Thursday, June 5, 2014

How to Write Ad-Copy That Sizzles

Obviously, you have an amazing product or service. You just need to get the word out so that people know about it.

Sure, you could shout from the rooftops about all the amazing benefits your customers would receive if they purchased your product or service.

Or, you could put together a sales page. But, if your sales page is going to work than you need to know a thing or two about ad-copy.

What’s ad-copy? According to BusinessDictionary.com it’s an advertising message that aims at catching and holding the interest of the prospective buyer and persuading her to make a purchase in a few short seconds.

It may sound simple enough, but it takes quite a bit of practice to become a master copywriter.
Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. What are you trying to achieve?

Whenever you write anything for your small business, you must begin by identifying what you want to accomplish.

Do you want the reader to become a lead? Do you want to make an initial sale with a new prospect? Or perhaps you want to make a repeat sale with an existing client or customer?
Never begin writing ad-copy without a crystal-clear goal in mind.

2. Always write with action in mind.

Every single piece of content that you write should have an obvious call to action. In other words, you want your prospects to “do something” once they’ve read your ad-copy.

Should they visit a landing page and download a freebie? Do you want them to call a toll-free number? Or, do you want them to visit a sales page?

It doesn’t matter if you are writing an email, blog post or hosting a webinar, you want your prospects to take action.

3. Be specific.

When writing ad-copy, generalities are the kiss of death. Instead, use words and phrases that are specific, detailed and precise.

For instance, you wouldn’t want to write, “Click on the button below and you will find out how to lose weight.” That’s much too vague and unclear.

Instead, you would write, “Click here for my special report that will show you how to lose 10 lbs. in 14 days.” Now that’s good ad-copy in action!

4. Keep it simple.

Luckily, you’re not going to be graded on your writing (thank goodness)! So, don’t write in an academic, scholarly fashion.

You want to keep your ad-copy uncomplicated, straight-forward and easy to read. Believe it or not, many ad-copy experts recommend writing at the 5th grade level.

You’re not writing the next great American novel, you’re writing a piece of content that is designed to be scanned quickly.

5. Write in chunks of time comfortable to you.

Oftentimes, small business owners bite off more than they can chew when it comes to creating ad-copy content.

Don’t force yourself to work long hours writing ad-copy. Even if you dedicate just 15 minutes a day, you can accomplish quite a bit more than forcing yourself to write in 2-hour chunks of time.

6. Keep keywords in mind when you write.

When you do take the time to write ad-copy, you should also take the time to perform a bit of keyword research as well. This will help your content rank well in the eyes of the search engines.
To start, use the Google Adwords Free Keyword Planner to research the keyword phrases that your prospects are using to search for your products and services.

Then, make sure to utilize these keywords in the header, title and/or body or your content.
So, the next time you are faced with putting together a few persuasive words to show off your products or services, make sure to keep these tips in mind. You just might make a sale or two!

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