How to create advertising examples. Product advertising: successful examples

Advertising, the text of which contains psychological elements, allows you to increase demand for the advertised products or services. Properly composed advertising material allows you to convey to a potential audience information about the products offered, as well as information about planned promotions. As practice shows, in order to increase the range of potential audiences, advertisers use various “tricks”. These include various holiday drawings for valuable prizes, big discounts and other promotions. In this article, we propose to consider examples of advertising texts that help increase the consumer audience.

What is selling text

In order to get the first potential customers, an entrepreneur should conduct an advertising campaign. From the day of its inception to the present day, advertising has been the most effective means of attracting customers. To determine the range of potential audiences and increase demand for the offer, entrepreneurs conduct various marketing activities. The main goal of these activities is to increase sales efficiency.

Many modern representatives of small and large businesses use various platforms on the Internet to promote their products. Using the Internet to promote a product or service on the market has a number of advantages. Firstly, the entrepreneur gets the opportunity to quickly convey information about the proposed product to his target audience. Secondly, some specialized services offer the placement of advertising materials free of charge.

Examples of product advertisements with “for sale” text can be seen on social networking pages. Many social networks are one of the best marketing tools due to the ability to select the target audience to which the commercial will be shown. Also, many entrepreneurs order branded T-shirts for their employees, which display the company logo. Such a move also helps to increase public interest in the advertiser’s activities.

A distinctive feature of advertising text is to encourage the reader to perform a certain procedure. Such an action can be either registration on the advertiser’s website or purchasing the products offered. When composing a “selling” text, you should consider a list of simple rules:

  1. The title section should reflect the main idea of ​​the entire ad unit. Here you can also indicate the consumer’s benefits from cooperation with the advertiser. As practice shows, to attract the interest of a wide range of audiences, it is necessary to add intrigue to the title of the text.
  2. When composing the main part of the message, various psychological techniques are used to use certain channels of perception. Also in this section of advertisements, the advantages of the products or services offered are listed.
  3. Advertising text must be meaningful, concise and take into account the interests of the end consumer.
  4. Many advertisers use various historical facts and accurate data in advertising units in order to attract the interest of a potential client.
  5. The main component of the advertising text is minimal intrusiveness to its viewer.

The main purpose of advertising texts is to present or promote ideas, services and products on the market to increase their sales

Rules for submitting information

In order to interest potential customers, the advertiser must choose the right method of presenting information about his offer. The choice of a specific technique depends on several parameters. First of all, you should take into account the specifics of the site where the advertisement will be placed. You will also need to analyze the interests of the people who make up the main target audience.

As a rule, most advertisers indicate in this section the price category of their offer or information about planned promotions. Probably every user of the Internet and social networks has seen advertising texts with the heading: “Products cheaper than $10”, “Seasonal discounts 90%” and other similar advertisements. As a rule, such headlines motivate users to make a purchase or use the advertiser’s service.

It is important to note that “selling” texts are not always posted on thematic forums or on social networks. Such advertisements are often published in print media and placed on advertising links. You can increase the effectiveness of this marketing tool by mailing and distributing leaflets. Many readers may be interested in the question of why advertisers use various psychological techniques. The main task of such advertising is not only to motivate the client to purchase, but also to disseminate information about the advertiser’s offer to their friends and acquaintances.

It should be separately mentioned that quite often an advertiser is faced with the problem of choosing a marketing tool. Selling texts are incompatible with SEO optimization, which forces the entrepreneur to choose between these tools. An attempt to use a combination of these methods may lead to a narrowing of the circle of potential audience.

Let's look at what an example advertising message should look like. Before you start developing your material, you need to analyze the various techniques used by other employers. These actions are necessary to identify the main components that make advertising successful. Here you should take into account the specifics of your proposal. The advertisement must contain not only relevant information, but also data that may be useful to the consumer.

When creating a marketing model, you should focus on the interests of the target group. It is important to pay attention to the fact that in order to attract the interest of potential buyers, only the main quality of the products or services offered is indicated. In this regard, you will need to carefully analyze your offer in order to identify those parameters that can arouse interest in the product offered and the desire to become its owner. As practice shows, comparing your product with a well-known brand allows you to arouse interest among the audience. An example of such advertising that could be seen on TV is Nikola kvass. Talented marketers were able to draw an analogy between this product and Coca-Cola.


High-quality advertising text, first of all, must have correct and clear content

In order for the offered products to be recognizable, it is necessary to add a unique and exclusive style. Many people who see such advertising will recognize this product from a dozen “faceless” analogues. Using catchy slogans also adds uniqueness to the text. In order to achieve success in an advertising company, you will need to correctly structure your advertisement and add a high-quality media file to it.

Examples of ineffective ad units

Advertising is one of the most effective marketing tools used to increase sales. Improper use of this tool can lead to a decline in the prestige of the brand and the status of the entrepreneur. As practice shows, such materials should contain only truthful information. Irrelevant information, attempts to embellish reality and other “dirty” tricks can lead to a drop in sales. The same rule applies to intrusive advertising.

As an example, let’s take “Vulcan Casino” and similar materials. Their frequent mention, importunity and other “dirty” marketing techniques create the impression of little demand for the advertiser’s offer. The use of such tools forces us to constantly increase the advertising campaign budget in order to attract the required number of clients who will provide the planned income to the entrepreneur.

It is also impractical to try to work with the maximum range of audiences. The non-target group of consumers is guaranteed to miss the ad block. This means that the money invested in an advertising campaign will not pay for itself due to a large influx of new customers.

Based on this fact, we can conclude that working with the target audience is the main parameter for the successful activities of an advertiser. In order to identify a portrait of a potential client, the following criteria should be taken into account:

  • age and gender;
  • place of residence;
  • social status.

What tricks do marketers use?

Next, we propose to examine the question of what the advertising text for any product should contain. First of all, it is necessary to select those components that can distinguish the entrepreneur’s offer from thousands of similar analogues. It is important to understand that an entrepreneur cannot say that the quality of the products exceeds the quality of the goods produced by Vasya or Petya. Indication of specific persons (companies or brands) may negatively affect the status of the advertiser.


Sometimes one short phrase is enough for advertising, which can convey all the information the consumer needs

In order to attract an audience, marketers are developing various strategies for promoting a product or service on the market. It is the development of a strategy that allows you to get maximum results from a posted ad.

As a rule, marketers use tools such as “classical sales scheme” and “unique offer”, in which representatives of the entrepreneur accompany each stage of product sales.

To begin with, we suggest analyzing the “unique selling proposition” strategy. In such advertising, it is necessary to highlight a number of product features that present it in a favorable light. Among the selection criteria, pricing policy, quality and brand awareness should be highlighted. You can increase audience interest thanks to seasonal and holiday discounts, bright packaging and seller guarantees. You can motivate a buyer to purchase a product or service using parameters such as the possibility of paying in installments or free delivery.

This method is often used in TV advertising. A sample of an ad built using the “unique proposition” method contains phrases such as “Become special”, “Take now - pay later” and “Impeccable quality - low price”. Most often, such template phrases can be seen in advertising of budget smartphones and household goods. A striking example of a unique selling proposition is advertising from M Video and Eldorado.

Next, we should move on to the classic marketing promotion scheme, which is called AIDA. Materials built according to this scheme should attract the attention of the audience, arouse interest, which will later develop into a desire to make a purchase. Using this scheme allows you to increase the volume tens of times. As a rule, this method is used to inform the target audience about an upcoming sale at a “low” price.

  1. “Tired of living paycheck to paycheck? You have a unique opportunity to solve your financial problems. Get a loan from our bank and make your dream come true.”
  2. “Do you consider yourself scary and ugly? Our company will solve your problems! Hurry up to buy fashionable and inexpensive clothes in order to outshine everyone with your appearance.”
  3. "This you have not seen before! Fashionable clothes from a famous brand! Fashion and style will allow you to conquer all the men around you.”

In order to motivate a potential client to action, advertisers use phrases such as “Come in to find out more,” “Come in and get a discount,” “Come in and change your life.”


The ad must be quite interesting in order for the buyer to hold his gaze on it and concentrate his thoughts

Conclusion

Many of the slogans and phrases given in this article may seem primitive. Most of them are designed in such a way as to act at the level of intuition. A person may be well aware that such ploys are used to attract public interest, but will not be able to refrain from calling for action.

Let's consider the rules for composing advertising texts, or, as they are sometimes called, advertising messages. The concept of advertising messages determines the intonation and system of arguments with which you will address the consumer; they will become the tip of the iceberg that your future buyer will see. Therefore, everything that you can say positive in favor of your product should be said in this appeal.

The more useful the consumer learns from your appeal to him, the greater the chance that your product will attract the greatest demand. Some compare the advertiser's behavior to that of a lawyer in a trial where the buyers are the jury. And you need to tell them everything you can to achieve your goal. But the entrepreneur and the advertiser have one goal - sale! All the words you are ready to say must be subordinated to this purpose. But to achieve it in full, you need to know the product being sold and potential customers well.

Features of advertising text

It is necessary to identify key properties in your product that could distinguish it from similar ones. Remember? “Our show is the most musical of entertaining and the most entertaining of musical!” This does not mean at all that someone determines the musicality and entertainment value of programs with a special device, and then gives out statistics to everyone, but nevertheless, an interesting move was found, and it was immediately played and put into circulation.

This example is rather humorous, but in the serious world the same rules apply: Volkswagen And Volvo have been claiming for years that their cars meet the standards of quality and safety, Toyota advertises reliability and ease of operation, and the company Ferrari talks about the gigantic speeds that her cars are capable of reaching. So, the key property of the product is the basis of your appeal to the consumer. Such a property should be found in the process of developing the concept and theme of advertising.

Well, if there is more than one key quality, then the advertising campaign has an excellent chance of really creating in the minds of consumers the opinion that your product stands out among its peers. But remember that the key quality must promise the buyer exactly what he wants to receive, otherwise he will never even be interested in your product. The basis of any advertising message should be a movement towards satisfying consumer desires. In addition, your widespread statements in words and actions that you strive to please the client will work to benefit the company's reputation, which will also have a positive effect on the sale of your products.

To confidently say that you are a competent representative of the product you are selling, you must know everything about it in detail, and not in general. You can obtain this information by reading the relevant literature and comparing your products with similar ones on the market, directly monitoring the production of the product itself.

For a person, there is nothing more convincing in advertising than comparison. If you can clearly explain with examples and comparisons the advantages of your product over others, then the advertising campaign will achieve its goal - the consumer will see with his own eyes the advantages of your product, will be convinced of this and will now convince his friends and relatives in favor of this choice. Advertising promises like “before and after” also fall into this category. If you show leather shoes standing next to each other, one of which is treated with the cream you produce, and the other is not (provided that the difference is perceptible), then this will convince better than words.

  1. How is this product useful for people?
  2. What is it made of?
  3. Does it have advantages over other similar products?
  4. What is its price?
  5. Does it need any maintenance?

The same questions should be answered in relation to competing products, and the most important question in such a comparison is: what is the main difference between them? Your advertising should give honest answers to these questions to the buyer.

Advertising messages can be addressed either to a whole group of people or to an individual. The more accurately you know your reader, the more accurately your appeal should be selected. Answer the following questions for yourself when you write an advertising message for a group of people:

  1. What are their common goals and activities?
  2. What do they have in common?

In other words, it is necessary to obtain a clear answer to the question: “Who is our consumer?”, i.e., to determine the target audience. It is important to know what approximate amount of money consumers will be able to pay to satisfy their need for a product, how long it will take for them to be ready to buy again, how consumers feel about the product and its manufacturer, what influences their choice, what is the capacity and ability of the market to expand.

