06 Oct 09 Can You Write an Effective Copy

The answer can be either yes or no. Do not say it depends. Either you can write an effective copy or you simply cannot. There is no mid-way, but there are times when you end up accidently producing effective copy, but those accidental geniuses cannot make you a good advertisement copywriter. To be a good advertisement copy writer, you need to write good copies every time you pick a product, at least most of the time. There are certain principles that you need to follow, if you wish to write real good copy, not just those “accidental geniuses”.

Let me give you a piece of good news: if you have written even a single brilliant copy then you already know the tricks, and all you need to do is standardize the process. And in order to do that you need to know the process.

5 steps to writing a better copy

Step1: Know your goal

You must be wondering why everything has to start with setting a goal. Let me help you in this. A goal is the end point where you want to reach when you set your sail. If you do not set a goal before setting sail, you will get lost in the sea. You need to define your advertising goal before you start writing your copy.

Step 2: Know your audience and their needs

A product is always made for a specific group of target audience. Although everyone can consume the product, it is never made for all. Similarly the advertisement created for the product should also not be created for all. Define a target audience, which often will be similar to the target user group of the product, and then find the reason why the target group will use this product.

Step 3: Appeal to their interest

I have seen many people who make ads to suit their needs and communication style, which I must add, fails to make any connection with the users. It is important to know the desire and aspiration of the target audience before writing an advertisement copy. When writing an ad, you should always remember that you are writing this to sell a product.

Step 4: Emotional appeal

Logic always fails to connect with the target audience. If you talk all logic, and reason in the ad then your ad will definitely fail. You need to connect with the target audience on the emotional level.

Step 5: Keep it simple

Do not clutter your ad by saying this and saying that. This will not take you anywhere. Keep it simple, and talk just about one benefit at one time. It may be possible that the product solves many problems, but in advertisement you are not supposed to write about all of them. Mention the most notable feature that matters to the audience.

Tags: 5 Steps, Advertisement Copy, Advertising, Aspiration, Communication Style, Copy Writer, Copy Writing, Copywriter, Desire, Emotional Appeal, Geniuses, Lost, Mid Way, Setting Sail, Specific Group, Step 2, Step 3, Target Audience, Target Group, Target User, User Group