What is copy in advertising?

No one clicks on an ad because they think: "Wow, this ad is cool." They click because they want to get something or maybe resolve a problem. To get them to do this, one of the most effective content strategies is to reflect the user's objective in the text of your advert. This is exactly what advertising copy does.

Copywriting (or copy) is a term which is directly linked to marketing and advertising. It is a strategy that involves creative writing that is designed to inspire action.

The difference between copywriting and informative writing such as news or articles, is basically that advertising copy motivates the reader to perform a specific action, which could be to buy or download something, take out a subscription, etc. Whereas traditional writing has the function of reporting or communicating, advertising copy uses calls to action and other strategies to optimise content.

Copywriting is about creating attractive texts to stir up emotions, engage and convince the reader or capture a customer: ultimately, it's text that sells. As you well know, over the course of a day we all see and read on the internet hundreds of sentences, thousands of words… Everything is online and standing out equals mission impossible… unless that is, browsers find distinctive content that will attract their attention and compel them to keep reading.

Firstly, it is important to take the following elements into account to ensure that your advertising copy generates an impact.

What is the purpose of the text that we are writing? What action do we want our users to take? Once these points have been defined, we can get to work with our creative writing.

Who are we trying to reach? This is the question that you must keep in mind at all times. Imagine you are writing to a specific person who, incidentally, is your perfect customer. What problem do they need to solve? How can you resolve it with your services and/or products? Convince them that your product/service is the best solution. Here is an easy example: if you have ever sold a car, you will know that it's no easy task and it usually comes with its own set of worries. Imagine that you google "sell my car" and this ad pops up:

You want to sell your car, and we want to buy it. We pick up your car and you don't have to lift a finger. We deposit the money immediately. Don't worry about a thing! Our reviews average 4.8 stars.

A clear, concise ad that resolves many of the seller's doubts in three short lines: "I need another car to deliver mine to the buyer", "when will I receive my money?", "who takes care of the name change?", "how can I be sure that this company is trustworthy?".

No one cares about what makes your company so incredible. What matters is that you can make the life of your potential customer easier.

Your competitors have probably also discovered the wonderful world of advertising copy and have begun to use it in their marketing, so it's worth keeping an eye on what they are doing! Remember that you should never copy, in fact you should be doing the opposite! It is important to be creative and innovative to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

The style and size of the advertising copy will depend directly on the channel in which the text will appear. Therefore, it is important not that you don't write a generic text, but adapt your message to the relevant style and register of the channel. There is no doubt that copy for a LinkedIn ad shouldn't feature the same content as one for Instagram.

Tips for writing lead-generating advertising copy:

What are your users looking for? Write texts that directly appeal to their needs. Get to the point, without going around the houses.

The use of real figures is incredibly convincing. Most potential customers have an idea of how much they are willing to pay for something long before they think about clicking on an ad, so including figures in your adverts will help them make their decision when comparing your ad with those of your competitors.

There is nothing that encourages people to act more than a powerful emotional reaction, particularly when it comes to the internet. This same principle is what makes clickbait so effective; people read content, experience a strong emotional reaction to it, and then go ahead and click. "Read this and you'll never travel by train again." "You won't believe what happens every time you drink a glass of wine." We've invented these particular phrases, but if you've seen something similar on the internet, then you've been in the presence of the famous clickbait.

This technique is one of the most effective when it comes to advertising copy. You don't have to make your readers cry! On the contrary, positive emotional triggers, such as the use of a sense of humour, can be very effective when it comes to prompting people to click on ads.

Even if your company operates in a saturated market with many competitors, the choice between buying from you or from a competing company will often be based on one of these two concepts: how much it will cost and how much effort it will require. Fortunately, you can anticipate these two objections with a little forward thinking and an intelligent text. Imagine you are looking for home insurance and you find this ad on Google:

€97 for comprehensive home insurance / Why pay more for your home insurance? / Forget your worries for just €97!

Obviously, there are dozens of large companies that offer home insurance, so differentiating ourselves in this particular market could prove quite complicated. However, it is possible with suitable advertising copy. In this case, the first text states the price (€97) and can help to overcome any potential laziness on the part of the customer who might otherwise have to contact the company, let a salesman return the call and ask a bunch of questions, only to then send over a higher quote than expected.

