Investing in Your Ad Copy

Advertising is vital in the marketing world, but sometimes the time and cost of advertising is worthless. There is so much advertising and other media pulling at the customers that you really need to find ways to make your advertisement above and beyond the rest.

To begin with, place yourself in the readers spot. Notice what things catch your attention. Notice how and where you are targeted for something that interests you. What kind of conveniences do you like to be offered? What information do you expect to see in an ad? Take these to heart and then consider what others might expect too. Try to look at it from several perspectives and try to meet as many needs and desires as possible.

Catching the reader’s attention is the first challenge. Use headlines that will unconsciously get the reader to notice. Once you have their attention, keep it with an appealing look to your ad. At first glance, the reader should see that it is easy to read and understand. Make it an appealing size of letters and font that is effortless to read.

If it looks like long boring paragraphs, you will not keep the reader. You need to format it in an quick to read manner. Use numbered or bulleted lists or short statements. Keep it informative but simple. Don’t get wordy or you will quickly lose the reader.

Check it over for spelling and grammatical errors. Simple mistakes will make the ad look unprofessional and will turn off readers.

Offer the reader what they want. "FREE" always catches everyone’s attention. Offer them free samples, newsletters, or further information.

Give the reader opportunities to talk to a contact person about the ad. Sometimes the ad will not cover everything, so let them know where they can find out more. Also, if they want more information or if they want to make a purchase, give them plenty of options on how to do it. Some will prefer mail-in or a toll free phone order. Others find using an online link, e-mail, or fax is easiest for them. Make as many options available as possible to meet everyone’s preference.

Finally, check everything over and try it out before finishing. Make sure the links, e-mail address, fax, phone message and mail receivers are all working correctly. Then you can get your ad out there and bring in that business. Make your time and effort worthwhile.