Fourteen Vital Advertising Tips

Articles » Advertising

Here are fourteen tips to make sure that your advertising copy works and attracts customers. These tips are vitally important to on-line and off-line sales people.

  1. Write your advertising information from the perspective of your potential customer. To do this use the word "you" rather than "I" or "we." For example, "You will benefit from the flexibility of the cleaning contract." Rather than, "We provide the most flexible cleaning contract."
  2. Stress your credibility by quoting your client/customer list. Use many testimonials from satisfied customers. Make sure that you mention your guarantees.
  3. Make sure that you understand the difference between a feature and a benefit. Translate the features into benefits. For example, a small turning circle is a product feature of a car. It would be wrong to assume that everyone knows a small turning circle is desirable. The advertisement must include the benefits of a small turning circle such as easier to parallel park and easier to drive where space is tight.
  4. It is important to remember that we love a story. We have been conditioned from an early age. Stories sell ideas, concepts and products. However, dry facts just tell. Rather than facts use a story to engage the reader. Use stories sell, especially when they are about other customers and their experiences with your product or service. Stories sell, facts tell.
  5. Use the K.I.S.S. principle. Keep It Simple Salesperson. Short is good. Short words. Short sentences. Short paragraphs. Avoid writing complex paragraphs. Use your words to express things; don't use them to impress the reader.
  6. Write your material in a way that caters for two completely different readers. Firstly, the analytical type who will read every word of a long advertisement or web page looking for every scrap of information. Secondly, the impatient and impulsive reader who skims through advertising copy looking to gain the overall picture quickly. To cater for both types. Write your advertisement for the analytical reader and then add bullet points, headings, sub-headings, captions for the impatient reader ensuring that your message is there.
  7. Long adverts are more effective than short ones. The information should be long enough to tell your story effectively and persuasively.
  8. Make your advertisement lean but not short. Be economical and avoid too many words. A phrase sentence or paragraph should not be there unless it contributes to the sales process. Write it one day, sleep on it, modify it the next day, sleep on it and finalise it the next day. This allows your sub-conscious mind to contribute while you sleep.
  9. Create a sense of urgency. This can be done by having a time limit when offers expire or rewards for responses within a certain time.
  10. Put your price into perspective. Compare your product with a much more expensive option or break down the price. For example, an e-book may only cost $49 but a training course may cost $4,000 plus accommodation and travel. The $49 is a small sum made even smaller if it is compared to "less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day for 20 days."
  11. Tell your reader what to do. Make a call, drop in and see us, go to a web site, order now, phone for an obligation free quote, visit our showroom, come and have a coffee, e-mail me your questions, and so on. It is rightly named "the call to action." Your advert without a "call to action" is weak.
  12. Use repetition to make your point. Say the same main points several times in different ways and give differing reasons.
  13. The use of a P.S. is powerful. Most people look at the P.S. first! Make sure that your offer has a P.S. and use it to make a powerful statement of an extra offer.
  14. Study advertisements. Collect those that include interesting techniques and persuasive copy. By becoming a student of advertising and collecting the most effective ones, you will start to recognise common factors in the good ones. After a while, you will be able to incorporate these factors into your own work.