Last but not least, it is important to focus on the benefits our service or product offer the potential customer. If we ensure all of the above but forget to consider this, our text will lack strength and will not achieve the expected result.

Ad copy increases conversion rates throughout your marketing campaigns, enabling better sales and profits. Additionally, knowing how to use ad copy correctly throughout the customer journey is crucial to helping customers understand what to expect from doing business with you.

Learning how to write and use advertising copy will increase your reach, sales, and leads by encouraging prospects to take action. There are many different types of ad copy, and knowing how to use it will improve the performance of your marketing campaigns.

Ad copy is an important part of marketing and advertising and can influence your overall sales performance; it's the content that makes visitors react to your offer, whether on a landing page, website, digital ad, billboard, or any other type of advertisement. You can't have good advertising campaigns without good ad copy.

Ad copywriting differs from traditional copywriting, which consists of writing copy for various campaigns and channels, such as landing pages and websites.

Instead, ad copywriting focuses on selling and getting users to take action from advertisements, such as pop-up ads on websites and email copy. Any type of copy can be used to sell, and advertising copy is sales copy used in advertisements. It's designed to encourage prospects to take action on an offer and help them enter the sales funnel.

Additionally, copywriting differs from other forms of content, which may serve more educational purposes. A blog is more informational, while a landing page exists to generate leads or sales, which requires effective ad copy to make users take action.

Ad copywriting utilizes many different techniques to entice prospects to take action, including the following:

There are two types of ad copy to consider when creating a marketing campaign: short and long form.

Short-form advertising copy is used for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, such as search, display, native, and social media advertising. They typically contain a headline, short body copy, and a call to action (CTA). Short-form ad copy must grab customers' attention and entice them to take action, so it's often one of the most challenging types of ad copy to write because you're limited in how many words you can use.

Long-form advertising copy allows copywriters to use more words and detail to explain the product or service benefits, features, stories, and testimonials and provide a CTA. Long-form ad copy can exist on landing pages or websites, but it can also be used in print and digital marketing and sales letters.

The main goal of ad copy is to increase conversion rates from digital and traditional marketing campaigns.

Depending on your ad type, your goals can include increasing website traffic, generating leads, building brand awareness, and increasing sales. Ad copy highlights a product's or service's key benefits and features to help businesses sell more without the need for sales teams.

When you create advertising campaigns, you invest time and money. For example, if you want to sell services as a financial advisor, you might create a digital display ad and a landing page where prospects can fill out a form to help the business generate leads.

In this case, you'll need ad copy for the digital advertisement itself and the landing page. Once you've written effective ad copy that takes users from the digital ad to your landing page, your landing page must convince them to complete the form.

Effective copywriting can increase your ROI by highlighting why visitors should give you their contact information. In our financial advisor example, reasons might include a particular offer for new customers or stats about your business and its clients.

Advertising copy must sell. If your ad copy doesn't convince users to click on it or take action, it won't help your business grow. Beyond giving prospects more information about your business and its product or service, you must drive conversions.

Here are a few simple techniques to make your ad copy more effective:

Knowing your target audience is crucial to advertise to them effectively. Your copywriting will depend on who you're marketing to. For example, ad copywriting for pet parents will use a different tone and personality than for homeowners.

Before you start writing ad copy, gather as much data and information as possible about your target audience. If you don't have customer personas, now is a great time to make them because they can guide everything from your tone to the types of words you use in your ads.

Your potential customers will want to know everything there is to know about your products and services to determine if they're a good fit for them.

Thus, if you sell dog food, you should draw attention to your unique selling points (USPs) and the features and benefits that make you stand out from the competition.

Ultimately, answer the question, "why should people choose your business?" Your copywriting should be convincing enough to demonstrate why you're better than the competition and have proof points to back up any information you share.

You've created products and services to address a problem your potential customers deal with regularly. For example, marketing agencies sell SEO services to small businesses that don't have the resources to do it on their own. Meanwhile, pet companies sell treats to help owners train their dogs more efficiently.

