Copywriting & Marketing

What’s it take to be a great ad writer? You might be surprised to learn that you don’t have to be a marketing expert. And you don’t need a MBA to be a writer for advertising. Here are a few steps to get you started on your way to becoming an ad writer.

What is an Ad Writer?

An ad writer is someone who prepares advertising copy for use in publications – either in print or on the web. Any ad writer works closely with the client to learn as much about them and their products and services as possible. When doing your own copy you should know everything about your business. Now many businesses, even ones that have been around for decades, sometimes can’t tell someone who their competitors are. If you’re going to act as your own ad writer though it’s important to find out everything about YOUR business, but also your COMPETITION.

Get Creative

Many times when people decide to be their own ad writer they first encounter writers block. In fact, the hardest copy I’ve personally had to write was for my own site, www.wintersproductions.com, and that’s what I do for a living! The best advice to get the creative juices flowing is stepping into your customer’s shoes. Consider what they’d like to know and what’s important to them. Then jump into a first draft. Keep writing and re-writing until you take that boring factual copy into something engaging.

But if all else fails, and you find that being an ad writer is a lot harder than you ever expected (or if you lack the time for tweaking to get it just right) that’s when hiring a professional ad writer should be considered.

You’ve posted your ‘copywriter needed‘ ad, but how can you be sure you’re hiring someone who will make your business look its best? After all your business depends on good sales materials. So when you’ve got one of those copywriter needed position open, keep these few simple guidelines in mind.

Copywriter Needed – Experience and Attitude

Get samples. Nothing can tell you more about the person applying for your copywriter needed position than their previous work. Also, make a point of seeing how your applicant looks at the world. Are they cynical? Upbeat? Enthusiastic? Their attitude will certainly affect the writing they’ll do for you, so make sure you question that and watch all the correspondence carefully.

Copywriter Needed – Listen and Learn

Give the applicant for your copywriter needed job a chance to ask you questions as well. Their questions will tell you a lot about what the writer can bring to the table, while also allowing them to create the best copy possible. Also listen to their ideas. Find out what direction they think you want your business to go because you can learn a lot from them simply by listening.

Copywriter Needed – What Do They Know?

Try to find out if your copywriter has the research skills they need to write effectively for you. Solid research will always give you the upper hand with your competition. Professional copywriters will ask you for sources about your industry to make sure what they create will be accurate. The net is a wealth of information…but not all of it hits the mark. So don’t be afraid to lead your writing in the right direction as they gather info.

Also, make sure they understand the features of your products or services, but also what benefits those features will give your customers. A great copywriter will always ask you questions, but more importantly they’ll ask the right questions. So even if YOU don’t know the benefits you offer that’s fine. They’ll work with you as a partner to uncover those things that motivate your customers.

Copywriter Needed – Feel the Passion

If you find someone who can be passionate about their writing, then they will also be passionate about your business. Keep these few practical guidelines in mind and you’ll find the perfect person to fill your copywriter wanted opening without any headaches.

In these days of economic stress, it more important than ever that you make sure your marketing program maximizes every dollar of its budget. The best way of ensuring that is to hire a professional copywriting service. It doesn’t matter if your business is based online or in a storefront, a good copywriting service is your best chance to improving your profits.

Building a Brand

All businesses need something that sets them apart and that starts with developing a unique brand. A professional copywriting service can help you develop those components that make a great brand – everything from slogans and taglines to appealing and effective product descriptions.

Building an Online Presence

In today’s market, a business needs to develop an online presence and an experienced copywriting service is necessary to do that. Website content is vital to your business’s success and only a professional copywriting service can help you with that by emphasizing the benefits your products or services offer. And it can clinch the deal when it comes time for your customers to accept that call to action.

Hire a SEO Copywriting Service

A good copywriting service can make your business popular through effective SEO copy. As your business rises to the top of a search engine’s list, potential customers need to be able to find your business’s site in order for your online revenues to increase.

By writing professional articles or copy geared to readers AND search engines, a copywriting service can build your business’s reputation and image. Choose wisely and you’ll find that when you hire an excellent copywriting service, then you know your marketing money is being well-spent.

Creative writing and copy writing might seem like two incongruous things, but there is a way to combine the two and be a creative copywriter. People tend to associate creative writing with storytelling and copy writing as dry business-oriented writing. However, there’s no obstacle for a good writer to combine the two and become a creative copywriter.

Tell a Story

If you want to be a creative copywriter, tell a story. Good stories allow you to connect with your readers on a different level than just simply passing on merchandising information. Share an anecdote on how your product benefitted someone. Spin a yarn about the origin of the company and how it grew successful. It’s easy to tell tales and still be a good creative copywriter.

Get Emotional

One of the best ways a creative copywriter can grab their customer’s attention is to use analogies, real life scenarios and true case studies to appeal to their emotions. People feel things and when they can relate to what you’re selling, they’re most likely to buy.

