HOW TO WRITE GREAT COPY: 7

STEPS

1.      Wave a flag for readers who might buy your product.

• If you demographic is mothers – use the word MOTHERS in the headline. If you’re advertising an asthma medicine, ASTHMATIC mean more than WHEEZY.• People identify with words and are pulled in by them. Make

use of that.

2.      Every headline should promise your reader something they want.

• Simple, but easy to forget. The product’s promise needs to be conveyed immediately.

3.      The two most powerful words are FREE and NEW.

• Usually, you can’t use FREE. But you can almost always find a way to use the word NEW.

4.      There are other words that also have particular power to capture attention. They are cliché, but they have never stopped working:

• HOW TO, SUDDENLY, NOW, ANNOUNCING, INTRODUCING, IT’S HERE, JUST ARRIVED, IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT, AMAZING, SENSATIONAL, REMARKABLE, REVOLUTIONARY, STARTLING, MIRACLE, MAGIC, OFFER, QUICK, EASY, WANTED, CHALLENGE, ADVICE TO, THE TRUTH ABOUT, COMPARE, BARGAIN, HURRY, LAST CHANCE.• When you match these with emotional words like LOVE, PROUD,

FEAR, FRIEND, you can increase their effect.

5.      Only one in five people who read the headline will also read the body copy.

• That means two things: you need to convey the full idea in the headline & you need to mention the brand name.

6.       The selling promise needs to be in the headline.

• If your consumer asked you: ‘What’s the one reason I’d buy your product?’ your answer needs to be clear, and it needs to be in the headline.

7.      Arouse curiosity in the reader so they read the rest of the copy.

• 7. Arouse curiosity in the reader so they read the rest of the copy.• What is commonplace now was once overlooked by many advertisers.