Pulling Sales with Your Ad Copy

One of the best marketing tools available to your internet business is good sales ad copy. This can pull in sales faster than just about anything.

If you're not a writer or cringe at the thought of writing your own sales copy, you can always hire a professional, however if you're on a budget and have an adventurous spirit, writing your own ads can be a worthwhile option.

So how do you write sales copy that pulls sales? Let's take a look.

Get their attention. You have about six seconds to grab the attention of your reader so you have to act fast. Verbalize your benefits at the onset. Use words and phrases that are enticing and compelling. Use color, large fonts and exclamation points. Get the readers attention in the heading and keep it focused in the body of the ad.

Benefits and Solutions. How is your product or service going to benefit the reader? How will it solve their problem? Does it offer a solution and how fast? List all the benefits. How will it make their life or business better? Tell them why they can't live without it. If someone's going to buy something they have to know what's in it for them.

Credibility. You must convey to your audience that you are credible. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by using testimonials. What have people said about your product? If someone has bought your product, email them and ask them to comment on it. Get their permission to quote them in an ad. Get several testimonials and use photos if your can. Better yet, include small audio clips in your copy. To hear someone verbally testify to something can be very convincing.

Emotion. Appealing to the emotions of your audience is an excellent way to attract attention. What emotions do your products or services generate? What will trigger your reader's response?

Money, beauty, health, success, more time and making life easier are all emotional triggers. If you can appeal to someone with making more money, looking more beautiful or having better health, and really appeal to that emotion, your ad copy will attract their attention and entice them to keep reading.

Interest. Once you have their interest and attention you have to hold onto it. Telling short interesting or personal stories in your ad copy can hold that attention. People love stories and can relate to them. A section of questions and answers also generate interest for readers. People like it when questions that come to mind are answered right in the ad copy. This gives them the confidence that you can relate to their needs and concerns and are familiar with them..

Action. The final step is to generate a call to action. Urge the reader that it's time to act now. You can do this by offering a limited time free bonus or offer money off your product if they act now. Convince the reader that they can't wait. The time is now.

Know your products and customers. It's important to know who your customers are and what they want. A teen boy interested in body building may require totally different needs than a middle aged woman interested in body building. By understanding your customers you'll understand their needs and what kinds of problems they have that depend on you to solve. Focus on what your customer is willing to buy, not what you have to sell.

Additional Guidelines

Use simple, familiar words. Your ad should be easy and fast reading. Don't use big words and long run-on sentences. Offer a tangible result. Phrases like 'lose weight in two weeks', get rich online', 'find love now' sound cliché but they all offer your reader a solution to a problem or need. Avoid ambiguities and jargons. Get to the point and keep it flowing.

Write like you are talking to a friend Use bright, cheerful language. Don't be too formal and don't lecture.

Use correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. There are many ads that misuse grammar intentionally, and this is ok as long as it fits a specific purpose or theme of the ad. Unintentional poor grammar, misspellings and poor punctuation can hurt your credibility.

About The Author

Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can contact Elizabeth at mail@pro-marketing-online.com or visit her website at http://www.pro-marketing-online.com

---

Art Of Writing Profitable Classified Ads

The art of writing profitable classified adsEverybody wants to make... Read More

Killer Ad Copy

Not everyone is a writer. Good copy writing is a... Read More

How To Test The Body Of Your Sales Copy For Weaknesses

Your sales copy is the life source of your business.... Read More

9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Materials

1) Don't just hire a good designer. Hire someone who... Read More

On Copying and Stealing Designs

The notion on the great artist, Pablo Picasso's quote, "Bad... Read More

Crank Out More Articles More Often With An Article Swipe File

If you write copy you need a swipe file. A... Read More

Health and Fitness: A Huge Industry in Need of Writers

Think about how much you read about and spend on... Read More

Its Time To Start That Swipe File

Just as great fiction is an art, so is great... Read More

Why Copywriting Is The Secret To Your Online Success

Over the last decade, the number of companies selling their... Read More

5 Rules for Effective Written Sales Communications

Most salespeople have great ideas, but when it comes to... Read More

Tech-writers: A Necessary Evil

New to tech-writing, or thinking about starting? The key to... Read More

A Little-Known Secret To Writing Sales Copy, For Serious Copywriters Only!

Have you ever wondered how your copy sounds to your... Read More

Professional Copywriting Services - How to Provide Your Own

Just because you're running a small business doesn't mean you... Read More

Content is King

IntroductionA pencil. Yes, a pencil. In my opinion, every great... Read More

Are You Making These Press Release Mistakes?

You've done it. Gotten that press release written. Now you're... Read More

How To Take Your Freelance Writing Chances

Your initial freelance writing assignments are the best way to... Read More

Grammatical Mistakes DONT Sell

When you receive a sales letter with typos or grammar... Read More

Is Your Web Copy Plain Talk?

It's true, we were all taught in school to express... Read More

Finding Your Clients Business Problem Leads to Better Copy

WHAT'S THEIR PROBLEM?How do you begin a dialogue with a... Read More

How You Can Proofread Your Own Work

Putting out a high quality product is a given these... Read More

3 Ways to Increase Conversion Rates

In a previous article I talked about a few similarities... Read More

How to Write Carrot-Wielding Copy!

A significant reason behind websites that fail is the lack... Read More

Calls-To-Action: Making Them Fit Makes All the Difference

It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters... Read More

Copywriting Makeover: Making An Emotional Connection - Part 1 of 2

One statistic shows that over 80% of all buying decisions... Read More

3 Tips For Writing Better Headlines

The single most important element of your website's copy is... Read More

Why You Should Write To Inform And Not To Sell

Advertising is key! Unfortunately most people waste their money on... Read More

How To Make A Career Out Of Copyediting And Proofreading

Do you possess the qualities of a good proof reader?... Read More

10 Tips for Writing Web Copy

One of the most important aspects of a website today... Read More

10 Things You Should Expect From Your Website Copywriter

As websites and electronic commerce are becoming more and more... Read More

Three Steps To Pump Up The Drama In Your Copy

All the world's a story. Video games have storylines; newspapers... Read More

11 Reasons Not to Hire a Freelance Copywriter (and Why Theyre All Poor Excuses)

Think you can take the Copywriting Challenge on your own?... Read More

How To Find Editing Services Online

Quality is what you need. What you don't have is... Read More

Does Your Copy Look Fake To the Search Engines?

From the early days of search engine optimization, keywords and... Read More