Advertising text rules

The following rules will help you when writing advertising texts.

1. Saying a product is great is not enough; I have to say why it's great. However, if you don't have anything special to say, just use a catchy illustration and an original title with a promise, and leave your address instead of text.

2. Readers should have a visual representation of what you are writing about. If they imagine themselves using the product, then you've written your message correctly.

And yet the most common, “classic” beginning is the product description. And the first sentence should contain the following meaning: if the buyer purchases your product, he will only benefit from it. The next sentence logically follows from the previous one. If the reader does not see the relationship between the initial and subsequent sentences, then he may think that he was deceived and will not read the entire message. In this sense, the following example cannot be considered successful:

Do you want to become a millionaire? We ourselves would like to become them. But we know how you can feel like a millionaire. Have you tried our latest invention - menthol shaving cream?

Yes, the first sentence is short and interesting, in the form of a question. But it assumes that the letter will talk about how you can earn a million, which is not consistent with the subsequent content.

4. Focus on the most important point of your advertising message. First of all, you should highlight, as already mentioned, the point that describes the difference between your and other products. This point is located at the very beginning of the letter, and you should reinforce it throughout the writing of the entire text.

Factors such as reasonable price, fast delivery, or excellent service can be used to differentiate your product.

5. Not many people will buy a product just because it will help someone out. How, for example, would customers react to the following email:

After several years of effort and money, we have finally created an electronic dictionary.

This message creates virtually no desire to buy the product. But if you remake it and focus the buyer’s attention not on the manufacturer’s problems, but on the consumer’s problems, and even write it correctly, it will turn out like this:

Your suffering is over!!! Time flies, and it's time to improve your literacy! Now you can use WRIGHT-SPEL (electronic dictionary).

7. We remind you once again that when choosing an illustration (photo or drawing), keep in mind that it must correspond to your advertising strategy and convey, together with the text and headline, the main idea that you are trying to convey.

As an attractive moment for women, for example, it is always good to place a photograph depicting children or fashionable dresses, flowers or perfumes, or fashion models. A man should be impressed by photographs of new cars, sports battles, weapons and, of course, beautiful women. Regardless of the nature of the target audience, funny scenes from the lives of animals always look good. Humor can also grab the reader's attention. In any case, the picture increases the effect of the advertising text by approximately 2 times.

8. Flattery, unsupported statements, and exaggerations create the impression of unreliability. Just one sentence can destroy the credibility of the entire message. Example:

These are the best plastic pipes available today. They are the latest achievement of the chemical industry.

To talk about which pipes are the best, you need to examine all the pipes on the market today. But we are not sure whether this was done by the person who talks so categorically about pipes in the above example. And of course we suspect that this person does not know everything about the latest inventions in this area.

9. When indicating the price of a product, show in numbers how much money customers will save if they buy your product.

10. The chances of attracting attention increase if you write about the actions that need to be taken to receive the ordered products. And if you provide the reader with a blank check or order form, then these actions will be of great benefit. For both psychological and logical reasons, readers are motivated to take action by being reminded of the reward for making a decision. The actions that the buyer needs to take should be easy.

We expect a quick response from the buyer to our letter. The more he weighs our proposal, the less chance we have of making a deal with him. Here are the most common examples that encourage rapid response:

Buy before prices go up! Buy while the discount lasts! Buy now, there's not much time left until Christmas!

The author of the advertising message must be confident. Instead of writing "if you want to save your time, then...", you should write "to save your time" because in the first case the implication is: I doubt whether you want to do this. And if a manufacturer or sales manager has such doubts in their minds, they will certainly be passed on to the reader.

The envelope and the paper on which the letter is written must be from the same series. Such tricks as marks “Urgent”, “Personal”, if this does not correspond to reality, are unacceptable.

11. The headline, like the picture, is intended to attract the reader’s attention to the text of the advertisement. Therefore, the first requirement for a title is ease of reading and understanding. The title should be simple and clear. But this is not enough. It should interest the potential client, offer him something he wanted, or hint that an easy way to get something the buyer needs is described in the text below.

The headline accounts for more than 75% of attention, which means that 8 out of 10 readers of your ad copy will not be interested in the content of the entire message, limiting themselves to just the headline.

12. If you managed to attract the reader with the “bait” contained in the title, then the text should play the role of a “hook”, after swallowing which the reader will become your client. The picture about the product becomes more vivid when the recipient of the letter is himself the hero of this story.

This effect is based on the playful nature of advertising. The phenomenon of play is of interest to many humanities and natural sciences, since in many areas of human activity play is an important component (any learning process, creativity, courtship ritual, many marital quarrels, etc.). Advertising also seems to be one of the areas of activity that has a playful basis. J. Huizinga identifies a number of characteristics of the game, which are reflected in the following quotes.

“The game “represents” a struggle for something, or is a competition in who can present something better than others... The game can be called a free activity, which is recognized as “untrue” and an activity performed outside of everyday life, but it can to completely master the player, not to pursue any direct material interest, not to seek benefit, but to be a free activity that takes place within a deliberately limited space and time, proceeds in an orderly manner, according to certain rules and brings to life social groups that prefer to surround themselves with mystery, or emphasizing their difference from the rest of the world with all kinds of disguises.” J. Huizing also notes that during the game a special attitude of people towards game events is formed - half-belief.

Game techniques when composing advertising texts

Many gaming techniques also save linguistic means to express meaning, which, if the norms of language and rules of speech communication were preserved, would receive a more detailed embodiment in the text. Thus, graphic distortions create the possibility of a “dual” reading of a phrase and thereby recognition of two different but related meanings in its composition ( “Well, it’s FROZEN!”).

A. Graphic and phonetic distortions.

B. Intentional spelling errors.

A spelling mistake as a gaming technique has two main functions in advertising.

a) Often it allows you to introduce additional connotations. “Take care of your teeth from deshtva!”(Advertising for a dental clinic.)

b) Another function of a spelling error is to make an advertising phrase (usually a slogan) more harmonious phonetically or graphically (to create intra-phrase repetitions).

B. Game morphology: neologisms.

"The fill is the thrill" -“The filler is what matters” (Candy Advertising Fazerfills with liqueur. Word fill- this is truncated filling.)

G. Game techniques of semantic compatibility (techniques for creating a paradox).

Often in Russian advertising, the rules of semantic compatibility of lexemes and phrases are subject to playful rethinking, and if violated, the effect of paradox (a combination of incompatible things) is often created. It may be based on metaphorical, metonymic transformations of the semantics of words, synecdoche models and other types of tropes. To create a playful effect, it is important that the advertising text does not use the figurative meaning of words already fixed in the language. The figurative meaning must be created anew, then the phrase will be perceived as non-standard, playful. Several semantic types can be distinguished in this group of gaming techniques.

1. Attributing to an object properties and actions that are uncharacteristic for it. This is the most common type of paradox created by linguistic means, which is used when composing advertising texts. We can distinguish the following goals (or “trends” - in the Freudian sense) that the language game serves here.

Increasing the animation rank of an object.

This type includes examples in which inanimate objects acquire the characteristics of animate ones, or in which animals are assigned properties and actions that are characteristic only of humans (“personification”).

“Amata. The kindest home computer."

Reducing the animation rank of an object.

“And yet I forgot something!” (Twix. The phrase is spoken by a woman; the word "something" refers to her husband.)

Expanding the scope of control of the addressee.

Expanding the recipient’s sphere of sensations.

Creating the impression of a non-standard product.

“Our bottles are washed with hot steam!”(Beer advertisement Schlitz.)

2. Manipulations with rating scales.

Creation of new rating scales (grading of non-gradable concepts). *

“More tomato for you money!”(Literally - “More “tomatoiness” for your money!”)

Creating a new scale pole.

The main technique used to create a new pole of the scale is a paradoxical hyperbole.

“Are you still using prehistoric copying machines?”

Rearrangement of the scale pole.

“Not just clean - impeccably clean!”(Advertising for washing powder Ariel.)

3. Playing on the polysemy of a word, or the consonance of two words (word combinations), or their semantic similarity (pun). There are three main semantic types of puns.

A pun on "neighbors." This type of pun rarely adds meaning; more often it is based on a simple summation of consonant or similar words.

“There is no soul in good tea.”

The “mask” pun suggests a “sharp collision of the meaning of the words or phrases being played out, in which the initial understanding is abruptly replaced by another. It can be based on the effect of disappointed expectation, when an ordinary phenomenon is “unmasked” as a mistake or absurdity, or on the effect of comic shock, when the unusual or absurd becomes ordinary and understandable.

“Hoper-invest is an excellent company. From others".

The “family” pun is characterized by the fact that the meanings being played out (as in the “mask” type) clash sharply, but there is no winner, none of the meanings cancels the other.

“We lift everything: even the mood”(Advertising for forklifts.) Advertising purposes of the pun.

With the help of a pun, a cause-and-effect relationship is indirectly established, which is important for the advertiser.

“The Guiding Star has risen - prices have fallen”(Advertising for the Guiding Star company, which sells computers.)

With the help of a pun, the “hidden” meaning of the product name is revealed (false etymology).

4. Stylistic dissonance.

Game techniques for creating stylistic dissonance (or stylistic contrast) are the use of linguistic means that are uncharacteristic or even conventionally unacceptable in a given communicative situation. Let us list the techniques of stylistic contrast when composing advertising texts.

Dissonance between real and expected objective modality.

In the following example, the text is structured in such a way that a possible purchase, transaction, or win is presented as a fait accompli. “Every Saturday you watch What? Where? When?""

Dissonance between the real and expected communicative role of the speaker.

Dissonance between the real and expected communicative function of an utterance.

Genre dissonance (global or local).

"Hermes-finance. Only good news."(Disguising advertising as a news program genre).

Prepared from the book: E.N. Zaretskaya. Business conversation. - M. 2002

Greetings, dear friends! Alexander Berezhnov is with you, one of the authors of the business magazine HeatherBober.ru.

Today I will talk about some interesting tips for writing advertising text. I’ll immediately make a reservation that professional mastery of advertising language requires practice.

As in any business, in this art you need to make your mistakes in order to come to the best result.

The tips and tricks below will be especially relevant for beginning entrepreneurs who do not have the means to pay for the services of professional copywriters * and plan to independently develop advertising materials.

Copywriter- specialist in the field of writing commercial texts. Unlike an ordinary writer, a copywriter is engaged in the creation of texts, the purpose of which is to encourage the reader (potential client) to buy a product or service, as well as perform another action, PRE-planned by the author.

For example, make a call to a company or follow a link (if a copywriter creates content for websites).

While consulting with existing entrepreneurs in the field of marketing and advertising, I saw that many of them make the same mistakes when writing advertising. As a result, its efficiency decreases, and as a result, the company’s sales volume decreases.

I will be very glad if my knowledge will help you in writing high-quality texts (ads, slogans) that will increase sales of your business.

1. What is the difference between good advertising text and bad one?

But really, what's the difference? Many people don't understand this.

Let's get straight to the point. Let's start with the bad.

Firm " Feed me» offers pasta, cereals, eggs, dairy products, there are discounts!