Add Drama

While it’s okay to lighten up every once in a while in your writing, adding a bit of drama can be an effective technique for the creative copywriter. For example, use words such as ‘exciting,’ ‘determined’ and ‘entrusted’ to describe your products or serves in a more dramatic way. A creative copywriter will use them and more.

Remember too, a good copywriter uses customer testimonials to tell the story, to efficiently use emotions and add a bit drama to their copy. Writing doesn’t have to be dull if you only include a little bit of sizzle into your work.

Creative copywriting is different from dry technical writing and your business will benefit from it. Despite what you were taught in your writing classes, when it comes to advertising, creative copywriting is possible.

Break the Rules

We’ve all been taught the basics. Don’t use sentence fragments. Don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. Always use the active voice. Don’t split infinitives and so on and so on. However with creative copywriting feel free to break the rules. Not only will it make your copy more readable to your customers, but it’s fun as well.

It’s Story Time!

People love stories. So tell them one. Your business is special and unique. Tell your customers why. Add an amusing anecdote to your creative copywriting and it’ll be sure to hook the reader in and let them know exactly why your business or product can benefit their lives.

The Right Word

It’s estimated that advertising messages can succeeded in eight seconds so make sure your creative copywriting homes in on the right words you need to get your message across. Again – and it can’t be emphasized enough – make sure you use the words that describe the benefits your business or product can offer and not simply the features. The write word will ensure your copy makes you glisten. Always remember the best thing to do when you’re writing creative copywriting: get creative!

Businesses spend a lot of money on hiring professional copywriters, but they don’t consider doing the same for their email copywriting needs. Why worry about email copywriting if customers already signed up for emails, right? The truth is those customers won’t want those emails unless they’re well written. Having good email copywriting will help your business in the long run, so here are a few tips.

Call to Action

Everyone involved in marketing has heard the phrase “call to action.” But when it comes to email copywriting, it’s best to “tease to action.” The more information you reveal in your email copywriting, the less response you’re going to get. You want your readers to get just a taste of what you’re offering, so they’ll click on your link instead of the delete key. On the other hand make your email copywriting specific enough so the recipient will take action.

Write it Right and Avoid the Spam

Ambrose Bierce said it best: write it right. That goes for email copywriting as well as for literature. So while your emails don’t have to be Shakespearean, they do need to be literate. Pay attention to spelling and punctuation because nothing turns off a reader more than silly typos. You also want to make sure that your email avoids spam filters. Watch out for phrases like “risk free” and “order now.” There are more, but those are the usual suspects when it comes to spam filters. Treat the email as you would any other important document and have someone else – or even a professional – go over it before you send it.

Bring it Home

By following these few simple guidelines, you’ll have more success with your email marketing, but don’t hesitate to hire a professional email copywriter. Your business is well worth the investment, particularly when it comes to excellent email copywriting.

Your business depends on good writing and that’s especially true with your brochure copy. If you’re spending a small fortune on design, printing and postage remember that words sell you too. It’s always best to hire a professional copywriter for brochure copy, but if you do decide to pen your own brochure copy, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

The Cover Is the First Point of Impact

The first thing your customers see when they pick up your brochure is the cover. Many brochure copy writers often feature the company’s name or product name here instead of the concept that distinguishes your company or product from your competition. This is the perfect place to let your customer know what he stands to gain by reading the great brochure copy inside while also hooking him in with your originality.

It’s always best to use short powerful words here too rather than writing a paragraph. Think of a novel with an engaging cover. You see a few words and an alluring picture; not an entire synopsis of the book. Brochure copy should be approached this way too.

Headlines Punch Up Brochure Copy

When you’re writing brochure copy, don’t forget that your headlines are just as important as the rest. People are in such a hurry these days that they may not take the time to read the rest. They may, however, scan the headlines instead as they look for points of interest. So make sure headlines really stand out while being descriptive.

Features Without Benefits Is Pointless

Poorly written brochure copy focuses on features. Yes, people want to know what something does or how something works. But in the end they make their buying decision based on, “What’s it for me?”

For example, let’s say you sell tires. Knowing the tires are steel belted (feature) is important to state. However, what will make people buy these tires is the feeling of security (benefit) and knowing that they are protecting themselves and/or their loved ones. Your brochure copy should focus on the benefits to your customer just as much, if not more than, the features. So sell the features through the benefits; not the other way around.

Be an Expert – Establish Credibility

When your customer picks up one of your brochures, the first thing they should notice is a professional design. Once they’re hooked in and start to read the brochure copy it should convey exactly why they should trust you. Your brochure should establish your credibility through testimonials, case studies or independent test results just to name a few examples. Include these in your brochure copy and you’ll hit the mark. In fact, many marketing experts and analysts have said that customers are 80% more likely to deal with a company when they have glowing testimonials over any other kind of brochure copy.

So remember, brochure copy needs to captivate the reader and motivate them to action. If you want to make sure your brochure copy achieve this it should provide useful information, a call to the reader’s emotions and be something beyond mere advertising hype.