into:

Desire. Make them want what you have. Pose your product as the
solution to the aforementioned problem. Build your case with
examples, or even testimonials.

Action. Finally, tell your audience what to do. Buy Now! Cick
here and save! It’s amazing what just a quick directive will do.

The next key feature of your message should be logic. By logic,
I’m referring to how you order the words and sentences in your
message to make your point. A good writer knows to craft his
message in an outline form- with the first paragraph driven by a
main idea, and supporting sentences following that premise. Each
paragraph should reinforce what’s been said in the main
paragraph. This is basic English, and it’s the key to crafting a
solid argument. You should be able to convert your sentences to
bullet points if you had to- with each bullet logically
supporting a main concept. In fact, you may even want to use
bullets, as they’re a quick way to sum up the benefits of what
you sell with no extra words to dilute the impact of what you
say.

Finally, creativity is what will give your ad presentation that
POW, and your copy that extra sparkle that makes it interesting
to read. Earlier, I mentioned headlines and images that work
together conceptually. What I mean by this is a play on words
that’s reinforced by an image. This is the stuff of amazing
advertising, the kind that brings home a Cleo or an Addy award!
Think of those incredibly powerful Nike ads: Just Do It. Tell
you customer something they won’t forget, and use a dramatic
photo to cement your message into their brains. Map out your
long-term campaign, if you plan on having one, following the
same creative concept in each ad. This is brand-building at its
finest!

Infuse creativity into your written message. Write in a clever
and/or amusing way, and make your ad stand out from the crowd.
Use a tone that’s appropriate to your audience. Choose words
that belong to that particular genre.

At any point during the conception of your written material, you
can brainstorm words or phrases that your audience uses and will
likely respond to. I call this “learning their language.” What
this is, essentially, is imitation. Remember when you were a
little kid playing make-believe? (okay, maybe you don’t--but I
do!) Play make-believe now. To warm up, read some existing
material that relates to your target group. Next, sit in a quiet
spot and pretend you ARE your key customer. Write out a list of
their expressions. I wrote web copy for a high-end caterer last
month. To get my thoughts flowing, I made a list of words.
“Sophistication, delectable, tasteful, elegant” so on and so
forth. When I was done thinking of as many different words as
possible, I was ready to inject them into my copy. Replace
lackluster words with more zippy ones. But use your adjectives
and adverbs sparingly! There’s such a thing as copy overkill,
and it will make you look like an amateur.

No matter how you approach the creation process, the most
powerful ads require that each of these key elements are in
place. Again: you can implement them in any order. When you’re
ready to bring it all together, take a good, hard look at your
finished draft. Go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Get a
couple of outside opinions. Step away, for a little while, and
then go back to it when you’ve cleared your mind. Make your
changes, then give it a final once-over. Your final presentation
should be error-free and perfect in every way!

To those that think advertising is an easy or slap-dash process:
not true at all! The greatest ads are a perfect fusion of three
very different modes of thought, expertly combined and presented
in a powerfully compelling and persuasive package. Realize this,
and you’re on the way to creating magical ad copy; the kind that
sells!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Dina Giolitto:
Dina Giolitto is a New-Jersey based Copywriting Consultant with
nine years' industry experience. Her current focus is web
content and web marketing for a multitude of products and
services although the bulk of her experience lies in retail for
big-name companies like Toys"R"Us. Visit
http://www.wordfeeder.com for rates and samples.