We have good products, high-quality raw materials, convenient delivery of products to your home, so it’s a pleasure to shop in our store. Inquiries by phone: 333-222-222.

This is roughly how most entrepreneurs write advertising texts without much effort. And their main mistake here is standardness. After all, such advertisements are not remembered and are lost in the general mass of advertising diversity. Moreover, this advertising text, which does not particularly stand out, is a statement of facts about the company and does not show the clear benefits of the client when making a purchase from it.

Compare the same ad, just with a different presentation:

Hungry? Do you want to eat tasty, healthy and inexpensive?

« Feed me» seven natural products. Down with chemistry, long live natural food!

We will deliver the best directly to your table.

Buy a lot and get a discount!

Invite your relatives to the table and call us quickly: 333-222-222.

Yes, I agree, it sounds like a fair, but it really works!

This is exactly how merchants and traders have long invited people to buy their goods. Can you imagine if they just stood there and said: “Merchant Ivanov, I sell milk, meat, cereals”, that is, they simply voiced the fact of their presence, as many modern entrepreneurs do.

This is just an abstract example. I think the point is clear.

Don't be like everyone else, stand out.

2. Why is it important to formulate the purpose of the advertising text?

Remember the famous expression: “For a ship that does not know its direction, no wind will be fair.” In advertising, this principle works exactly the same.

Surely, in this case, you want to encourage a potential client to take action. And it is right! What nature could such a call be?

Here are some options:

  1. Call the company. « Call now and find out more!»
  2. Placing an order. « Place your order today and get a 10% discount!»
  3. A call to come to the store. « Come to our store and buy a Nike cap for only 500 rubles!»

3. How to write a catchy title for an article: the “out of a molehill” technique

We often hear: " I bought this newspaper because the headline caught my eye.". Or: " I went there because the advertisement said: “Every second buyer gets a toy as a gift!”" Surely you will remember many such examples.

We often see very intriguing headlines and no one can stop us from reading the entire ad (article).

I advise you to write several ideas on paper, and then choose the most successful one by combining them.

The most common example is the promise of deep discounts.

Surely you have seen similar price “enticements”: DISCOUNTS UP TO... 50%, 70%, 90%.

We usually see such inscriptions on shops and shopping pavilions. When we go inside a retail outlet and want to get an item for next to nothing, expecting to buy a suit for 3,000 rubles that costs 20,000, a friendly salesman tells us that the discount only applies to accessories and for purchases over 10,000 rubles.

You see, you didn’t seem to be deceived, but you were “forced” to go into the store, and there a professional consultant will process you, selling you what he needs.

Or another popular speculation on the cost of goods: PRICES FROM: ...

When you contact a company or store to purchase a product or service at this low "OT" price, it turns out that you either need to take a wholesale batch or buy last year's or defective product.

Continuing the conversation about the rules for writing a title.

The title of your ad should be short and succinct, reflecting the main essence of your offer.

One of the most effective techniques when composing a headline is to present it in the form of a question with an obvious answer, or we want to get this very answer to such a question.

Please note that in each of the examples given, I use numbers; they attract attention and allow you to give some quantitative assessment of the offer advertised in the headline.

4. An example of using PR technologies when writing advertising text

Now let’s briefly touch on PR technology. In short, the main goal of PR is to form a certain opinion about an event, product or person.

Let's say you are an entrepreneur and sell furniture. You have a small store and you decide to find additional customers online.

When creating presentation material, I draw your attention to the fact that it is necessary to present your business from the most advantageous side. Here's how it's done.

If you have been working for 2 years, then write in the text: “This company has been on the market for several years!”. If, in addition to sales, you manufacture built-in furniture to order, present this fact as a wide range of services that your furniture company provides.

If you purchase components for imported furniture, then write in your advertisement: “Components from the best foreign manufacturers”.

Word "import" or "foreign" Our people still associate it with a higher quality product. That is, you are not deceiving the buyer, but simply positioning your business from the most advantageous side.

Here the principle of “meet by clothes” works especially well.

Remember that beautiful “packaging” often allows you to sell a product several times more expensive.

5. What do copywriters keep silent about when writing intriguing headlines?

Continuing the topic about catchy headlines.

Example: " So-and-so actor almost died in a car accident" or " A Moscow pensioner found the corpse of an alien at her dacha" Very intriguing, don't you agree?!

Now let's figure out what they actually write in such articles:

  1. About the "car accident".Usually here follows a description of the situation when this same actor starred in another film where there was a car chase outside the city. And in the process of filming the chase itself, cows grazing not far from this place came onto the road, and the actor had to brake sharply, which led to him driving into a ditch. And the article itself is actually just a veiled advertisement for that same film with a chase scene.
  2. About “grandmother and the alien”.Reading the article, we find an interesting fact there! It turns out that the pensioner, having found the “alien corpse,” simply did not know that it was an ordinary dead mole, whose carcass was severely disfigured by time. And she found it when she was digging up potatoes. Having called journalists to the scene of the “incident,” the granny almost convinced them that she was right, since she had previously worked as a professional screenwriter.

Here I will give one of my favorite examples, which clearly shows how to create interesting headlines for advertising texts using simple PR technologies.

So, the example itself:

Even if you gathered two single mothers at home and gave them a chocolate bar, you can safely say: “ Conducted a city social event for single mothers with the presentation of gifts! ».

In this case, the title could be as follows: “ Mothers' loneliness was brightened up with gifts and emotional communication"- this concerns an article in which you can advertise the same chocolates.

An example of such a template can already be used as a ready-made advertisement. If you get creative, you can add more shockingness and even rhyme.

For example:

“Mississippi Chocolate at leisure is very sweet!”

Although it sounds childish, the main principle here is (by the way, a good alternative to advertising “KitKat” with the slogan for office workers: “ There's a break - there's KitKat»).

I think we've sorted out the headlines, let's move on.

6. Why is the image of the “ideal buyer” created and what does it have to do with advertising texts?

Since the task of any advertising text is to sell a product or service, it is necessary to first determine the “portrait of an ideal buyer.” That is, gender, age, financial situation, interests and other necessary qualities in your opinion that characterize your potential client.

Think about what language he speaks, how he spends his time, what are his values ​​and ideals? This is yours the target audience.

Example:

“Kolya loves Masha, and Masha is his dynamite.” Why be friends with Masha? Better play football! The Dynamo football team is fun and friendly with us, and there’s no need to be nervous!”

What this means is that when you write advertising text, think about what will be important for your client to see there. Perhaps it's price, quality, bonuses, etc...

So, let’s take a step-by-step look at how to write effective advertising text:

  1. Decide on a goal
  2. Create a catchy title
  3. Formulate a portrait of your ideal buyer
  4. Set your priorities. What will your ad focus on first?

7. 10 practical recommendations for writing effective advertising text

  1. Make a good intriguing title - this is a must!
  2. Use simple words and expressions in a short form and rhyme them. This will increase the memorability of your ad.
  3. Break your text into paragraphs to make it easier for the reader to understand.
  4. Write paragraphs of no more than 50 words, preferably 40-45 words. Less is also not advisable.
  5. Don't write one-sentence paragraphs. If you suddenly end up with a long sentence with participial phrases, break it into shorter and simpler ones (see point 2)
  6. Use subheadings in the text if it is large.
  7. Use numbered and bulleted lists to give your text structure.
  8. Give the most important information in the ad first, and then the secondary information in descending order.
  9. Colorfully decorate your ad with a memorable thematic illustration.
  10. Indicate your company's contact information so that potential clients know where to contact. Here are the required elements: phone number, address. It is also highly advisable to indicate all auxiliary contacts and information: opening hours, website address, e-mail, directions.

8. Conclusion

If you are a beginner and are faced with the need to competently compose advertisements in order to sell your company’s goods and services, feel free to take note of them.

Practice, and before you get into a fight, analyze your competitors to see if they have strong advertising materials.

Then think about what you can do better and where your competitors are clearly inferior to you.

Even these simple actions can significantly increase sales of your business and, in the shortest possible time, will form a core of clients who will flock to you like moths to a flame.

Friends, with this I wish you good luck!

Have you already written selling texts? What works and what doesn't? If you liked the article, like it and share your experience of writing sales ads in the comments.

A small disclaimer before you start reading. This text was written over 2 years: from 2011 to 2013. Today, the text remains here “as is,” but changes, edits, and additions are constantly being made to it. Therefore, if you want to constantly be aware of current content, subscribe to updates on social networks or by e-mail (links to social networks or newsletters are located at the top or side).

Good luck!
Sergey Zhukovsky

Most advertising texts will never bring their authors much money! Why? It's simple. The authors of these texts write texts according to the principle “to sell at any cost,” which means you have an excellent chance to “destroy” your competitors with the right printed word.

The good news is that these components follow common sense laws and are therefore fairly easy to follow.

Let's get to know all 4 secrets.

Secret of writing advertising text No. 1

You must have a quality product

Although this is obvious, judging by what I observe in the market, many entrepreneurs are missing this important condition.

There are a number of reasons why you should have a quality product (or service). First of all, selling a quality product significantly reduces the rate of returns and the number of dissatisfied customers. Even with all the attention that is supposedly paid to creating quality products and providing quality services, I know that some companies have a return rate of up to 70% of all orders! There is no doubt that this is simply a financial disaster.

A low quality product negatively impacts repeat sales and recommendations to potential customers. This causes another severe financial constraint because repeat sales can be an incredible source of revenue for any business. Offers to existing customers are extremely profitable because sales generated through them are not subject to marketing expenses.

There is nothing more important to your success than having a quality product. Without a quality product, you won't have a real business.


Creating and using an ideal buyer persona in your target audience.

This is a very important idea, which you must understand from the very beginning, or you will cause irreparable damage to your sales and profits. When it comes to selling a product, it's important to immediately realize that there is an incredibly wide range of customers who might be interested in your product. But the group of consumers that will bring the most revenue to your business is called Ideal Buyer.

Who is the Ideal Buyer?

It's simple. This is a buyer with the following characteristics:

  1. A buyer who needs your product
  2. A buyer who has the ability to pay for your product
  3. A buyer who has the authority to purchase your product

It may seem that all three characteristics are obvious, but from my experience working with hundreds of clients, I can say that this is far from the case. Let's talk about each of these characteristics separately.

1. A buyer who needs your product...

Seems simple, doesn't it? But be careful, because the incorrect interpretation of this postulate can cause irreparable harm to your finances. Usually the biggest danger occurs when you have a product that “everyone needs.”

Trying to sell a product to “everyone” can cost you a pretty penny and, almost always, leads to failure. You simply don’t have enough free finances to reach “everyone.” You need to carefully identify a group of buyers who have certain core needs and requests that you can focus on. The clearer the definition of your market, the easier it will be for you to sell your product. You can “like everyone else” offer a wide range of services, but the range of necessary requests from potential buyers may be even wider and you can easily “strain yourself” to satisfy clients in all respects.

For example, you sell goods to businessmen. The concept of businessman is incredibly broad. The shawarma merchant and the oil company owner are both businessmen, but it is unlikely that you will find it equally easy to sell your product to both. Therefore, it is obvious that the circle needs to be narrowed until you understand who exactly will buy your product.

You can try to sell your product to all businessmen. But if you narrow this group down to those who, for example, have problems with the tax office, you have a clearly defined goal. By creating effective advertising copy aimed at a specific market segment, you can easily work with those who need the services of a tax consultant.

