COPYWRITING

Why does advertising need clever words? With so many brand names being promoted one could argue that there is too much choice! That is where thoroughly planned copywriting comes into picture. What does copywriting achieve? Copywriting supported by evocative images explains the benefits of a product or service to an individual and then allows that person to make a considered decision based on facts aspiration and association. The simplest definition of copywriting is: it is the art of converting or translating clients brief on product/service into a selling proposition to defined target audience through mass media. !ut before you write a single word you have to consider your general approach to copywriting. "f your attitude is wrong then however much you write whatever good words you use your readers will know that you are not #$$% committed to communicating effective message. &ike a wooden stool there are 3 supports to provide creative stability to your copy. 'emove one support and your creative argument and integrity topples over. #. Involvement between the consumer and seller(usually through creating an empathy in a desired lifestyle). *. Reward in terms of personal gain to a consumer for purchasing a product. +. !n the third vital element which concerns you the writer more than the consumer. Fun-refers to enjoying the job of writing. Without it no matter how serious or frivolous a product may be the conviction behind your words will never become apparent to the consumer. ,etting to know what makes people listen -read -continue to watch -what you have to say-that you can write effective copy. .ence as a first step it/s a good idea to look at the basic ingredients of copywriting. "t is0 50% information, 15% inspiration, 25% personali ation, ! 10% perspiration 1n important aspect of this balancing act is to understand your audience. 2ou have to adapt your style and tone of voice to establish a rapport and hence credibility with your intended reader viewer listener and so forth. This is e3ually important whether you address a buyer of soap4suds or the managing director of the board. 1 copywriter should know that most a"#ertising te$hni%ues &hi$h &or'e" 50 years ago still &or' to"ay( )onsumers &ill buy pro"u$ts &hose a"#ertising promises them #alue for money, beauty, nutrition, relief from suffering, so$ial status an" so on( *e&s, $uriosity an" self-interest ha#e al&ays been po&erful fa$tors in ma'ing goo" a"s( +or"s su$h as announ$ing, *e&, *o&, Free, ,ours, -ui$', .asy, an" /ast )han$e has ne#er lost the pulling po&er( 0eople are still intereste" in health, &ealth, popularity, $omfort an" se$urity(

The most difficult things a copywriter discovers in the study of advertising are facts for example0 What kind of advertising headlines attract the most readers? What kind of pictures get the most attention? What sales appeal sell the most merchandise? What kind of advertising copy is most effective in selling your product or service? "t is easy to get opinions on these 3uestions. "t is hard to get facts. Too often men5people state opinions Not facts. 1nd in many cases the opinions are not even boiled4down opinions of large group of people. They are merely personal opinions. .ence in planning an advertising campaign the "irst step a copywriter should take is to clear the decks of all opinions, all theories, all conjectures, all prejudices. .e must remember that there is 6ust one 6ustification for advertising0 Sales! Sales! Sales! that are immediate, sales that are abundant, sales that are profitable. It has often been said that the greatest crime an advertisement can commit is to remain unnoticed. The principle 6ob of an advertisement is to sell goods. Therefore you should use layouts and illustrations in which salesmanship comes "irst and art second# "t is an old rule but good rule to write every advertisement as if it were the first and last word on the sub6ect. 7o not depend on the reader having read any previous advertisement for the product you are selling. 7o not assume that the reader will learn from future advertisements the selling arguments that you fail to include in today/s advertisement. 8ake every advertisement a complete sales talk. !ring in every important sales argument. 9ut every important selling point into every advertisement.

What is a Copywriter?
1ccording to :xford ;nglish 7ictionary a copywriter is < a person who writes text for advertisement or other promotional material/. 'efining it further a copywriter is a sales person who manipulates words within communication media. 1 particularly effective copywriter is someone able to balance and integrate the marketing and sales principles of a specific industry sector with provocative writing that explains the benefits of product or service. The literary style may be informative persuasive subliminal or combination of all three.

$ow is Copywriting Related to %ales Process?

Copywriting is =:T 6ust the art of elo3uent writing. 2ou must consider copywriting as primarily a selling skill. 1 copywriter needs to possess an above average degree of original thinking. This enables them to assimilate various pieces of information into finely tuned message. Which boils down to the fact that a copywriter needs to make your product or service0 &ttractive Interesting 'esirable &ctionable > &I'&

Who (a)es a Good Copywriter?

Those who have remarkable ability to pin4point in words and pictures the key benefits of a particular product or service. They interpret those benefits convincingly concisely and with originality through text pictures sounds or images. 1 good copywriter needs to possess or develop certain 3ualities0 #. .as an insatiable curiosity about how and why things work? *. &ooks at a word or situation and con6ures up images to match? +. "s worldly wise ?. @ees both sides of an argument A. "s often asked for his opinion B. 9art teacher part confidant totally interested in what makes people <tick/ C. .as a good imagination D. Can take a logical approach to technical matters E. .as a good sense of humor.

I(PORT&NC* O $*&'+IN*
The best headlines are the ones that offer something. The headline FCorn gone in A daysG or F8oney backG offers something that certain readers want and want badly. This in order to impress your offer on the mind of the reader or listener it is necessary to put in into brief simple language. 2ou have got to catch his eyes or ears with something simple something direct and something he wants. :n broad analysis it has been concluded that there are four important 3ualities that a good headline may possess. They are0 #. *. +. ?. @elf4 interest =ews Curiosity Huick easy way.

.ence try and follow ---

I,* R-+*% O WRITING $*&'+IN*

#. Iirst and foremost try to get self4interest into every headline you write. 8ake your headlines suggest to the reader that here is something he wants. This rule is absolutely fundamental of good headline writing. *. "f you have news such as a new product or a new use for an old product be sure to get that news into your headline in a big way.

