Jump to these topics:

1. General tips for writing ad copy.
2. The unique requirements of ad copy on the internet.  

General tips for writing ad copy.  

1. Know your customers. We know our customers through face-to-face contact, and email correspondence, and surveys on our website, and other means. We can define our customers; for example, they are "people who want to increase their wealth by investing in real estate." Now, view your product or service from their perspective, and imagine what you would need to say to encourage them to buy from you. What thoughts are those people thinking when they decide to buy from you -- and what thoughts will they be thinking after they have made the purchase, and they are enjoying your product or service? (For example, they might be thinking, "I like this product because ...") Write directly to these people, so that they know that this is a unique statement from you to them. And when you write ad copy for various groups of people, re-write your original ad to target that group specifically.
2. Solve a problem; satisfy a "want." This is the difference between "features" and "benefits"; features are merely the facts regarding a product, whereas the "benefits" are the ways in which those features will directly improve people's lives. Possible benefits include saving money, saving time, improving productivity, experiencing pleasure, etc. Be very explicit in naming the benefits which the customer will receive.
3. Write in a conversational style. The style would probably be more formal for a stock brokerage than for a pet shop. But, in general, we can use short sentences, and familiar words. To an appropriate extent, the tone can be warm, neighborly, personable, and casual. We reveal our personality; we show who we are as people. To develop this tone, we can talk into a tape-recorder as though we are explaining our product or service to a close friend; then we can transcribe this recording and tighten it up a bit for our website.
4. Write in small paragraphs. Our visitors don't want to read a full page of uninterrupted text. Instead, break up the text into short paragraphs, with "white space" and graphics, to make the text easier to digest.
5. Focus on your customer, not on yourself. Customers want us to solve their problems; they want to be taken directly to the web pages where they can find answers. Instead of cluttering that path with less-important matters (e.g., our company's history, officers, goals, awards, "bragging," etc.), we can put those items onto other pages -- in a type of "cul-de-sac."
6. Have a purpose for every word. There is no room for "filler" in an ad. Every word must do something: explaining, defining, motivating, illustrating -- and, of course, selling.
7. Use particular words which attract attention. .
   • "Free." We all like "free" things.
   • "You." Speak directly to your customers; for example, "You will enjoy this exciting new product."
   • Other words to use: best, discover, easy, guaranteed, money, new, proven, safe, save, secret, simple, ultimate. (This list was compiled from the lists of various writers.)
8. Be memorable. In your ad, use elements which will be remembered: words (e.g., phrases, slogans, mottoes) and graphics (e.g., logos, illustrations, page designs). Repeat these elements throughout the ad. Being memorable is essential for "branding."
9. Appeal to emotions and feelings. On the internet, the focus is more on information, not emotional appeal, but emotions are still important. We are addressing people's emotions, e.g., their fear of financial loss (which will be avoided with our services), or their love for enjoyable activities (which will be possible with our product).
10. Be specific. For example, instead of saying, "You can improve your car's performance," say, "You can increase your car's gas mileage by 40 percent."
11. Emphasize your Unique Selling Point (USP). This is the quality which sets us apart from our competitors. What is the specific USP which makes us different and better? But don't limit the ad to that one point; different features will appeal to different people, so we need to mention our other selling points, too.
12. Be direct. An ad might start with a vague, teasing headline (e.g., "Guess why this man is smiling"), but don't wait too long to say exactly what you are selling. People will lose interest if they don't know the purpose of the ad.
13. Remember AIDA. This familiar formula stands for:
    • Attention. Grab the person's attention.
    • Interest. Stimulate the person's interest in your product or service.
    • Desire. Trigger the person's desire for your product or service.
    • Action. Explicitly request an action," e.g., "order the product now!"
14. Be believable. People are skeptical, especially when they suspect that we are exaggerating or lying. Skeptics don't buy.
15. Use words which will be picked up by search engines. Some of our ad copy will be ignored by search engines, but other words will help us to gain a high placement. (Refer to the chapter regarding search engines.)
16. Make yourself accessible. People don't trust strangers, and they don't like to buy from strangers. We become more believable and trustworthy when we tell people how to contact us -- perhaps by email (preferably to a person, not just the company), a street address (instead of an anonymous post-office box), a phone number (with a real person, not an answering machine).
17. Ask for the sale. Some ads describe a product, but then they don't tell the customer what to do: "send a check" or "call us" or "use the order form." Our ad can repeatedly remind the customer that this is a product or service to be purchased, not merely read about; throughout our website, we can use phrases such as "when you use this product" or "after you buy this product" or "during your first month of ownership." And be urgent: "order now" or "take advantage of this limited-time offer."

The unique requirements of ad copy on the internet.  

1. Give information. In contrast to the empty hype which we find in many mass-media commercials, websites are expected to provide information. We need to write our websites for people who are intelligent, sophisticated, alert -- and hungry for details.
2. Interact with the visitors. Websites can provide many opportunities for interaction: forms, email addresses, discussion boards, email discussion lists, chat, etc. These interactions allow us to give a personal kind of service, for customer satisfaction and more sales.
3. Avoid hard-sell techniques. Particularly on the internet, people don't want to be manipulated or pushed. Instead, we invite the people to our site, and we suggest that they take a particular course of action, e.g., reading about our products or services, and making a purchase. While we are providing information, we help the people to decide that they want to buy.