2. A buyer who has the ability to pay for your product...

This point is a little more elusive. I noticed one very interesting pattern of behavior in clients who came to me for consultations. When clients ask me to determine what's wrong with their copy, they're often surprised by my answer.

They think I'll change the title, rearrange their sentence, or recommend a stronger conclusion, and so on. Most of them are simply shocked when I tell them that they have identified the target group incorrectly. It's pretty simple. What's holding back business growth is not bad advertising copy, but the fact that they are trying to sell something to the wrong people.

This error comes in two forms.

First– an attempt to sell a product to those who cannot afford it. The idea that leads many entrepreneurs astray is this: “People want my product so much that they will go out of their way to buy it, even if they can’t afford it.”. Sadly, this happens extremely rarely. And as a result, you have warehouses full of goods that no one is going to buy.

Second type of error– choosing a market without enough money as a target and lowering prices in an attempt to sell at least something. This is another serious mistake.

It is impossible to make a substantial profit by selling goods at a low price to buyers who do not have the financial resources to pay a reasonable price. I've seen clients target starving actors, aspiring entrepreneurs, family businesses, and college students as potential buyers. This is real financial suicide. You need a potential circle of consumers who actually need your product and who are willing and able to pay for it.

If you are making a product for children, then do not sell it to children, they do not have money (although they may have plenty of desire to own it), go to their parents.

3. A buyer who has the authority to purchase your product...

Here is another important condition that is often neglected by those involved in marketing. Often, a potential buyer who looks like a potential consumer is not actually a consumer.

This often happens when directors have assigned a company employee to evaluate a product, or when he responds to your advertisement, mailing, letter, email, etc., without notifying his superiors. Such an employee can and wants to buy your product. But his employer does not share his enthusiasm and will not allow the purchase. The result is that there will be no purchase.

When I first started advertising my training for businesses “Crush the Competitor!” How to build a queue of clients using the Internet?” I tried one proposal on a number of business owners and marketing managers. I predicted that managers would be the strongest group of buyers because this course would help them perform their responsibilities more effectively by harnessing the hidden power of the Internet.

But who doesn't make mistakes? Not a single marketing manager bought that training. The training was purchased exclusively by small business owners.

As I did more research, I had the opportunity to speak with many marketing managers who had not purchased the training. Many of them told me that they really wanted to buy this course, but could not get their company to give permission to purchase. And, as I discovered, this is a definite pattern. It's rare that a company employee will part with their hard-earned money to pay for something they think their employer should buy. Whether you like it or not, this is the way things are.

So remember, you should always approach a potential buyer who has the authority to make the purchasing decision. Without such a person, you will not see a deal.

How to create an ideal buyer persona?

Your income level depends on your ability to correctly identify the group of buyers who want to buy your product, who can afford it, and who have the authority to buy it. The best way to identify such a group is to create an accurate image of such a group.

Let's figure out how, using these three criteria, to create an actual Ideal Buyer Image on which to base your advertising copy. For example, you sell video courses that help people learn how to use personal computers. Who would be most interested in purchasing such a product?

Obviously, computer owners will be potential buyers, but this is too general a concept. Firstly, those who use a computer at home and not at work will be the most interested in purchasing. This way we will exclude the most experienced users that your advertisements in major computer magazines would appeal to.

However, there are a large number of small magazines, online publications and websites that are designed for those who use a computer at home. This will be a good starting point in identifying your ideal buyer group. If you buy a few issues of these magazines and look at the articles and advertisements that appear in them, you will notice a pattern.

For example, they will have periodic articles on games for children, children's education, home budgeting, investment management and articles on other topics. You will also notice that these themes are duplicated in the advertisements.

Whatever advertisements are published in these publications, number by number, will point you in the direction of where your best prospects can be found. Assuming that the features I just listed are correct, then let's start creating a persona of your ideal client.

Your ideal client will have the following traits:

  1. He has a computer that he uses at home
  2. He has a family and children
  3. His income level: average to above average
  4. Subscribes to one or more home magazines
  5. He has an Internet connection, which he uses for business and personal tasks.
  6. He has already purchased other computer-related products through the same sales method you use.

We got a good starting image. With experience, you will find that some characteristics perform better than others. Then you'll pay more attention to these characteristics, which may eventually become part of your ideal buyer persona. Working with this group may be so profitable that all other activities may not be economically viable.

For example, you learn that 80% of your customers are parents who want to teach their children how to use a computer. And if you find out that this group's spending is almost twice that of other groups, it makes sense to focus your attention on those parents.

You will simply need to change all your promotional materials and make them more attractive to parents. Improving reading, math abilities, language skills, and general academic skills are likely to be most important to parents.

This, in a nutshell, is how the Ideal Buyer Image is created. Now you can create such an Image yourself and work with it!


Trust helps you achieve maximum profits

The key to controlling a continuous source of high sales is the buyer's trust in the market and in you in particular.

This may sound vague or even mysterious to some extent. But I can bet that after a few years in a marketing-intensive business, you will start to live by this principle.

I know of dozens of businessmen whose client lists range from 2,000 to 3,000 clients. These businessmen have a stable good income because they have acquired impeccable trust among their clients.

Just imagine. A profit of $300 per year per customer is $600,000 with a list of 2,000 customers and $900,000 with a list of 3,000 customers. Once you appreciate this simple principle of building trust, you will understand how easy it is to create a highly profitable business.

Here's another example. I consulted with one client who achieved amazing results in increasing the level of trust among his clients. Our combined efforts to sell products to customers on the company's own list of less than 300 names resulted in sales exceeding $175,000 last year—their first full year in business!

Believe me. A high degree of trust among your customers matters much more than anything else.

A little later I will tell you everything you need to know in order to earn, use and increase the degree of trust in your work with clients. Once you read the articles on this site, you will have everything you need to increase your profits by increasing trust with your customers.


The offer means a lot...

Whatever you are doing now, I want you to give your full attention to what I am about to tell you. I guarantee that even if you only learn this simple principle, you can easily double or even triple your sales.

Here's the most important thing about writing advertising copy:

In today's market, your offer is the most important component of your advertising. Or, to put it more simply, the “offer” is everything.

I attribute much of the success I've had in advertising copy to my ability to craft an exceptionally compelling proposal. Over the past few years, I have taken an approach that is significantly different from what the “experts” suggest. This is a very simple approach:

I always develop, improve and perfect my offer before launching it en masse in advertising, creating sales letters or engaging in Internet marketing.

In fact, I've gone even further: I know this may sound overly simplistic—maybe even too good to be true—but I'm about to give you one of the biggest marketing secrets you could ever hope to know:

You can make clients fight for you by becoming an expert at creating effective, compelling offers.

And that's why: In today's market, potential clients and buyers are fed up with advertising materials. Television, radio, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, billboards, cinemas, grocery stores and various other sources attack us every day with such a wave of advertising that it is simply impossible for a sane person to perceive it.

This means that your customers are virtually immune to advertising. She's barely memorable.

The way to overcome this wall of saturation and disinterest is to make your offer so compelling and so believable that it will make them stop and say to themselves, “Stop! But this is perhaps interesting...”

As I said, when I start writing advertising copy for myself or my clients, I work at it until I'm exhausted. Once I have a text that seems most successful to me, I set it aside for a few hours. Then I edit it again and again. Then I put it off until the next day. The next day I edit my proposal again and again.

Once it is edited to the best of my ability, I give my proposal to two or three of my colleagues whose opinions I greatly respect. I know that these people will be brutally honest with me - that's exactly what I need.

The main goal of this whole process is to end up with an offer that is so good that no one who is even slightly interested in my topic will be able to avoid reading my advertisement.

Your proposal must be extremely clear and precise. Every aspect of it must be explained down to the smallest detail. It must be perfectly understandable.

By clearly defining my super sentence, I believe the rest of it practically writes itself. Creating the rest of the sentence is a process of clarifying and providing informational and emotional support to the main part. As a result, the entire process of writing advertising text becomes a very simple task.

I rarely spend a long time creating accompanying text, but I work my ass off on my proposal. Write down and keep on your desk:

The offer is everything!

What does “everything” mean? Nothing less than that supply is the key to huge immediate profits and ongoing long-term success!

I'll go into more detail about the details of creating effective proposals in a moment. But for now, it's important to recognize that a great offer can easily triple your profits.


Before you start writing advertising copy, you need to do thorough research.

Many are under the illusion that writing effective advertising copy is very difficult. I tell my consulting clients this all the time, and I’ll say it again here. Writing effective advertising texts is quite simple.

The reason good copy writes itself is because the copywriter has spent the necessary amount of time and effort to do thorough research before committing to the job.

Remember this once and for all. Even if you learn nothing else from my materials, this important condition will significantly improve your writing and your sales.

Most copywriters I actually respect (because their copy has sold huge amounts of product) write very quickly. This is because they put in the time and effort upfront and did the right research.

Once you realize that you know your subject thoroughly, it will be easier for you to write about it. This is why many small business owners write better ad copy than what they get from a third-party copywriter.

Small business owners know inside and out their product, their market and all the levers of influence on the buyer. Therefore, their texts are simply beautiful and sell the product perfectly.

But many professional copywriters are simply lazy and arrogant. They think they know everything there is to know about copywriting. Therefore, they feel that it is beneath them to do something as routine as research. As a result, their texts turn out to be sluggish, ineffective “water” that never achieves its goal of increasing sales and profits.

How important is research to creating successful online copy? Take a look at...

Zhukovsky’s “70 to 30” rule on creating successful advertising text

The process of creating good advertising copy is 70% research and 30% writing.

The secret to writing writing that will break all records is research, research and more research. If you truly want to make your writing and your business as successful as possible, it is vital that you learn the simple process of proper research.

What to explore?

So what exactly do you need to research? Everything that can be considered important to create the most attractive argument so that your clients will begin to act the way you want.

Here's a list of everything you need to research to get the raw material that will eventually become highly profitable ad copy:

1. What is the purpose of your text?

Do you only need access to clients or are you going to engage in direct sales? Will you sell directly or use a two-step method?

2. What is the main goal you are trying to achieve?

Focus on the next 6 months. If this project could only achieve one important goal, what would it be?

3. What other goals do you want to achieve with this project?

4. Is there anything about your product or company that would add credibility to you?

These could be awards that you have received throughout the time you have been running your business, the results that can be achieved using your product, etc.

However, we should not forget that all these factors are only useful when they demonstrate genuine benefits. Your advertising copy is not a yard where you can show off and stroke your ego. At least if you want to sell as much as possible.

The sole purpose of collecting this information is to evaluate whether you can use it as a catalyst to get your customers to take action as quickly as possible.

5. What product or service are you going to sell?

This may seem obvious, but judging by the advertising copy that I see every day, it is not.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is advertising copy that isn't clear about what it's selling. Sometimes it's copy that sells a service, but it only says how long ago the company was founded, who works there, and other irrelevant information.

Another blunder is copy that tries to sell too many products at once. For the most part, unless you're creating a catalog, your copy should revolve around a single product. Sometimes this rule can be broken, but this requires experience, otherwise you risk significantly weakening your sales pitch.

6. What are the features of your product?

How many different models? Colors? How does he work? Is it effective? Economical? Is it easy to learn how to use and work with it?

7. What significant facts and figures have been collected about this product?

Has research been done to provide facts and figures to support your claims? Is there a trade council that can provide important facts, graphs, charts and statistics about your product? How does it compare to your competitors' products?

