A great advertisement copy can make or
break an advertisement campaign, where the right words can influence the
consumer’s mind.
When
persuading someone to buy a thing the most natural way is to describe it with
glowing adjective, whereas the most effective approach is to explain its most
indisputable facts or to provide visual proof. To see great advertisement is an
education and a very important part of knowing what the industry is about. But
the point of a finished advertisement is to present everything of importance in
a compact manner; however, it is not designed to give clues as to how it was
produced. A great idea takes less than a second to occur, but which seconds it
occurs in can’t be known at the outset. So it becomes necessary to understand
that the most unorthodox of ideas are the product of a slow moving train of
logic, because an idea can be powerful and successful, but the process of
nurturing it is no short term course. The essence of copy writing is indeed mundane
everyday language, but it is imperative to appreciate that the art of writing
advertising is not writing only, but thinking also.
Getting
noticed is the first job of any advertisement, and for that copy writing must be
done effectively, which is half skill and half tools, half science and half
art. The science and tool takes the bigger chunk, while a skill is developed
over time by experienced copywriter, but a tool can be used by anyone
experienced or otherwise, take a tool and apply it to a market and see its
result. These tools are the components of a effective copy, have been tested,
refined and honed over many decades in
the intensely competitive world of business
copy writing and advertising, to ward of that dreaded feeling of being faced
with a blank page or a blinking cursor, and have no idea of how or where to
begin.
The
first subject to think about or talk is the target audience; say for example
the target audience is young people or teenagers; one may be tempted to think
of them as a general mass of youth, possibly tainted with one’s prejudices.
This form of reasoning may lead to talk to them in a generalized way, the end
point maybe that this signals the advertisements intention to speak to a
certain group of people, but won’t single out the advertisement from all the
product messages from the competition, as each one of them uses the same
strategy, so it becomes imperative to pinpoint the target audience, down to the
basics like, what he or she wears, what he or she does in the evening, what he or she do for recreation etc. This helps in
narrowing down the market, and the advertisement don’t have to shout or be to
general, as the advertisement talks the language of its audience, and is
guaranteed a hear or a watch or a read.
A way
to understand the target audience is to read the newspapers and the magazines
they read, but this is not the moment to start writing the copy, because to
start a war cry that others adapt as their own takes time. Research more than
needed on the subject, because if the research is according to the first
impressions of a project or preconceived ideas, then the end product will be
restrained by the limits of conformity, so it is always better to research
broadly, as this in-depth information will inform the writing and mystify the
target audience or who ever goes through it with the thought, what a novel
piece of work.
Now
although loaded with information, but this is still not the right time to start
writing the advertisement, however, it is ok to jot down any spontaneously idea
that comes to mind. The reason to hold back is to ensure that the right thing
is being said, so choose wisely. Here an important point is to be noted, say
one thing and one thing only. This does not refer to the headline or the
content of the body copy, but to the main underline message that needs to be
projected accurately. Take the help of
the planners and the account managers to research some more. At this stage it
is important to go find answers to three questions, what is the context? Given
the context, what is the advertisement saying? And given what the advertisement
is saying, what is the end-line? Where the end-line is the rudder throughout
the creative process, most brands come with an end-line in place; even then it
is important to consider the end-line, if nothing else, just to anchor the
conceptual work.
Now
is the right time to write the copy, because the background, the target
audience, the information from the brief and the end point, are all apparent. Try
to find an objective fact about the product that can be a reason for the
prospective audience to buy, as facts speaking for themselves are more
convincing. At this stage, that elusive big idea is still missing. Why? The
reason may be that the ideas are right headed and not simple enough. In copy,
simple means, that idea that grabs attention in a completely new way. However,
the route to simplicity is the key transition to make in order to move up from
well worded publicity to outstanding advertisement. The degree of simplicity in
communication is the whole job.
This is where the actual writing begins; the
headline is the most important element in advisement, if there is no selling in
the headline the purpose of the advertisement is dented hugely. Use the
headline to flag down the target audience, and inversely do not say anything in
the headline that is likely to exclude audience that might be prospects of the
advertisement. A headline should appeal to the target audiences self interest,
as they are more likely to read the body copy if the headline arouses
curiosity, it is important to understand
that the lure of a great headline is to make the audience read the next
line.
When
writing the body copy, pretend that the harshest one among the target audience
is sitting in front, and the copy is to convert that critic into an amiable sympathizer of the product. So get straight to the point and start selling
avoiding superlatives, generalizations and platitudes, be specific, factual, enthusiastic,
friendly and memorable. A question might spur up, how long should be the copy?
Well one answer is, both long copy and short copy can serve the purpose.
Another answer is that the length of the copy depends on the product, but the
length of the copy should not undermine the main aim of any copy, long or
short, every copy should be a sales pitch for the product, because it is
unrealistic to assume that the target audience will read a series of
advertisements for the same product. A copy should include testimonials, as the
target audience finds it easier to believe the endorsement of a fellow user,
rather than believe the powdery words of some copywriter. Another important
point is to give the target audience helpful advice or service. And resist the
temptation to write advertisement that just entertains or is written to win
awards, because most of the advertisement that produce results never wins
awards, as they don’t draw attention to themselves, well expectations are
always there.
Nobody
cares about why the product is supposedly awesome, all what the prospective
audience cares about, what is in it for me? So the copy must be full of
benefits, how the product is going to make their lives easier. At this point the prospective
audience has transformed into an interested consumer as the copy has captured
their attention long enough to kindle their desire, only the closing is remaining,
this is done by a good call to action, where the copy needs to ask them to take
some kind of specific action. An effective advertisement helps to sell and
persuade their reader or viewer to take an action or change an existing
viewpoint.
To
write an advertisement copy properly requires far more application and hard
work than seems necessary at first sight, that’s because, it is.
