What is advertising copy? Advertising copy is the text that accompanies an advertisement. It may be written by a company to promote its product or services, by individuals who want to make money from their own advertisements, or by ad agencies, which are companies that specialize in creating and placing ads.
The advertising copy can be used for many purposes, including describing the features of a product; persuading potential customers to buy it; and making announcements such as promotions and upcoming events.
There are several types of advertising copy depending on what purpose it serves. For example, there is direct response advertising copy that aims to get people to take some form of action immediately after reading the ad (e.g., order something online). On the other hand, there is branding advertising copy that aims at building long-term brand awareness rather than getting immediate sales results (e.g., Coca-Cola).
What is advertising copy?
Advertising copy is a piece of text or image designed to advertise a product or service. In most cases, the advertising copy will include a logo and be published on websites, in magazines, newspapers etc. The advertiser can choose whether they require animated banners, static banners (HTML coded), flash ads (SWF) or other types of advertising copy to help promote their product or service.
Advertising copy can be anything from slogans, images, jingles to even quotes by celebrities endorsing the product or service being advertised. For instance, if you are advertising a new brand of tea, the most common form of advertising copy would probably be an attractive image. Show the tea leaves and steam with a catchy slogan such as “brews up to 20 cups of tea”. That would be the copy you’d find attached to most images of tea-related products. If I were to purchase a domain name for my business, I might purchase a domain incorporating words from a celebrity’s quote in order to convey power and good vibes.
The importance of writing effective and compelling advertising copy?
The importance of writing effective advertising copy cannot be understated. It can have a significant impact on the success or failure of your product or service. Ad copy is a crucial part of stimulating your audience to take the next step. Therefore, designing it as persuasively as possible will attract the reader. The more interested the reader, the more likely they will go to the next stage, for example, buying a product.
6 types of advertisement copy
Text ads
Text ad is the most direct, to-the-point and minimalist form of advertising copy available. This type of advertising copy usually accompanies an image, sometimes it exaggerates the features on offer, but there are no distractions from what you need to know. These text ads can either be static or animated (flash).
HTML5 ads
HTML5 is a standard coding language used for creating responsive websites and animations. In the case of animated banner adverts, they are typically coded as HTML objects which can be integrated into your website or blog with ease, most blogging platforms have their own code editor which you can use to do so. This type of advertising copy often goes hand-in-hand with animated text ads, which are visually appealing and make use of bright colors.
Animated ad banners are large images that typically animate some sort of ‘action’. They can be video or image based, although they’re more likely to be the latter due to the bandwidth requirements. Animated banner ads are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to grab the consumer’s attention in a nuanced manner.
Video ads
Video adverts can be used online to target customers via social media sites, video channels and even your website or blog page itself. This type of advertising copy is particularly useful for brand awareness campaigns where you are trying to reach as many people within your target audience as possible.
Native ads
Native ads are designed around the look and feel of the web page they are displayed on, otherwise known as ‘in-feed’. They are typically smaller so as not to distract from other content, but this doesn’t mean that they aren’t engaging. Native ads make use of text and images to capture the attention of the user.
Sponsored social media posts are particularly useful for brand awareness campaigns, where you want to reach as many people within your target audience as possible, who follow certain key influencers. This can be through blogs or other content sharing sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. The great thing about social media is its reach and ease-of-use for targeting specific niches and demographics, allowing you to reach the majority of your target market and focusing on specific audiences such as people in a particular location.
How to write good advertising copy?
Writing good advertising copy is vital to the success of your product. A common mistake when writing advertising copy is to be too salesy. If you push your product or service too hard, the reader may become annoyed and just leave without buying anything at all. These are the steps to follow if you want to write a good ads copy:
- The first step is to find the right target audience. Find out their needs and what makes them interest.
- The next question is how to get your audiences to pay attention to ads copy. It might be very small.
- Make your ad copy stand out with headlines that catch their attention. Short, clear, and easy to remember are the main points
- The next element in a good copy is to focus on certain benefits
Key elements that make up effective advertising copy
Key elements that make up effective advertising copy are:
- An effective headline that grabs the attention of the reader
- Enticing ad copy creates an emotional connection with customers
- Closer examination of your product or service, including any special features or benefits which set you apart from competitors.
- Be specific about price and time of delivery
- Ending on a call-to-action to encourage customer response
- Advertising copy examples
Tips on how to use the right words in your ads copy
Tips on how to use the right words in your ads copy, advertising copy cannot be overemphasized. An ad is only as good as its copy. There are some tips for you:
- A staple best practice of ad copywriting is to include keywords and phrases that will increase your chances of an ad being shown to users on related searches.
- Don’t forget “free” as it is one of the most powerful words you can use. It gives instant value and is a strong incentive for users to click on your ad.
- Avoid negative words, as they don’t give a good impression
- Making them responsible for the success of the campaign. This also makes it easier to measure ad performance if you can see which ads are generating a higher CTR or conversion rate.
- Be concise and direct, so always including a call to action
- Providing a sense of urgency is a powerful tool in advertising copy. This could be by stating a limited time offer, limited stocks available or other conditions which will encourage immediate response from customers.
- Include testimonials from current or past customers. If you have been trading for some time, then include statistics showing how long you have been trading or the size of your business.
Examples of world-class advertising copy
Morton Salt
In 1911, Morton Salt began adding an anti-caking agent to prevent clumping, making it what the brand calls the “first free-flowing salt.” The phrase “When it rains, it pours” was born over 80 years ago. This slogan is still used today on Morton Salt containers and has become one of the best-known taglines in the world.
Rolls-Royce
Ad executive David Ogilvy’s 1958 ad for Rolls-Royce is still considered one of the best and most successful ever written. Ogilvy’s ad ran once in the New York Times, but he felt it wasn’t working well enough because there weren’t any inquiries from potential customers. So Ogilvy ran a second ‘short’ version of this ad in New York Magazine. Rolls-Royce received 2,271 inquiries from the ad and tons of additional exposure.
Conclusion
With the right techniques and a bit of practice, you can write your own ad copy that will make consumers want to buy from you. If none of these steps seem intuitive or if they don’t make sense for how you advertise, we’re here to help! Our team is full of expert writers who know exactly what it takes to craft an advertisement that grabs people’s attention and gets them excited about making a purchase.