8. What important benefit will your customers receive when using your product?

The difference between a fact/feature and a benefit is this: a fact/feature is what the product does, while a benefit is what it does for you.

Another important point to remember is that the benefits directly depend on the properties. You can write down all the facts/properties and then, based on this list, determine the corresponding benefits.

Here are some examples of facts/properties and their corresponding benefits:

Fact/property: Super car wash reduces water consumption

Advantage: You save money

Fact/property: Wash, polish and rinse with the same machine

Advantage: A very simple and easy to use device. You will save a lot of time every month with its help.

Fact/property: Sturdy polished aluminum construction

Advantage: This device will last a long time and save you money.

As you can see, thorough benefits research is very important because the benefits you tell your customers about will be the main driving force of your advertising copy. Your task is to make a list of all the possible benefits that a client who uses your product will receive.

9. What are the main benefits a client gets from working with you compared to your competitors? Or from your product compared to your competitors' product?

This is another important point. Once you determine what benefits you offer over your competitors, you will have a powerful marketing advantage. I call this advantage the ESP or the Necessary Selling Advantage.

What makes you stand out from the crowd? Why do your customers choose to do business with you rather than your competitors? Your PUP may be related to your company or your product. But like any other aspect of marketing, it should be viewed in terms of what it can do for your customer.

Some possible PUPs for your product could be: better price, better service, wider range, higher quality, stronger warranty, exclusivity, higher status, or catering to special groups.

A clearly defined PUP helps position your company or your product in the market. It can also become the main theme of your advertising copy.

I have one interesting premonition. It tells me that maybe you think you don't have a PUP... Or the activity you're doing doesn't have a PUP, or you don't need one.

Don't be fooled! Every business has its own distinctive advantages over its competitors. You may not be aware of what they are. Or you've been using them for so long that you don't pay much attention to them anymore.

Here's a quick tip on how to identify your personal strengths. Call 10-20 of your best clients. Ask them why they choose to do business with you rather than someone else.

Listen to them carefully. After 5-6 calls you will notice a pattern. It will become absolutely clear to you what benefits attract your customers.

By the way, if they give you more than one reason, ask them to indicate their importance. This will be additional information for your advertising campaign.

And one last thing. If you're starting a new business, please don't tell me you don't have a core advantage that will allow you to outperform your competitors. Because if you still haven't identified the main benefit that will attract customers to you, you're probably not ready to open yet.

If you start a new business without an advantage over your competitors, you risk going bankrupt very quickly. Survey your potential buyers. Find out what will make them leave your competitors and start working with you. Then use this information to determine your Must-Sell Advantage.

Here is an example of a PUP that a copywriter can use:

A good PNP is formulated clearly, concisely and does not contain unnecessary information. Here's another example that may already be familiar to you:

“Fresh hot pizza delivered in over 30 minutes. Guaranteed!”

10. What is more important to your client?

Price, delivery, work, service, reliability, quality, efficiency?

11. Write a short, precise description of the type of clients you would like to attract most.

Where does your Ideal Client live? What age group does he belong to? What is his education? His hobbies and interests? Income level? How does your client rate himself?

Why is this person your Ideal Client? Because he needs your product. Because he can afford it. Because it can make his life easier and better.

The more accurate this characteristic is, the more accurately the advertising text you write will serve the interests of your Ideal Buyer.

12. What warranty do you provide?

13. What level of service and support do you offer?

14. What is the average amountdeals for a regular purchase?

This is important for two reasons. First, it will help you more accurately identify your Ideal Buyer. Obviously, your message will only be sent to those people who can afford to buy what you are selling.

Second, if you are offering a new product in the same market where you already operate, the price should be reasonably close to the prices of other products you already sell. Offering a $600 product in a market where the average purchase volume is $45 doesn't make much sense.

15. What other information do you need to collect that is unique to your market? Is there anything else you could use to strengthen your sales pitch?

Here's another list you might find useful. When I write copy for a client, I always ask them to send me as many of the following samples as possible. These samples are invaluable for research.

  • Advertising and commercial letters
  • Samples of advertising in magazines and newspapers
  • Advertising texts for websites
  • Online advertising newsletter
  • Scripts for radio and television
  • Brochures
  • Catalogs
  • Set of promotional cards
  • Press kits
  • Scripts for telemarketing
  • Materials for training sales workers
  • Old issues of advertising brochures or online publications
  • Thematic ads
  • Marketing plans
  • Other important research findings and statistics
  • Basic articles about the client or his company
  • Competitors' advertisements and their advertising texts
  • Written testimonials from satisfied clients
  • Complaints from dissatisfied customers

Rest and absorb

In the last chapter, I talked about how, before writing advertising copy, it is simply vital to do some research about what you are going to advertise (even if it is your personal product).

Congratulations! You have passed the first step, and this is already a great achievement. You have collected all the primary material that you will use to significantly replenish your bank account.

So let's move on to the next step. Step on the gas, fasten your seat belts and get ready, because in the next step we need...

Nothing to do!

Exactly. The next step is absolute inaction.

All you need to do is go to the movies, play your favorite sport, take a long walk, have lunch at your favorite restaurant, or do anything else that makes you happy.

But you need to do this not because you deserve a reward (you, of course, deserve it, but that is not the importance of this step). You should do this because it is an important, integral step in the process of creating the most effective ad copy you can.

That's what it's all about. You see, up until this point, you've been loading your brain with assorted facts, details, and pieces of information that you could find. You have saturated your brain with information and led it to a state of information overload.

Now it's time to move from this logical stage of gathering information to the intuitive stage, during which your brain absorbs it. And what’s great is that you don’t have to do anything at all to make this transition!

While you are not doing anything, your brain will be able to calmly accept, parse and sort all this information in an extremely practical manner. Your brain will create incredible connections between separate pieces of information that seemed completely separate to your active consciousness.

This is an important part of the job. During this step, you activate critical processes in your own consciousness. This process is similar to what happens when you are actively working on an idea, but get stuck, eventually give up, then go to sleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night with a clear solution ready.

So, take this opportunity and let your brain perform its marketing miracle. Try not to think about the information you have collected. Move away from her. When you come back to it, you will be surprised at how much this step did for you.

Create a comprehensive list of features, facts and figures

Two chapters ago, you collected information about a product. Now it's time to use the information you've collected.

Write down every single feature, fact, and figure related to the product. Don't highlight one over the other. Consider this a brainstorming session. Write down everything that comes to mind. Your main task is to make a list of all possible parts.

Remember, features relate to your product - what size it is, what it's made of, what colors it is, how effective it is, whether it's loud or quiet, fast or slow, how much it costs, how long it will last, what it can be used for. , can it be made to order, and so on.


Make a list of all the benefits your client will receive

Benefits are the salt of all advertising text. What specifically can you do to make your client's life better, easier and more enjoyable? What important customer problems can you solve? What is it that they really need that you can offer them? How can your product help them feel special, appreciated and recognized?

There are two very good ways in which you can create a comprehensive list of benefits.

First, write down all of your customers' top concerns. Price, performance, quality, reliability, efficiency, productivity, availability. Then state what benefits your product has on each point.

Then take the list of all the features, facts and figures that you made. How does it translate into benefits? Use the examples I gave earlier as a guideline for turning features/facts/figures into benefits.

Once you've compiled your list of benefits, get it organized. Arrange it in order of importance of each item to your customers. Then choose the most important benefits that are sure to attract the attention of your clients who want to work with you.

The most attractive advantages will need to be highlighted when writing advertising text. If you show your customers that with your product they can save time, money, achieve some meaningful goal, avoid or solve some important problem, and make their lives better and easier, you will be able to sell your product or service.


Create an incredibly strong offer

The offer you create will have a huge impact on your sales. I've seen trials of the same text with different offers, where one offer attracted two to three times more prepaid orders than the others.

I help my consulting and coaching clients create a powerful offer for their existing advertising copy. By simply changing their offering, I have almost always seen their sales increase by at least 30%, and often much more.

The best offer for your client will be the one that eliminates as many risks as possible on his part. I am always surprised by offers with a 15-day guarantee, especially for cheap services, quality goods, books or information products. Who can evaluate the performance of any product in just 15 days, especially with such a busy life that most people lead?

When I see that a company offers a 15-day warranty, it tells me two things. Either they do not know how to write advertising texts that could bring them maximum profit, or they are so unsure of the quality of their product that they try to shorten the warranty period as much as possible.

And while we're on the topic of warranty, let's look through the lens of offering a longer warranty period for your product. The first thing that a longer warranty brings with it is that it shifts most of the risk from the buyer's shoulders to yours.

This gives you an important advantage during the sale. Your customer wants to know that they can buy in complete confidence - and to know that if your product fails to live up to your promises, they can return it without any complications.

Secondly, a longer warranty period shows that you believe in your product. If it weren't, you'd be offering a measly 15-day warranty like all your competitors.

Third, and most importantly, it tells your customers that you put their interests before your own. You're not just making quick money, you're here for the long haul and you want to make sure they get all the benefits you promised them.

Here is a list of strong components that can be included in a good proposal:

  • Low price guaranteed
  • Guaranteed quality
  • Soft payment terms
  • Discounts for certain groups
  • Discounts for large quantities
  • Limited Time Discounts
  • Bonuses. In particular, bonuses that the buyer can keep for himself, even if he decides to return the ordered product
  • Free trial
  • Free samples
  • Free shipping, or express delivery at the lowest price
  • No obligations
  • Toll-free number for inquiries and technical support
  • Solid volumes
  • Free or low-cost upgrade later to another product
  • Free credit for a certain period of time
  • Cashless payments
  • Payment deferment
  • Limited Availability
  • Exclusivity

Great, now let's look at examples of real offers that have significantly increased sales.

Here is a sentence from a large advertisement that was placed in a direct marketing magazine. The sentence is contained in the title and is supported by the subtitle. The advertisement is written in the form of a testimonial letter from one of my satisfied clients.

How to Get an Expensive, Elite Copywriter to Increase Your Sales—No Risk!

What elements are involved in this text? First of all, any risk on the part of the client is excluded. They promised a safe deal.

Secondly, this is an attractive offer of huge profits - confirmed by one of the clients (in fact, this is a testimonial in the title). This is a strong suggestion that worked just fine. The author of this advertisement was literally inundated with offers from clients who wanted him to create good advertising for them too.

Here's another one I wrote for one of my clients. The task was to breathe life into a very mundane product - making money on Forex.

Introducing Forex Elite

As a priority customer

You can receive free consultations from our call center

Just by calling us on a special number

You can get

Up to 50,000 rubles to the company’s internal account.

There are no fees!

There are several strong elements at play here. First and foremost is the appeal of exclusivity. You are part of a small group of people who can receive this product.

The conditions are simple. You can already get 50,000 rubles. It couldn't be easier.

There is no application fee. In general there are no fees. This is the biggest discount you can get.

In addition, generous volumes. The client was promised a substantial sum simply for filling out a form over the phone. He can count on 50 thousand rubles. A very generous offer that makes the entire text very effective.

And finally, the hidden promise of a risk-free transaction. In the sense that you don't risk getting into an awkward position. You won't be refused. They are already ready to give you money and a priority line for consultations, so all you need to do is fill out a form by calling and receive 50 thousand.

Your offer quite often determines the tone and flow of the entire advertising copy. Additionally, knowing how you plan to position your product (through your offer) can have an important impact on the main points you make in your sales copy.

