You’re thinking of advertising… you receive all kinds of different advice… some people tell you that you need a copywriter… others say you need a media specialist… others still talk about a content team and so on. And you may even have heard of some people talking about this art – advertising copywriting. Whatever that means.
At the end of it all, you find yourself cracking your head thinking… just how do you get started on a successful ad campaign?
Well, before you run out to hire the first creative agency you see or hit reply to the email in your spam folder… let’s look at some key considerations to consider before investing a single dollar on any form of advertisement.
The Bankrupting Mistakes Most New Advertisers Commit
Having critique and advise many business owners who have never advertised before… I realised that many are in danger of committing a fatal mistake. One that might result in them burning a big hole in their pockets. Either by flushing a huge sum of money down the drain from the very beginning or by unknowingly leaking small budgets every month… without getting any results.
As a copywriter… let me tell you, no, warn you never to let yourself get caught in the advertising trap the media paints.
Not until you’ve nailed down the single most important element…
Who are you advertising to?
The biggest fatal mistake any advertiser can make is to sell to everyone (people who say “everyone is my customers”)
Sure, it is tempting. The more people we sell to the better right?
Yes. If you have a huge bank account to finance you.
Unfortunately most business owners don’t have that sort of budget to test.
Think about this…
Imagine if you’re selling electronic gadgets to a 19-year-old – you’ll talk about the latest specs, advanced tactics and so on. Now imagine if you’re selling the same gadget to a 60-year-old doting grandmother who wants to buy for her grandson… would you sell in the same way?
If you’re experienced in sales, definitely not. You’ll tell her why her grandson will love this gadget and how much he’ll love her for buying him the latest new toy in the market.
Likewise if you want a successful ad, you need to speak to the right audience.
That’s where direct response copywriting comes into the picture.
Every ad you send out has to get a result. So you know whether to kill the ad or to scale it up.
Here’s another reason knowing your audience is essential…
How to Decide Where to Advertise
Online marketing or Offline medium?
When you know who you’re selling to, suddenly this becomes much clearer.
Traditional business owner? A direct mail sent straight to their office mailbox with a big Attention CEO / Director will be much more effective than bombing thousands of dollars on facebook advertising.
Young Professional? Running a LinkedIn ad will make more sense especially if your offer is relevant.
This is an important step as many business owners decide to advertise based on what they see other people are doing. Worse… some of them listen to the advice of friends and family members who are not even in the same industry.
For instance, a real estate agent hears the success story of a business owner who relied on search engine optimization for his consulting business.
So he engages an advertising agency to copywrite and optimize a website for him. And after pumping a fortune, he still doesn’t get the result he wants.
Why?
Like most property agent, he chooses to rank for his new launch project. The same brilliant idea over 5,000 other agents have at the same time. His competition instantly becomes a never-ending uphill battle. This is why even before starting any internet marketing copywriting campaign, you need to be aware of your environment. How competitive it is and what your winning chances are like.
That’s why if he had done that, he would have considered using Google’s display advertising or Facebook marketing instead and his investment might have been much more profitable.
How to Copywrite Winning Advertisements
Once you’ve solved the 2 biggest considerations (audience and location), we now need to get down to the final piece of the puzzle…
Your ad copy!
The content on your ad that determines whether people will click and buy or browse through and ignore it like the plague.
I’ve created a 7-part email course that outlines the key elements of any successful ads which you can run your ads through, tweak it and get higher conversion.
(Register for my 7 Industry-Kept Sales & Persuasion Secrets here!)
One of the elements most advertisers and marketers fall back on is their ad design. Some even swear by it… that the image, the colours, the layout will make or break your ad results.
Again… only if you have the money for a brand awareness campaign.
For the rest of us running on shoe-string budgets…
Your copy is your advertising pillar!
You want to create an ad that woos and even seduces your audience into taking action. And this becomes easy as you already know who they are and where to find them.
Here’s why…
If you’re targeting business owners on Facebook, you can jump straight into the solution you’re offering.
E.g. Business Owners… Here’s How To Double (No, Triple) Your Sales With These 7 Quick Tips!
Using a subject that catches your audience attention is the first step to any successful ad. Layout becomes important when you know the platform you’re advertising on.
An ad on Google’s PPC and an ad on Facebook is completely different. Not even considering the text limitations (slightly advanced for the experienced advertiser).
So if you want to start advertising, also remember these 3 considerations:
- Who’s your audience?
- Where are you advertising?
- What’s your message?
As a freelance copywriter from Singapore, I’ve advice many different business owners about their marketing message. From my experience, most of them failed to factor in those 3 elements and it led to dismal results. Don’t let it happen for you.