Pulling Sales with Your Ad Copy
BY ELIZABETH McGEE
One of the best marketing tools
available to your Internet business is good sales ad copy. This can pull
in sales faster than just about anything.
If you’re not a writer or cringe at the
thought of writing your own sales copy, you can always hire a
professional, however if you’re on a budget and have an adventurous
spirit, writing your own ads can be a worthwhile option.
So how do you write sales copy that
pulls sales? Let’s take a look.
Get their attention. You have
about six seconds to grab the attention of your reader so you have to
act fast. Verbalize your benefits at the onset. Use words and phrases
that are enticing and compelling. Use color, large fonts and exclamation
points. Get the readers attention in the heading and keep it focused in
the body of the ad.
Benefits and Solutions. How is
your product or service going to benefit the reader? How will it solve
their problem? Does it offer a solution and how fast? List all the
benefits. How will it make their life or business better? Tell them why
they can’t live without it. If someone’s going to buy something they
have to know what’s in it for them.
Credibility. You must convey to
your audience that you are credible. One of the best ways to accomplish
this is by using testimonials. What have people said about your product?
If someone has bought your product, email them and ask them to comment
on it. Get their permission to quote them in an ad. Get several
testimonials and use photos if your can. Better yet, include small audio
clips in your copy. To hear someone verbally testify to something can be
very convincing.
Emotion. Appealing to the
emotions of your audience is an excellent way to attract attention. What
emotions do your products or services generate? What will trigger your
reader’s response?
Money, beauty, health, success, more
time and making life easier are all emotional triggers. If you can
appeal to someone with making more money, looking more beautiful or
having better health, and really appeal to that emotion, your ad copy
will attract their attention and entice them to keep reading.
Interest. Once you have their
interest and attention you have to hold onto it. Telling short
interesting or personal stories in your ad copy can hold that attention.
People love stories and can relate to them. A section of questions and
answers also generate interest for readers. People like it when
questions that come to mind are answered right in the ad copy. This
gives them the confidence that you can relate to their needs and
concerns and are familiar with them.
Action. The final step is to
generate a call to action. Urge the reader that it’s time to act now.
You can do this by offering a limited time free bonus or offer money off
your product if they act now. Convince the reader that they can’t wait.
The time is now.
Know your products and customers.
It’s important to know who your customers are and what they want. A teen
boy interested in body building may require totally different needs than
a middle aged woman interested in body building. By understanding your
customers you’ll understand their needs and what kinds of problems they
have that depend on you to solve. Focus on what your customer is willing
to buy, not what you have to sell.
Additional Guidelines
Use simple, familiar words. Your ad
should be easy and fast reading. Don’t use big words and long run-on
sentences. Offer a tangible result. Phrases like ‘lose weight in two
weeks’, get rich online’, ‘find love now’ sound cliché but they all
offer your reader a solution to a problem or need. Avoid ambiguities and
jargons. Get to the point and keep it flowing.
Write like you are talking to a friend.
Use bright, cheerful language. Don’t be too formal and don’t lecture.
Use correct spelling, grammar and
punctuation. There are many ads that misuse grammar intentionally, and
this is ok as long as it fits a specific purpose or theme of the ad.
Unintentional poor grammar, misspellings and poor punctuation can hurt
your credibility.
Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years
in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the
Web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service,
build confidence and increase sales. Visit her
website.
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