You should tell prospective customers what to do next to help them take action. For example, consider this: a realtor creates an advertisement for their business and leaves only their name and a headline.

What are customers supposed to do if they're interested in the service? In this case, the billboard asks too much from prospects because they'll have to go online to find this realtor's website or contact information.

Meanwhile, if the advertisement told prospects what to do, such as "call now" and provided a phone number, more people would be willing to take action because it's easier for them.

Every business has competition, and learning more about yours can help you write more effective ad copy. You can find your competitors' ads online or by looking at print publications to find ad copy and effective word choices you can use in your own ads. Of course, you should never steal anyone else's ad copy, but you can determine which word choices are most effective and capture your attention.

Action verbs make people want to take action, and you should use them throughout your ad copy and CTA to tell prospects what to expect and what steps to take. For example, when you create an advertisement, you invite the audience to do something. The ultimate goal might be for them to visit your website, buy a product, contact the business, or complete a form.

However, the ad itself can evoke curiosity by telling prospects its purpose. For example, if you're a travel agency, you might use words like "discover" or "experience" to make readers want to learn more about your offerings.

One of the best ways to make your ad copy more effective is to back up any claims you make with data and numbers. Consumers trust data, and the more you can use it in your copy, the more you can make your business seem credible and valuable.

For example, a marketing agency might use numbers to demonstrate the average ROI for its clients. Meanwhile, a landscaping company might use numbers to explain how many happy customers they've had over the lifetime of the business.

In addition to business data, you can use numbers to help your ad stand out. People typically associate numbers with savings. For example, a bank might create an advertisement promoting a new checking account where customers can earn $300 for signing up.

There are many different types of advertisements, but some of the most popular consist of imagery and design elements.

For example, display ads typically include images and buttons. When writing ad copy, you must always consider the design and images you want to use to ensure they will fit together and be aesthetically pleasing.

If you're sold on a design, you can use lorem ipsum instead of a copy to help you create the design first and write copy that fits the design later. Of course, you can also write your copy first and design around it, depending on what you believe will give you the best results.

Using the second person will help build trust with customers. Instead of talking to everyone, make your ad appear as though you're talking to each prospective customer individually. Words like "you" and "your" will make any messages and offers more personal to help the target audience feel special, which can help you build relationships through advertising.

We've already discussed fear of missing out (FOMO) and how it can entice customers to take action, especially regarding limited-time offers.

Everyone wants to feel like they're part of something. FOMO is powerful in advertising and can make your audience want to learn about a particular product or service because other people enjoy it. You can use FOMO by highlighting customer testimonials or calling out the number of top reviews your particular product or service has online.

When creating advertisements, you may come up with many different headlines and ways to say the same things.

Additionally, you may have a few different CTAs you can't choose between. The best way to determine the most effective advertising copy is to test it. You can A/B test multiple elements of your advertisement, including copy and design, to find which performs best compared to the others.

With A/B testing, you can slowly improve your ad copy over time by measuring data and performance in real-time and throughout the test. Once the test is complete, you'll know which version drove the most clicks or conversions to help you make informed decisions about your copy.

Advertising copywriting should be simple, especially to reach a particular target audience. For example, you should never use words that the end users might not understand. Instead, you want your ad copy to fit other elements of the advertisement, such as the design and overall brand personality and image.

How you write your ad copy will depend on which type of ad you're creating. There are several different ways to use advertising copy, including the following:

The most common type of social media advertisement is display ads for social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

These ads allow you to target your audience and review their performance in real-time, tracking where your sales are coming from and which ads are the most effective. They typically consist of a headline, description, and visual. The visual part of the ad may also include ad copy if it makes sense for your business.

Display ads are a type of digital advertisement that includes banner ads and pop-ups.

Depending on how you create your ads and where you purchase placement, you may also create video display ads. Display advertising appears on websites, blogs, and media publications and encourages users to click on them to visit a company's website to buy a product or complete a form.

Many companies use display ads for remarketing and retargeting customers who have already interacted with their business by visiting the website or a particular product page.