+. 1void the headline that merely provoke curiosity. Curiosity combined with news of self4interest is an excellent aid to the pulling power of your headline but curiosity by itself seldom enough. ?. Take the cheerful positive angle. 1void when possible headline that paint the gloomy or negative side of the picture. A. Try to suggest in your headline there is a 3uick and easy way for the reader to get something he wants. .owever do not make your headline so short that it fails to express your idea properly. !revity in headline may be an excellent 3uality but it is not so important that all else should be sacrificed for it. "t is more important to say what you want to say to express your complete thought even if it takes twenty words to do it. ,et the big point of your advertisement into your headline. Jse your headline to a hook to reach out and catch the special group of people you are trying to interest. =ext to sit down and write beginning for an advertisement. The experience copywriter knows that the most important part of an advertisement is the beginning. The opening sentence must be good or reader will lose interest. . &CT%/0 .ere are some of the thing you should notice about the various 'eader/s 7igest opening0 #. They are fact packed *. They are telegraphic. +. They are specific. ?. They have few ad6ectives. They are curiosity arousing.

$ow to &void (ental $a1ards . hile riting copy/

The mental haKards hat discourage writers is he knowledge that their copy will be 6udged by the following critics0 The copy chief The account executive The advertising manager The sales manager The 87 5 9resident 1nd perhaps several other officials

;ach has his own ideas about copy. Trying to please all is a formidable task at any given point of time. "f you want to write enthusiastic copy you must banish critics from your mind entirely. "gnore them. Iorget them. Write the way you want to write. 1nd write fast. ,et steamed up. 8ake your copy siKKle. 9ut all the power of a runaway locomotive into it. &ater go over it in cold blood and cut out the things your critics will ob6ect to. "n this way you can produce copy that is both lively and acceptable. "f you write with the pre6udices and preferences of other people uppermost in your mind you will produce copy as correct as schoolchild/s essay but utterly lifeless. This same plan helps you overcome two other mental haKards0 #. The things you are not allowed to say about the article you are selling. *. The things you must say as a matter of advertising policy. !elieve in what you are writing. Jse a process of self4hypnotism. ,et excited! ,et worked up! Tell yourself you have got the biggest piece of news to tell since the man walked on moon. 'emember that enthusiasm is as $ontagious as measles. "t spreads from speaker to listener from author to reader. Then start to write. Write fast. Write furiously. Write as if you had put all your thoughts on paper in next few minutes or loose it forever. 8ay be first few paragraphs will sound impossible. =ever mind. Leep on writing. @omewhere somehow you will produce a real selling copy. @ome of the things you write will work on the emotions of your reader in subtle ways perhaps unknown to yourself. Jnconsciously you will produce little touches that arouse and stir to a$tion( !ction 1 that/s the vital 3uality that the emotional copy possesses and that reason hy copy lacks. 2eason +hy appeals to reader/s intelligence and makes him nod his in agreement with you. !ut emotional copy goes deeper. "t gets into those lower portions of the brain where lo#e an" hate, an" fear an" "esire are. !oth types of copy are important. @killfully combine the two and you will make the reader get up out of his chair and start for the store.

$ow To 2!ild Great Campaigns?

#. What you say is more important than how you say it What really decides consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising and not its form. When you build a campaign your most important 6ob is to decide what you are going to say about product what benefit you are going to promise. The selection of <Right Promise/ is vitally important. 7o not rely on guess work. 1nother techni3ue is to prepare series of ads each built around different promise. Then run pairs of ads in the same position in the same publication with an offer !uried in the copy. *. !uild your campaign around a <Great Idea/ or else it will flop.

+. ,ive facts0 Consumers are interested in facts. The more facts you give the more you sell. .owever give facts interestingly enthusiastically. (!ut collecting facts is hard work). ?. 7o not bore people into buying. The average family is exposed to more than *$$$ ads a day. .ence people have developed a techni3ue o skip ads go to bathrooms during TM commercials. The average woman5consumer now reads only four of the ads which appear in the average magaKine. They5she glance at more but one glance is enough to tell them5her that ad is too boring to read. Thousands of brands similar products are fighting for space in their5her mind. "f you want your voice to be heard above the ear4splitting barrage your voice must be uni3ue. "t is your business to make your clients/ voice heard above the crowd. A. !e well mannered but do not clown. "f people do not buy from bad4mannered salesman and if advertisement is a salesmanship in print. !e sure they won/t buy from bad mannered advertisement either. B. 8ake your advertising contemporary. C. Committees can criticiKe ads but cannot write them. 1ds seem to sell the most when it is written by solitary individual. D. "f you are lucky enough to write a good ad repeat it until it stops pulling. 9lease do not make a mistake of discarding5discontinuing the ad before it looses its potency. E. =ever writ5release advertisement which you wouldn/t want your own family to read it. 2ou wouldn/t tell lies to your own wife. 7on/t tell them to mine. 7o as you would be done by. ,ood products are and can be sold by honest advertising. #$. The "mage and the !rand. ;very ad should be thought of as a contribution to complex symbol which is 3ran"-4mage( What a miracle it is when a manufacturer manages to sustain a coherent style in his ads over a period of years! ;very ad every radio program every TMC should =:T be a one4time shot but a long4term investment in the total personality of a brand. They present a persistent image to the world and grow rich in the process. The manufacturer who dedicate their advertising to building the most sharply defined personality for their brand get the largest share of market at the highest profit. 9lan your campaign for years ahead on the assumption that your clients intend to stay in business forever. !uild sharply defined personalities year after year. "t is the total personality of a brand rather than any trivial product difference which decides its ultimate position in the market. ##. 'o not 3e a copycat#