Remember this rule well: ALWAYS write your proposal at this stage. Don't even think about getting ahead of yourself. If you don't do this, you will significantly degrade the quality of your ad copy.


Create an Exceptional Guarantee

Remember how I already said that buyers are used to behaving like complete skeptics? That they are used to questioning almost any advertising proposal? Yes it is.

One of the best ways to counter this skepticism and doubt is to offer a powerful, no-nonsense guarantee. And, as you probably already know, I mean flawless from the client's point of view.

A reliable, thoughtful guarantee will allow customers to perceive you as a reliable partner, and even if they don’t like the result, they will have nothing to lose. This is especially important on the Internet, where most new customers don't know you and have little reason to trust you.

Minimum warranty period, which has any meaning for customers, should be 90 days. Personally, I have never guaranteed my products or services for less than this period.

There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, I take pride in my products and services, and I want my customers to know this and not have any doubt about it. Additionally, I believe that clients deserve to be treated this way since they will pay for my product with their hard earned money.

Secondly, the one-year warranty is a powerful deal motivator. Look, if the buyer has taken a wait-and-see attitude and cannot decide whether the product is worth the price, do you think that a 10-day guarantee will help you convince him of something? I guarantee not.

On the other hand, a one-year warranty implies something much more specific that will allow you to seal the deal.

And, in the end, a one-year warranty can be an excellent argument when writing advertising text. Look how vague the following example sounds.

You will have 10 whole days in order to evaluate and put into practice this home refurbishment course. If you are disappointed in something, you will not lose a cent. Just return it and we'll refund you the full price.”

Now we are evaluating the same warranty, but with an increased validity period of up to a year.

You will have whole year in order to evaluate and put into practice this home refurbishment course. Absolutely right. You will have 365 days to evaluate this wonderful course and put it into practice in your home. Or in any other place, at any time convenient for you.

Imagine how much money you will be able to save this year alone. You won't need to hire a professional to do this simple housework. You can easily save 10 times the cost of this course in the first year alone.

Plus, if for any reason you're unhappy or the course doesn't meet your expectations, you won't lose a penny. Just return it and we'll refund you the full price. Until the last of the 365 days of warranty!

There is a difference, isn't there? The 10 day warranty period is too lame. While the one-year warranty provides a solid base to build an attractive sales pitch on it.

One more thing about longer warranty periods. Those who have never provided a warranty or only provided a 10-day warranty fear that if they offer a 6-month or a year warranty, they will be ripped off by unscrupulous buyers.

In fact, you risk almost nothing. Just the opposite. Firstly, very few people take the trouble to return anything at all.

People are either too busy or too lazy to bother returning an item unless they're completely pissed off. This is another characteristic sign of our times. But more importantly, you must be a sensible enough seller to not take any steps that may infuriate buyers.

To be fair, it is worth noting that you still cannot avoid a couple of returns. Let's say, for example, that you typically sell 1,000 units during one particular promotion, and with the help of a powerful one-year warranty, you were able to achieve a 10% increase in sales.

This means that you sold 1100 units without any investment in marketing. But then the returns began. Do not forget that not everyone will return the goods.

Let's say that returns account for a whopping 10% of all new orders (this, of course, is unlikely to happen). 10% of 100 (additional sales generated by extending the warranty period) is 10 orders. It turns out that you increased sales by 90, not 100.

Do you understand what's going on? You still received 90 new orders, which you would never have without a powerful guarantee. 90 new sales that didn’t cost you a penny and required virtually no effort or time on your part.

Q.E.D!

Now it's time to look at how real guarantees work. Here are some powerful guarantees that I was able to find in my archives.

I took the first example from one catalog for the sale of consulting services.

Order with confidence

Our reliable

GUARANTEE

Order any report, video or

audio recording, and leave all your problems to us. Rate this

information for a whole year!

Either you will be 100% satisfied, or

Return the item to us for a full refund.

Here's the guarantee that was included in my course on how to create profitable blogs.

But in fact, you don't even have to worry about getting your money back. Because when you put the marketing talent of Success Guarantee into practice, I have no doubt that the results you achieve will be as satisfying and profitable as those of many of my students and clients.


Write a powerful title that can grab attention

Suppose you are shipwrecked on a distant uninhabited island. What will you do to tell someone where you are so they can rescue you?

First of all, you will try to create some kind of message that you could notice from a passing ship or plane. What would you write?

Would you use a little joke, some clever play on words, or draw a picture of a sexy woman? Of course not! If you wanted to save your life, you wouldn't.

You would want your message to attract the full attention of anyone who notices it. You would make it direct and concise. Something like:

SAVE – HELP!!!

Such a message will be absolutely clear and will attract the undivided attention of everyone who sees it, won’t it?

The correct answer is No need!

Although this is still the main mistake that 95% of companies make in their advertising. Do you need proof? Pick up today's newspaper and look at the classifieds page. Or type a word into a search engine and visit 10-15 sites to choose from. You'll be surprised how much these sites waste their precious resources.

With all the competition for a potential buyer's time and attention, you can't afford to try to outwit them, seem too smart, or bore them the second second.

Thermonuclear Heading Rule!!!

Your headline should be as powerful and direct as a direct hit.

I can already hear how heavily the art directors sighed now, exclaiming, throwing their hands into the sky: “What about creativity?”. All I can tell them is: “Bad luck, friends!”

This means that the only headline you need to write is the one that jumps out in the subject line of a newsletter, the title of a blog post, or the page of a newspaper or magazine and grabs the reader by the throat and forces them to pay attention to you.

How can you achieve such a lofty goal? Show the client what he will get by reading your advertising text.

I don't remember who it was (probably Gary Halbert), but one of the wise marketing gurus once said something like: “The soul of every headline is a promise, a promise of something incredibly important.”.

This, my friends, is absolutely true, because your headline should do two things. We have already talked about the first one: it must fully capture the reader's attention. If he doesn't, you're in trouble. You've lost your reader and any chance of them taking the action you want.

The second function that a header should perform is promising your reader something so wonderful, but believable that he will not be able to help but read the rest of your advertising text.

People are very busy today. You will only have 5-10 seconds to give them an extremely compelling reason to continue reading your text. If you think that a client will read 3,4,5 paragraphs or a whole page to understand what the proposal is, you are very mistaken.

If you don't start laying out aces from the very beginning, the chances are high that your card will be beaten from the very first move. You will lose the reader and any chance of making a deal.

What kind of promise will make a headline powerful and attention-grabbing?

Here is the list:

  • Main benefit what the buyer will receive from your product
  • Strong offer, which is impossible to refuse
  • Free offer
  • Special offer, limited by time or some other framework
  • Strong review
  • Reader Warning(one that says not to buy without reading first, or a warning if you have powerful verified statistics that will greatly surprise or attract the reader's attention)
  • Message, addressed to a special group of people - if this is the only group whose attention you want to attract

Of all the promises above, there is one that stands out significantly from the rest. In fact, 99 out of 100 headlines I've written use it to grab attention. I should have included other examples in the list, but I always build the title on that promise.

Guess what I'm talking about?

I won't keep you guessing any longer. The single most effective promise you can use in a header is: The main benefit that the buyer will receive from your message or product!!!

Remember, when reading an advertising text, the reader is concerned with the only question - how your offer can make his life easier and simpler... or how you can solve his important problem... or how this solution will help him achieve the goal for which he so strives.

So why waste time on anything else? Use the headline to convey your sales pitch to the reader.

It's simple and it works great. I've used it time and time again when helping my consulting clients optimize their texts.

There are many times when you can simply improve your headline to increase sales by 100%-200%. My upper limit is 367%. But a 20-50% increase in sales is not uncommon after changing a bland headline to a powerful headline that promises benefits. Given these results, there is no reason to use any other type of heading.

Here are some examples of headlines that have helped my clients increase sales. A small example of a headline for a realtor.

Do you want to sell your property quickly?
No prepayment...no commission...no additional fees!

No hints, right? Simple and direct, with promises of three benefits at once, which are very important for those who need to sell an apartment or house.

Today you don’t need to waste time and money on going to a massage therapist. Get a massage without getting up from your desk chair!

Free period 30 days!

You will receive a home foot massager worth 1,990 rubles as a gift!

Without obligations!

They immediately offer another advantage - a “free period of 30 days.” They don't actually give the machine for free. You can simply return it within 30 days if it does not live up to expectations. But what does it look like in the title, huh?

In the subtitle we find another strong promise: a bonus of 1,990 rubles in the form of a free foot massager. They included a free gift in the promise - this is also a very strong motivator.

Now let's look at another example that I learned from a Western copywriter who is actively working in the field of writing texts for shareware products. His Google Group signature always included the following:

This last example clearly shows how focusing on a major benefit and offering a solution to a big problem creates a powerful combination. Programmers will understand me. They would give anything to avoid sales. Their element is the creativity of writing programs, not trade and texts. Also notice how directly the subtitle promises to make the reader's life easier.

There is another element of promise involved here. The advertising text is aimed at a very limited group of people. The offer is intended exclusively for people and companies that develop and publish computer software.

So, are you ready to start writing your best headlines? Go!


Use color to highlight main points

It may sound trite, but the Internet is largely a visual advertising medium. This can be used to increase the selling power of the text. Use color to highlight the main points of your advertising copy.

However, it is very important that you do not overdo the color. I use NO MORE than 2 colors to emphasize important points that the client needs to understand. But I usually only use one color in addition to the black font that makes up the majority of my text.

For example, I ALWAYS use a second color for the title and subtitle. I especially like dark gray, but feel free to choose the one that best suits your text. Sometimes I also use red to highlight particularly important points in the body of my text.

But with the exception of the title and subtitle, I limit my use of color to only a few places. If you use color too much, you will end up not highlighting anything. All this will turn your text into an overloaded, cheap semblance of advertising.

There is another nuance of using color in the text - highlighting links. Every time you offer a link to an order form, that link must be formatted as follows − blue text, underline . This is a standard format for indicating that a given piece of text contains a link. If you follow this rule, your client will quickly and clearly understand where to click to get to the order form.


Reduce the number of illustrations to a minimum

One of the biggest problems in online advertising today is the abuse of illustrations. Just because you can use animated gifs, twinkling lights, and other bells and whistles in your ad copy doesn't mean you have to litter the pages with them.

First of all, the abundance of images slows down the page loading process. This problem is best avoided. People on the Internet are surprisingly impatient. They want instant downloads. If you make them wait even a few extra seconds, they will send you into obscurity with one click.

Even more important is the fact that images rarely convey any important information that can complement your text. Advertising text, not pictures, sells your product or service. 95% of your total effort should go into writing compelling copy. And only 5% can be allocated to creating illustrations.

To prove your point, just ask yourself: How many products and services would you sell without advertising copy?

Then ask yourself: How many products and services would you sell without illustrations?

The answer is simple. Texts sell, pictures complement them.

Many advertising texts on the Internet are replete with pictures from a library of graphic images only because they are publicly available. These pictures do not strongly support the advertising text. Instead, they are distracting and turn your ad copy into a cartoon. And distracting customers or making yourself look stupid will probably negatively affect your sales.

When can I use illustrations?

First, you want text that looks nice and neat. A little style doesn't hurt. I like black text on a white background, but I've seen other color combinations that look quite attractive. If you find a color combination that is visually pleasing without darkening the text, feel free to use it.