Native advertising looks like the rest of the page content to make advertisements appear more editorial. You can find native ads in print and online publications, and businesses often use this ad format to prevent disruptions in the user experience.

Unlike display advertisements, these ads look like another article on a website, although they'll state that they're written or sponsored by a particular advertiser. So, for example, a CEO of a fashion brand might write an advertorial about sustainable and eco-friendly advancements in the fashion industry.

Paid search advertising allows businesses to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) above the organic results. Businesses can bid on keywords and create ad copy to encourage users to click their ads and visit their websites.

These ads do not have any type of imagery; they're text with a CTA that links to the company's website or another landing page. For example, a local landscaping company might bid on the keyword "landscaping company."

These ads are unique because Google gives advertisers a quality score based on their landing page effectiveness, advertising copy, and keyword bids, which partly determine the ad's position on SERPs. Therefore, when creating copy for search ads, copywriters must create short, unique headlines using keywords and descriptions that encourage users to take action.

Email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing strategy, so it's no wonder many businesses of all sizes use it to attract customers and increase loyalty and repeat purchases. In addition, email copy is typically effective because subscribers sign up to receive correspondence from a business, so they already know what to expect. Many people also find it less intrusive than other types of advertising.

Video advertisements are becoming increasingly popular, especially on YouTube and other social media sites. Unlike display advertisements, video ads are more like traditional commercials in which the advertising copy may be the dialogue between characters or used sparingly across the screen.

If you've ever opened a magazine, odds are you've seen print advertising. Print advertising consists of ads in magazines and newspapers, flyers, and brochures. They're often more expensive than digital advertising, but it allows companies to target a specific customer segment. For example, a beauty company may advertise in Vogue, while a pet company may advertise in Dogster.

Of course, unlike digital advertising, print advertising can't be clicked on, so there may not be a CTA. Instead, these ads are typically used to build brand awareness.

Many people still invest in traditional marketing, including billboard advertisements. Local businesses can benefit from billboards by targeting a particular geographic location. Like print advertising, businesses use billboards to increase brand awareness and put businesses at the top of consumers' minds. An example of ad copy for billboards would include a buy one get one (BOGO) for a burger joint or a realtor advertisement with a catchy headline, logo, and photo of the realtor.

It is a print, radio or TV advertising message that aims at developing and retaining an interest of the target customer and prompting him to purchase the product within a couple of seconds.

According to the UK advertising guru, David Ogilvy, ‘people do read lengthy advertisements if they are skillfully written’. The most significant part of the copy is the headline, and sometimes even a small shift in the text brings magnanimous results. A short ad copy is the most popular in consumer-product advertising, or an artful, indigenous lengthy ad copy may work wonders too. An advertisement copy is mostly a result of extensive advertising and consumer research designed by professional copywriter’s employees by advertising agencies. Drafting an ad copy demands skill and effort. An ad copy involves a complete investigation of the target audience. There is a substantial effort that goes into making an ad copy. Companies outsource their ad campaigns. The advertisement industry flourishes when they succeed in delivering the advertisement just like its copy.

An ad copy is made of various principles, all of which are integrated into a few lines of the copy that the advertisers are allowed to engage. It combines search engine optimisation with marketing strategies and is used in all kinds of advertisements, not only pay per click and contextual ads. The essentials of a good ad copy are as follows:

Credibility- An ad copy must focus on the credibility or the reliability of the ad. The copywriters should essentially flaunt an element of reliability in the ad so that the consumers are convinced to go ahead with the product. The credibility of an advertisement is the extent of honesty in the ad message. Misleading and misinterpreted ads harm the reputation of the selling house.

Attention- The keywords, punch lines or phrases that seize the attention of the potential consumers or some component in the ad that attracts the target audience is essential in a good advertising copy.

Assurance of benefit– An advertisement copy must contain some promise of the benefits that the product offers if the consumer purchases and uses the product.

Brief and clear- An ad copy must be brief and clear, i.e. it must be to the point. It doesn’t mean that the copy must omit the important elements of the ad. A clear copy is easy and quick to be read by the readers. It is self-explanatory, definite, and precise. Clarity makes way for interpretation.

