Hi there copywriters & advertisers!
Today we’re talking about copywriting for advertising.
So this is a really fun topic to talk about, because when a lot of people try to do copywriting for their advertising efforts… especially if they’re not used to this type of writing… they don’t like what they end up with.
A lot of people come to me with stuff they’ve written and they know it sounds cheesy and salesy, but they don’t know how to make it *not* sound cheesy or salesy.
The thing is, advertising is ALL ABOUT getting attention from people you don’t have the attention of yet. So it makes sense that you have this tendency to act like a little eight-year-old child just waving his arms around and screaming crazy things for attention.
And while it MIGHT get attention, it’s usually annoyed attention, and doesn’t cause the kind of reaction that leads to a happy customer-to-seller relationship… and getting those kinds of relationships is, as you know, the ENTIRE point of advertising in the first place.
You want to turn strangers into trusted friends, and THEN turn those “trusted friends” into paying customers.
And that doesn’t happen if your ad copy sounds like a cheesy radio commercial.
So, I’ve got four different tactics to help you write better ads.
First – avoid using questions as your “hook”
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Yes, I know it’s popular and that a lot of people do it, but it’s cheesy and people are skeptical of cheesy.
*in a sarcastic voice*
Are you bad at writing advertising copy? Do you wish your ads sold more? Wonder why you’re not getting a higher ROI in your PPC campaign?
You see what I mean.
Be confident and make statements. Ones that end with a period. People like confidence, and they’ll respond more positively to it.
Second, brag shamelessly.
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I know this might sound counter-intuitive, especially when you’re trying to not sound cheesy, but hear me out here.
It’s kind of in the same reasoning for why you want to avoid questions… it’ll help you come across with CONFIDENCE, and that’s something people can’t get enough of.
I’m not talking about writing an ad hook that says “Get your blog posts written by the BEST copywriting agency the world has EVER seen”
I’m talking about tangible bragging. Specific examples. Data. Stuff like that.
To get an idea, write out some of your most brag-worthy accomplishments.
If you’re a blogger or a coach, what have you done for your readers or clients?
Have you transformed their blogs into passive income machines that make $10,000+ per month on their own?
Have you written posts that get at least 1,000 shares in the first 24 hours after publication?
Have you increased reader engagement by doubling the number of comments people get?
THAT’S the kind of bragging I’m talking about.
And you can see how that would make for good advertising, right?
Third, create testimonial ads.
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Effectively, this is just getting other people to write your advertising copy for you… especially if you’ve already got a collection of great testimonials about your work.
And by using testimonials as ads – you’re creating the “word of mouth” on your own instead of waiting for other people to kickstart word of mouth for you.
Some of the best ads I’ve seen, honestly, are little square images in website sidebars that have a testimonial in them, the picture of the person giving the testimonial, and a link back to the website that’s doing the advertising.
It’s really easy AND really effective.
And finally, the fourth one is to use reminders.
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So yeah, reminders, or in other words, retargeting.
So we’ve all seen retargeting ads before, right?
Some companies are really good at it, some kind of stink, and others are just annoying about it.
But honestly, as a conversion-focused copywriter, I think the best approach to these ads is to be fun, friendly, and conversational.
It really can be as simple as saying, “Oh, hey, remember that cool pair of shoes you were looking at?”
Use pictures of the products they were looking at.
If you’re not using a product-specific ad, tell them you miss them. (Like a friend would, not in the desperate ‘we only miss you because we want your money’ way.)
In short, have FUN with your retargeting ads, be conversational, and you’ll probably notice them performing better.
So to review, the four approaches to better copywriting for advertising are:
- One – Avoid questions
- Two – Brag shamelessly
- Three – Use testimonial ads
- Four – Create fun, friendly reminders in retargeting.
If you have advertising copy you’d like my feedback on (and that you’d maybe like me to rewrite for you), I’m happy to do that!
In my Copy Queens membership, you get access to SO MUCH, but one of the things is a monthly call with me where I improve copywriting on-screen, and you get to watch me do it.
You also get monthly business coaching, new free trainings every month, access to all the past calls and trainings, you get twice-month check-ins, and monthly challenges that will REALLY improve your copy and your business.
Follow the link below to find out more, and I hope to see you there!
