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Advertising - The Basics of Writing a Good Advertisement

All businesses need promotion, and it is important to understand the basics of creating a good advert for your company. The following tips will help you develop effective advertising that can be applied to anything that you use as a promotional tool such as websites, brochures, flyers and advertising.

1. Stand Out from the Competition

Consumers come into contact with advertisements all the time, so what will make your potential customers buy into your products or services rather than your competitors? This is your unique selling proposition, or USP. What makes you different? What makes you unique? What does your company offer that no one else does?

2. Use a Powerful Headline

Consumers scan things quickly. Only 20% of the people that read your headline will carry on to read the rest of the copy. Therefore, you need to understand who you are trying to attract and what would get their attention.

3. Offers

Whether it be an unbeatable price, a free trial or free shipping, consumers love a bargain. Once you have an offer, make sure you promote it to the full. Consumers will have great difficulty resisting a great offer.

4. Talk About the Benefits

The features of your product or service are important, but consumers are more interested in what benefits they will get from buying into your business. Understand what benefits you can pass on to the consumer and promote this in your advertising.

5. Advertorials

People see advertisements all day long, but they are seven times more likely to read a news article than an advert. Therefore, create an advert that looks like a news article in the form of an advertorial. Creating an effective advert that grabs attention and contains plenty of information isn’t easy. If done correctly however, this will not only promote brand awareness, but also make the consumer realise that this isn’t just advertising, that you are helping them through advice, tips and information. (For more information on Good Advertising click here)

6. Risk-Free Offers

Consumers are nervous about spending money. There are too many scams and poor-quality products out in the marketplace. Therefore, promote a risk-free guarantee known as ‘risk reversal’. If potential customers know that they will get their money back if they are not satisfied with your service or product, they will be less concerned about wasting their money and give your business a try.

7. Call to Action

Encourage your consumers to email you for more information, fill out a form or sign up for your newsletter. Direct users to click on your ad to take them to your website rather than just viewing the advertisement.

8. Testimonials

Build up trust and interest in your company. Consumers have many concerns these days, especially if they are online. A great way to build trust is to add testimonials to your adverts or website to show how existing customers are satisfied with the products or services you have to offer. Seeing that other consumers are happy with your business is a great way to encourage them to give your company a try.

9. Visual Interest

Be creative, people are visual. You need to create visual interest with exciting graphics to grab potential customers attention. Adding a visual element to your advert will help create more interest towards your company.

10. Contact Information

It sounds obvious, but the number of adverts I’ve seen that do not have clear contact information is unbelievable. Always include website, phone and address details where possible.

These tips can help you create an effective ad campaign to make your promotions stand out from the crowd and create interest from potential customers in what your company has to offer.

 
Please note that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to any other group or individual. To ensure you are fully compliant with all current legislation, please take legal/professional advice and do not rely solely on the information provided in these articles.