Also, some marketers find it important to include a photo of a key figure in their company (themselves or the company president) in order to personalize the copy. As for me, I compared texts with my photo and texts without a photo and didn't notice much of a difference. However, I know of companies that have great faith in this method, and as long as it doesn't harm your text, it can be used.

Finally, a few judiciously placed photographs can provide additional support for your ad copy. A few photo posting techniques I use are a frame around a particularly important review and an image next to the order information.


Grab the reader by the throat from the first paragraph

So, your headline has captured the reader's attention and made a powerful promise. Now you should immediately show your reader how you will fulfill this promise.

This promise attracted the reader to the text. And all you need to do is to bring to his consciousness that you can fulfill this promise.

Your reader wants to know what it means to them, and they need to know it right now. He doesn't want to wait another half page or even a couple of paragraphs. He passionately wants to get what he needs or solve his problem.

There are a lot of books on copywriting that will tell you that you can start your text with a story, a motivational quote, a statement that will flatter your reader, a popular line, etc.

I absolutely cannot agree with this. While these methods sometimes work, most of the time they fail miserably. But more importantly, these types of text openings make sense, only if they fulfill your main promise. And 99 times out of 100 they don't.

Besides, why make the beginning of the text indirect at all? Your reader doesn't need to be entertained. They want benefits—BIG benefits. So give them what they want in the most direct, simple and attractive way possible.

How to sell 2 times more copies of your programs?

... A professional copywriter (formerly a software developer) will help you increase sales and save you from the constant headache of writing selling texts.

Enjoy programming, and I'll handle the texts.

Dear Marketing Manager,

Does your business need hundreds, and maybe even thousands additional sales? Do you want to achieve this goal? And get rid of two serious problems?

If yes, then this letter will become doubly valuable to you. Because I'll show you how to attract tons of new business and get rid of two of your biggest problems at the same time!

In this letter, the first paragraph immediately reveals the topic. The main benefit is rephrased in a stronger, stimulating manner. Then the second paragraph makes another strong promise “the letter will become doubly valuable for you” to the original promise.

It's simple. The secret is to focus on the client and what the client needs most.

There are no grand excursions into the company's glorious history. There are no happy stories. No fluffy quotes.

This is a strong, concise text, after reading which the reader will want to know more details. And to do this, he needs to continue reading your advertising text.


Eliminate all doubt with a “pre-emptive strike of trust”

I started using this method based on the experience of many American copywriting gurus. Since I developed it and started writing about it in my newsletters and speaking at seminars, I have often seen hundreds of other marketers try to imitate it. It's okay - I wouldn't teach this method if I didn't want as many people as possible to use it.

But most importantly Why it is used so often. And the reason why so many marketers use this extremely powerful yet simple method is because it is so effective. Let me explain this step to you so that you can also use it to your advantage.

In earlier steps, I advised creating headlines and opening paragraphs that are loaded with promises. While these methods work very successfully to get customers' attention, they also create a problem for you. The point is that if you apply these methods inappropriately, you will lead your potential client...

To the edge of the abyss of distrust in you!

This is exactly what you will achieve. Most aim to create a headline so loaded with promises (but deliverable promises) that many potential clients will begin to doubt what you have to offer. This is very easy to achieve as many customers have already been scammed by other marketers.

And with your headlines and first paragraphs you will most likely create this doubt in them, and now you need to make sure that this doubt is broken into thousands of fragments. And you can do this with the help of Preemptive Strike of Trust.

Let me give you an example to show what I mean. Here's the beginning of the sales copy that helped me sell copywriting seminars for a long time:

Would you like to get more sales andmore profit with everyone's helpYour advertising text?

Now you can increase your profits by as much as 917%using a simple proven formula “Sales Text Constructor”

“With your formula, our profits have grown by leaps and bounds. I increased my profit on one of the projects by as much as 917%!”

Oleg Kozlov, director of RosMedCenter LLC.

One of my clients has already achieved this. Using the methods I'm about to introduce you to, he increased his profits by 917%. Many others have increased their profits by 300% or more.

This is an excellent example of the Preemptive Strike of Trust in action. In the title and subtitle I promised something almost unbelievable - that this simple, proven formula can increase your profits by 917%.

Now that I have planted this doubt, I need to get rid of it as quickly as possible. And at the same time, I want to convey to the reader the fact that exactly what I promised to achieve is quite realistic.

It is at this moment that the turn of the Preemptive Strike of Trust comes. The first part of the text that the reader immediately sees with such a bold promise is an independent review that supports the promise I made.

And it immediately becomes clear that what I promised is, in fact, true. (I changed the review signature here, in the original there was a phone number where you could call a person and check everything).

The evidence is presented here in an indisputable way - using the words of an independent third party, and not through a sales argument made in my own words.

The Real Effectiveness of Preemptive Strike of Trust

Now, if I can convince a potential client that what I promised them can actually be done, I have a huge advantage. But in addition to this achievement, I achieved another important goal.

I have prepared the ground and now all my future statements that I will make in my advertising text will be perceived as obviously true. Of course, all my statements will be truthful, but often the truth is perceived as something unattainably good.

Once you make a big promise and show that you can deliver on it beyond any doubt, you will immediately overcome one of the most difficult obstacles: getting your prospect to believe the claims and promises you make.

Obviously, it is very important for you to overcome the natural skepticism inherent in most clients. Remember that they have probably been deceived or disappointed by other marketers many times before. Therefore, it is not surprising that they treat your proposal with a fair amount of skepticism. And your task is to overcome this skepticism, break it into many pieces so that it no longer threatens a single sale of yours. And as you already understand, there is no better way to achieve this goal than the Preemptive Strike of Trust.

I recommend that you place as many reviews as possible as early as possible in your advertising copy. You can praise your product all you want, but nothing convinces like an independent third-party review of your product.

I'm constantly amazed that so many marketers leave reviews until the last minute, or even link to a testimonial page that's separate from the main ad copy. This is pure marketing suicide. By the time your prospect gets to the reviews you decide to place at the very end, it may be too late to overcome the mountain of skepticism they have accumulated.

Don't let this happen. Why risk even one sale when Preemptive Trust Strike can help you attract more and more buyers?


Create an enticing subtitle.

Subheadings are a powerful weapon to add to your marketing arsenal. Strong subheadings can go a long way in promoting your sales pitch. But the absence of subheadings or their weakness can significantly reduce your chances of closing a deal.

Subheadings give you three big benefits.

Firstly, they divide your text into convenient, clear sections. In all of my texts, you will notice that I write short sentences, stick to the rule of writing short paragraphs (usually two or three sentences) and divide all advertising text into short parts, using enticing subheadings as dividers.

The human eye can only focus on small sections at a time. If your advertising copy looks too dense and impenetrable, the reader will stop studying it and switch to something else.

This is especially true when the client is reading something on the Internet. The resolution of most monitors and the amount of text that can fit on the screen is severely limited. If you give your reader dense text with almost no spacing, he will not read it. And if he stops reading, he will never become your client.

Second The benefit that a compelling headline can offer you is its ability to guide the reader through the text. They keep reading interest high and help you move from section to section.

Third The benefit of an attractive subheadline is that it acts as a “mini-tour” through the entire ad copy. Many people simply skim through the text without reading it. Subheadings highlight important benefits or make provocative statements that encourage those skimming the text to read it.

With all these benefits that you can get from using subheadings, it is very important to make them extremely attractive and enticing.

How to Write a Strong Subtitle

Strong subheadings are built on three different components:

  1. The benefit your customer wants
  2. Problem the client wants to solve
  3. Combining a problem and its solution

Remember that your customers always want to know what you can offer them. They care about features, brand names, company history, prizes and awards you received, etc.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen stupid subheadings built around features that mean nothing to customers. Here are three subheadings that I recently saw in one of the advertising texts of a large manufacturer of assistive systems:

Support
Update
Protect

These are the only subheadings in a large volume of advertising text. They are all features and presented in the most routine manner imaginable.

If the reader's interest in reading a text depended only on the subheadings, would these three subheadings serve their purpose? Would you like your sales to depend on such subheadings? Of course not.

Now let's look at how to write three types of subheadings that will attract readers, keep them interested, and guarantee more sales.

Heading with Advantage

A headline with an advantage can simply state that advantage directly. Here's a good example:

Increase sales by at least 78% using 3 simple techniques
Find out all the details below

This is a very simple statement that will interest anyone who wants to improve their sales. It promises a strong advantage “a simple and powerful increase in sales”. The reader immediately wants to know more. The subtitle clarifies that the details can be found right here.

Another method is to associate the benefit with an argument for why the benefit can be trusted. This can be done by connecting the benefit to an external source. Here is an example from my advertising text about being from a direct sales site:

Want to know how a client opened my eyes to the unlimited potential of selling online?

By tying the benefits to an external source without articulating the proposal itself, I added credibility to these subheadings. This credibility helps clients accept that what I am about to tell them is true. At the same time, subheadings represent strong benefits that customers would love to receive.

Title with problem

The meaning of the title with the problem is very simple: to pay attention to the problem and the damage that this problem causes. Here is an example from the advertising text of a course that I sold through an e-mail newsletter:

A Dangerous Myth That Destroys Your Online Profits

In this particular subheading, as with most problem headings I create, I don't directly name the problem. I prefer to create a strong intrigue that will compel the client to read the text that follows the subheading.

Take a look at the previous subheading again. Who wouldn't want to read a little more and understand what this profit-killing myth is? I guarantee that few clients will stop reading on this meta and want to know whether this problem affects them or not.

Here's another reason not to name the problem directly. Problems often cannot be expressed in one sentence. This is exactly what we see in this particular case.

First I need to identify a common myth that almost everyone accepts as truth. Then I break the myth down to pieces, showing the reader exactly how it hurts their bottom line. This is difficult to describe in one subtitle.

Title problem/solution

The last type of subheading is a hybrid of a problem and a solution presented at the same time. This type is almost always used at the end of advertising text - often as a summary of the results. Here is an example from my text on making a profit using a direct selling site:

Put an end to wasteful internet marketing and start making money with your own website today

This subheading is on the penultimate page of my advertising text. It summarizes the client's big problem and offers a solution with an edge.

Press on the sore callus!

In order to present the most powerful sales pitch possible, you must make the client aware of his or her pain point.

This move directly contradicts what dozens of academic copywriting textbooks teach. These textbooks insist that you should not focus on the negative aspects of your writing.

According to this outdated logic, any negative statement can create destructive associations with your product in the customer. And this will cause them to automatically say “NO” when the time comes to take action.

I don't know who came up with these rules. Sounds like some kind of frazzled psychologist to me. In any case, this old rule should be forgotten as soon as possible, because the truth is that...

Showing your customer their biggest problem and pain point will help you sell a lot more of your products.

A lot of people won't like it. They think it's cruel. Or they want to avoid their own pain at all costs.

It doesn't seem cruel to me. It seems to me that you are doing your client a favor if you use their pain to get them to take some action that will ultimately bring them relief.

After all, you didn’t create this problem. She was there before you showed up. After all, you are using it to help your client and help yourself at the same time.

Why pain is such a powerful motivator

People are much more motivated to change something when they feel pain than when they anticipate pleasure.

To prove this, I paraphrase the words of the famous American heart surgeon Dr. Christian Barnard. Dr. Barnard once stated that he had no compassion for people who said they did not have the willpower to quit smoking. He elaborated by saying that he had never had a heart transplant patient who could not stop smoking immediately after undergoing surgery.

