How Can I Write Good Advertising Copy?

Good advertising copy is not something absolute that you can measure or pin down. What you are advertising, who you are advertising to and who else is already advertising in that space are all critical factors in deciding what copy works. It has also been shown that, despite in-depth research and exhaustive consumer sampling, many campaigns sink without a trace. The complexities of the human mind and its responses are not easy to fathom. However, there are some simple rules that one can conclude from the inspirational writings of famous marketing gurus and even retrospective analysis of some great brands.

Rule 1: Get people to read it. A catchy slogan, headline, or any interesting creative text or visual can help a marketer break through the clutter and get your messaging noticed. Without this breakthrough creativity, the best of messages can get lost in what is arguably a very crowded marketplace. This is often why the headline or slogan takes more time to construct than the entire body copy.

Rule 2: Get people to remember it. Good copy needs to make a lasting impact, impact that will stay with the reader and influence his or her behavior to some degree. You want to create lines that they will carry around with them and be tempted to act on. This is easiest when the copy has relevance to the readers life, age, and other circumstantial realities. This is why what is great copy for one reader may be worthless for another.

Rule 3: Get people to buy it. All advertising has some objective, philanthropic or business. The best test of good copy is how far it serves that objective. How many people donated blood after reading your copy? How many people went out and tried the new ice cream flavor? Did anybody call and inquire about the products on offer?

To achieve any or all of the above, an advertiser needs to understand the place his or her communication has in the mind of the consumer and what benefit or change it seeks to achieve. It is important to remember that award-winning advertising is not necessarily good advertising copy. Advertising is good when it meets its objectives whether it is awareness for a cause, changing a mind-set, promoting a trial, or closing sales. Marketers who do not know what they are setting out to achieve will always be a poor judge of the quality of advertising copy that they commission.

There is a lot of pressure on the creative departments of advertising agencies to win awards. There is a lot of pressure on sales and marketing people to sell products and services. The two will obviously never see eye to eye. Good advertising, however, is not a cure for bad products or bad service delivery. Chocolate-flavored Maggie noodles from Nestle bombed out not so far back. Was the copy at fault or the execution or the product itself? These questions are not simple to answer, though in this case, one may tend to side with the latter.

To sum up, good advertising copy is basically marketing communication that has been creatively interpreted to be most noticeable as well as persuasive to the targeted consumers mind.