Apt and conforming- The copy must be apt and must match the needs of the prospects. A copywriter has to use the most suitable USP. Every ad copy must meet the conforming standards and rules acceptable to the advertising media and the laws of the land. A copy that offends the morality challenges religious beliefs of the people is not welcomed by any media.

Technique or formula of presentation of an ad is the way in which a message is presented. Various types of advertisement copies are formulated to inform, inspire, influence, affect, engrave, and inscribe the mindset of the reader. Certain elements are significant in a copy like the attention, conviction, sentiment, instinct, and education.

The advertisement copies can be divided into six main types:

Human interest copy entices the emotions and senses of its prospective customers rather than the intellect and judgment. This advertisement copy defines the product to people instead of sticking to facts. Human Interest copy gets to selling part indirectly or reluctantly. It focuses on people’s undying interest in themselves, their families and friends. The most important forms of Human Interest Copy are- humorous copy, fear copy, predicament copy, and story copy.

HUMOROUS COPY

Humorous ad copy is a copy which is designed to make the reader laugh. This copy brings about a smile on the readers face.

FEAR COPY

Fear ad copy arouses a sense of fear in the reader to save their lives or to protect themselves from something. It creates interest among its consumers by instilling a sense of fear in them. Fear advertisement copies must be designed carefully as it may carry an unpleasant association on the viewer’s mind concerning the product.

STORY COPY

In a story copy, a story is narrated in a very interesting way to develop interest amongst its prospects. Customer experiences can also be narrated in the form of a story.

PREDICAMENT COPY

In a predicament copy, the copy provides a dramatic explanation about the product. This copy explains all the advantages and benefits of using the product. The predicament copy usually takes over the other three forms of the advertisement copy.

A Reason Why advertising copy offers reasons as to why the consumers are expected to buy the product of a particular brand. The reason why copy appeals directly to the intellect or the judgment of an individual than the emotions. It tries to explain the product qualities and benefits by giving evidence in the forms of testimonials, guarantees, customer experiences, and so on.

The approach of this copy explains reasons to readers as to why the advertised product has to be purchased. The format of this copy states a fact about a product or a service in the headline and then explaining why the fact is true in its further text. This form of advertising works better in print than on media, because broadcasting an ad has a limitation with respect to time. There are good chances of the viewer missing the headline or the reasons why the headline claims to be the truth.

An educational ad copy attempts to inform, update and prompts its clients to buy a product by educating the prospective customers. It is designed to educate the public about the attributes of the product. Introductory ad copies are usually created in this way. It is the responsibility of every manufacturer to educate the prospects regarding the product and endure a warm welcome amongst its clients. Such an ad copy signifies the benefits and special features of the product.

Institutional copy doesn’t sell its goods and services. Institutional ad copy aims at promoting the selling house. It focuses to build a strong reputation for the selling house. The main objective of this type of ad copy is to create, maintain, and increase the goodwill through its philosophy, objectives and policies so that the prospective customers register it in their minds. Institutional copy invites the target customers to the selling outlet. It is also called as prestige or corporate advertising.

Example:

A suggestive copy suggests or attempts to convey the message to the readers directly or indirectly and prompts them to purchase the product. Suggestive ad copy works best when the reader is confused regarding the quality of the product and is juggling with decision making regarding his purchase.

Expository copy conflicts with the Suggestive copy. An Expository copy doesn’t conceal anything about the product but instead exposes the facts that are clear and apt. It describes the product features, uses, merits, operation and benefits of the products or services. Even a swift glance registers quickly in the consumer’s mind and is quite easy to remember or pick up.

Writing an ad copy is an art of putting in the words or the elements that create a strong desire to possess the product wherein the product features satiate the consumers desire to possess the product. It is the ability to eliminate the surplus and substitute it with the essential elements without jeopardising the meaning.

Advertising copy convinces the reader to perform a certain action. The clearest example is encouraging the reader to buy, but the action can also be to join a cause, fill out a form, etc.

In general, advertising copy is usually accompanied by images and employs a series of literary devices to attract the reader's attention and convince them to perform an action.

In advertising, the term 'copy' means the output of copywriters, who are employed to write material which encourages consumers to buy goods or services.