By Kathy Smith 

For acquiring customers and building brand engagement, advertising is a time-tested essential.  

The following strategies will help you write better, more effective copy for print and online advertising, and increase the response to your advertising message. Several inspired and award-winning ad examples are included to start your creative juices flowing. 

1. Understand Your Target Audience. 

To write effective ad copy you must understand what motivates your audience. What are their demographics, needs, desires, and pain points? This will help you craft a message that speaks directly to their interests and concerns.  

This incredible illustration from the French Ministry of Health spread the word about the growing problem of childhood obesity, warning parents that obesity starts at a young age. The ice cream cone with a fat belly on top of it uses cheerful, bright colours but manages to send a not-so-shiny message to kids and their parents. 

2. Speak to the Reader as an Individual. 

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” – Peter Drucker 

Readers usually read ads by themselves and as such, your message should speak to the reader as an individual. Speaking to readers as you would address a crowd in a stadium makes you appear cold and distant. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes, speak their  language, and pretend they are having a one-to-one conversation with you, their trusted friend.  

3. Write Compelling Headlines. 

Make a strong first impression. The headline is the first thing they’ll read. Grab their attention and create curiosity with a strong headline that will make them want to keep reading. It should be clear, concise, and highlight the main benefit or solution your service or product provides.

This award-winning 1970 ad, created for the Family Planning Association, succeeded because of its simplicity. It was created for display in the waiting rooms of doctors’ offices, but found its way into Time magazine and a number of editorials. 

4. Good Visuals Attract and Engage. 

Enhance your message with quality, eye-catching images that are relevant to your target audience. Your visuals should support your message and help make it stand out. 

5. Hold Their Attention. 

“Don’t tell me how good you make it; tell me how good it makes me when I use it.” – Leo Burnett 

Hold the reader’s attention by speaking to them in language they understand. Focus on benefits rather than features. Help your reader understand how your product or service can help them solve a problem or a need, improve their lives, or make things easier for them. Your copy should connect with the reader and deliver beneficial information so the decision to take action is their idea. It’s always an advantage to write copy in the form of a story, but keep it interesting and as short as possible or no one will read it. 

It was a colossal disaster when KFC, one of the most popular fast-food chains worldwide, ran out of chicken in 2018. They temporarily closed 1,000 US outlets. Their ad agency used the opportunity to play with the famous KFC acronym and created one of the best print ads that simply says FCK, along with an apology. This marketing campaign made the world talk about KFC from a different point of view. 

6. Use Persuasive Language. 

Persuasive language motivates readers to take action. Use short sentences, brief paragraphs, familiar language, and avoid jargon or technical terms. You should be familiar enough with your audience to connect with them in language they can relate to. 

Avoid analogies which can offend or be misunderstood, and superlatives which convince no one. 

Kinder Surprise Eggs were banned in the US in 1997 because the toy surprise hidden inside can pose choking and aspiration hazards to young children.

7. It’s Not About You. 

“A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.” – David Ogilvy 

Don’t write to impress; the copy is not about you. The reader doesn’t care if you’re the biggest in the country, they just want to know what your product or service can do for them or their horses. We’ve all seen clever ads that we remember clearly, but some ads are so witty we don’t even remember the product the ad was selling! Put the reader’s attention on how their lives will improve by using your product or service. 

8. Keep the Advertising Medium in Mind. 

Print ads “Live Long & Prosper” because magazines have a much longer lifespan than online ads and are often kept for months or even years for reference or future reading. Print ads stay in place as long as the magazine is kept, so print is better for a one-on-one connection and for branding than for short-term calls to action. Online advertising can deliver a much quicker response but also has a shorter shelf life, and it can be tested, tweaked, and optimized in real-time to improve response over time. 

9. Include a Strong Call-To-Action. 

Encourage readers to take a specific action, such as visiting a website or making a purchase. Your call-to-action should be clear, concise, compelling, and make it easy for readers to take that next step. Create a sense of urgency, for example, “Limited Time Offer.”

One of their campaigns of SANCCOB, a non-profit that helps seabirds to avoid extinction, was aimed at protecting the African penguin. Their ad agency produced a series of print ad examples to raise awareness about this issue. The agency added an optical illusion by using the inverted pyramid form to show viewers how the number of African penguins keeps declining over time. The message is unmistakable.  

10. Include Testimonials. 

If you have them, include testimonials from happy customers, which can strengthen your sales pitch. 

11. Test and Refine Your Ad Copy. 

Figure out what works best. Try different headlines, messaging, and calls-to-action. Track your responses to see what resonates with your audience. 

By following these tips, you can create more effective ad copy for print and online advertising that grabs your audience’s attention and motivates them to take action. 

“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”— Mark Twain

Read more by Kathy Smith.

Main Photo: iStock/Bahtiar Maulana