In general, what he means is that the pain of a massive heart attack, subsequent surgery, fear of having to do another surgery, and possible death give the patient the determination needed to quit smoking.

But these same people can be motivated to act through the sensation of their own pain. For example, many potential clients come to me on the recommendation of other clients whom I have helped make a lot of money.

These potential clients call me and say that they want me to create an advertising campaign for them that will allow them to make a lot of money too. And then they completely fail to do even the simplest things to get things moving.

Pain is a curious thing. I've noticed that many of these same prospects call me months or even years after they've experienced a major drop in sales!

Now they are ready to act. Whatever I tell them to do is done with amazing efficiency. Because in fact, the pain of losing sales is as powerful a motivator as heart surgery for some patients.

So, I insist that if you want to help as many customers as possible and increase your sales along with it, it is very important to clearly show them the pain that will occur if they do not take the action you want them to take.

I understand that this may be controversial in certain circles. I understand that this is not the most popular solution and may not be widely understood. But I also recognize that ethically using pain as a selling point can be beneficial for both you and the client.

Now I should clarify. I'm not advocating that you exploit your client's pain at every opportunity. Or so that you cunningly manipulate them. Or so that all your advertising text is based solely on pain.

I'm just saying that a limited dose of pain, written with a skillful hand and presented in good taste, can significantly transform your advertising copy.

Here is an example of using pain. It is taken from a sales letter that was used to sell my course for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

(THIS IS IMPORTANT) One last thing to think about...

You know, every time I talk to a business owner, it doesn't take long before the conversation turns to how to make more money. If you are anything like me, then you also often worry about this problem.

One thing I can say for sure: this cannot be achieved by continuing to do what you were doing before.

What you have done in the past has allowed your business to grow to where it is today. But this cannot continue like this. In today's economy, you simply cannot keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect some different result.

It's not all bad, is it? Just a little reminder of what they already know. That if you continue to act in the same way as always, nothing good will come of it. At best, they will remain where they are now. And let me make one more thing clear: if they are happy with who they are, then they would never have read this far!


Destroy the pain!

You see, I told you that I am not a masochist. The only reason you remind your client of his pain is to free him completely from it. It doesn’t matter what his problem is, you will help solve it 100%.

Of course, you provide this solution along with your product or service. This will help convince your loyal customers in the early stages of your advertising copy that you have exactly what they need.

By also demonstrating their pain through the worst problem they've ever had to deal with and then solving that problem, you show that you have a deep understanding of the client's situation and their needs. This is important because customers like to be understood. And this invaluable feeling has been proven to lead to higher sales.

In the example I gave in the previous step, the pain reliever was already included. It was mentioned in the last two paragraphs:

What you must do to increase your sales and profits is look at your business from a fresh, objective, completely reasonable point of view... a marketing point of view! And start learning new, more advanced development methods.

This is exactly what the course offers you. Big profits in small business. Not only will he provide you with the strategies you need to succeed in today's uncertain economy, he will show you how to implement those strategies without breaking the bank.

By this time, the client will readily accept your explanation of what you offer him as the correct solution to the problem. Why? Because you have already proven that your strong promises can be trusted, and you have also demonstrated a deep understanding of the client's situation.

These powerful factors give you a favorable authority whose advice should be trusted and heeded. Not bad for several pages of advertising copy!


Show impeccable performance

Many people perceive the characteristic as follows:

"Alice Selezneva. Received her doctorate from Moscow State University in 1982. She worked as a researcher at five research institutes, including the Russian Academy of Sciences. Her publications and research have received dozens of awards and flattering reviews, including the prestigious “Honored Scientist of Russia” award.”

I summarize this approach to characterization in three words:

Who needs this?

Here are your characteristics Should not do. They should not praise you, your company or your product. They should not cover topics that your reader has no interest in. But most importantly, recommendations should not be used to stroke your ego by focusing on yourself or all the wonderful things you have achieved.

Here are your characteristics must do. They should allay your customers' fears and concerns about doing business with you. They must demonstrate your ability to provide your client with the results they desperately need.

The characteristics in effective advertising copy should make clear the level of trust and benefits received. This is a powerful combination that will help you make more sales and generate higher profits once you put it into practice.

In order to do this, all characteristics must be presented in such a way that they highlight your level of credibility and your ability to provide all the important benefits that your client needs.

The best way I can illustrate this is with a real life example. This example is taken from a sales letter sent by a business consultant to business owners offering a course in marketing.

In this text, the characteristics are reduced to a statement of achieving strong results that are objectively confirmed. Here's an example (all names and company names have been changed):

Do you feel the difference between the old characteristic and the characteristic of Effective advertising text? Who cares what institute Andrei graduated from?

Who needs to know how many awards he's won? Or how many prestigious positions did he hold? None of the real buyers of your products. All they need is the result that you can help them get.

But don't get me wrong. If the award you received (or any other old-style feature) can directly translate into a benefit for your customers, it should definitely be included in the list. Just make sure that you mention it for the benefit of the client, and not just to stroke your ego.

Let's look at another side of the characteristic. Look at the characteristics in the advertising letter again, but now imagine that there are no reviews there.

Do you feel the difference? Reviews (if they are objective) are a very important tool to confirm your characteristics, which help increase your credibility.

Anyone can say anything about their product or service. This doesn't mean your reader will believe it. But an objective review that clearly identifies who did it gives the testimonial the level of credibility you need.

By the way, characteristics can be applied not only to a particular person. They can be used to promote the sales process of any product or service.

Here, for example, is a product specification:

Super Detergent has proven its worth over the past 40 years in aircraft factories around the world. The job it did is so complex that other detergent manufacturers don't even want to think about it.

“Super Cleaner is the only detergent we use. Of course, everyone promises only the best, but from our own experience we can say that only “Super Launderer” can do the job. Without it, many of the pollution that are normal here would be a real problem for us. And now it’s just regular cleaning.”

– Alexey Tupolev, President
CJSC “Tupolev-service”


Combine your level of trust with an advantage for the “chosen ones”

As you may have noticed, I talk a lot about the need to gain the trust of clients. And there is one simple reason for this:

Trust is the most important factor for selling more goods and services!

It doesn't matter how great your product is, if you can't convince people that you or your company can be trusted... that you're worth doing business with... that you understand your customer as well as they understand themselves... then you'll be faced with a difficult It is – if not an impossible – task to try to attract them to cooperate with you.

First of all, you need to prove that your product delivers (and perhaps even delivers more than it needs to) everything you promised. But what is also important is that you need to prove that you can be trusted to work with the client's problems. Most of the steps in my Formula are designed to help you achieve these two important goals.

One of my favorite methods for building trust is to provide a benefit that solves one of the client's most important problems. By doing this, you will make your client feel like you are their ally - a friend they can trust who won't take advantage of them like so many other marketers.

I'll demonstrate this powerful technique when we get to creating online ad copy.

In the meantime, here's a very old example that you probably recognize. Insurance companies know that people don't like to be "sold" using high-pressure tactics by a slick salesman in a polyester suit. So when they advertise, knowledgeable insurers include the line:

"No calls from sellers"

This is good marketing. This means that you understand and acknowledge the deep sense of concern that your clients have. And thus, it is easier for the client to make a choice in your favor.


Give your client undeniable proof that you can deliver everything you promise!

Sounds tough, doesn't it? How can you prove, and even indisputably, that you can fulfill everything you promised?

In fact, it's not that complicated. Not because there are some clever methods that will help you avoid this. You just should never state or promise something that you cannot fulfill. Otherwise it's just suicide.

The method I will show you is the one you must use to prove your promises. Sufficient proof can significantly increase your sales level and profits. It can also give you a significant advantage over your competitors.

A well-written text of an advertisement with the obligatory inclusion of psychological elements makes it possible to provide potential consumers with information about a product, service, as well as planned promotions. The most advantageous offers for customers about discounts, gifts for purchases, holiday events accompanied by prizes will not be effective and will not attract the expected number of customers without organizing their information.

How to attract buyers

To achieve success in promoting a product or service, you need to effectively declare the subject of your business activity.

Timely drawing attention to planned marketing activities will increase the effectiveness of their implementation among numerous potential clients. Advanced entrepreneurs take advantage of the modern capabilities of specialized Internet platforms. They allow you to quickly, and in some cases free, post current news in specialized services and on social networks. All resources provide the opportunity to select target audiences based on interests. If you already know your target audience, you can order printing of your brand or slogan on clothing from FairPrint, which will undoubtedly be effective in attracting attention to your product or activity.

Features of advertising text

  1. The headline should reflect the essence of the trade proposal, as well as the benefits of cooperation. There must be an element of intrigue.
  2. The text part should take into account all channels of human perception and detail the advantages of the proposal.
  3. Text advertising must take into account the interests of the target audience for which it is intended.
  4. The use of specific facts and precise information expressed in numerical terms is encouraged.
  5. The product should be concise and not intrusive.

Algorithm for presenting information

Customers' interest in a product is directly dependent on the way information is presented. His choice depends on the social affiliation of the citizens for whom the product or service is intended, and on the place where the advertisement is published.

The best examples of advertising texts contain a bright headline that is informative. They are characterized by clearly formulated rules for the promotion and price parameters of the product. And the offer to purchase is always veiled and expressed in the form of a motivating offer.

The advertising text for any product can be published on social networks, on specialized platforms, on your own website, in newspapers and magazines. Placing it on billboards is effective. Distribution to the mailing addresses of regular customers and, through patronage, their acquaintances is effective.

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Before creating your own advertising brainchild, you should study various examples of product advertising in order to copy the best ideas that are a feature of the product in question. To compose your own advertising, you should first think through all your wishes, as well as compile a list of information that was relevant and useful at the time of creating the brand.

A marketing model must be chosen based on the advertised product and the target audience that might be interested in it. In this case, only one parameter of the model should be taken into account, aimed at activating attention, understanding, desire, and, as a consequence, actions. The technique of identifying with a well-known brand has a good effect.

By adding a unique style to your advertising, you can give your entrepreneurial idea an exclusive image, which will ensure product recognition and significantly expand the target audience. The use of slogans will add an element of originality and uniqueness, and a well-written text structure will allow you to quickly achieve the desired effect.

When advertising is ineffective

Advertising is a powerful sales tool. However, if used incorrectly, it can ruin the reputation of a business entity. It must reflect truthful information. It is unacceptable to embellish with events or additional services that are not relevant for the advertised product. There is no need to intrusively attract the buyer; this always creates the impression of lack of demand in the market for similar goods or services. You need to be able to masterfully present relevant information. If this rule is violated, all marketing and advertising efforts to promote your product are doomed to failure.

Determining the target audience

In advertising activities, it is important to competently determine the target category, since this parameter has a direct impact on the effect of the information offered for review. Its main feature is that the potential client belongs to a certain social status, age, gender, and place of residence.

Advertising stunts

Advertising is necessary so that a business entity can stand out among thousands of similar companies with their own offers. To do this, it is not enough to simply tell your potential consumers about the availability of a quality product and encourage them to buy it. To attract the attention of customers, it is recommended to use several marketing schemes, following which allows you to advertise correctly. This will ensure maximum results from its publication. Promotion methods such as a unique selling proposition and the classic sales model, in which the buyer is accompanied at all stages of the purchase, are popular.