Using proven ad and letter writing techniques

Whether you're writing a marketing message to one person or a million, your chances of having an influence on them really take off when you grasp what makes people tick. You're thus in a great position to adapt your message directly to their interests, challenges, wants, and goals. It's easier said than done, but that's where market research, asking clients the appropriate questions, personal observation, and marketing strategy enter into the picture.

A marketing strategy, even an abbreviated one, may be an useful beginning point in the construction of a successful ad, commercial, promotional brochure, or sales letter. Doing an analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) connected with your organization or the services you provide may serve as a great starting pad for developing appealing advertising and sales messaging.

Laying the Groundwork

In addition to a dash of literary skill and marketing experience, developing great advertising and letters demands a clear goal. Knowing precisely what end you're looking for before you begin writing is analogous to laying out your trip itinerary before beginning on a cross-country journey. For example, if your aim is to create leads or to qualify prospects, your method may be completely different than if you were seeking to make instant sales or merely draw people to your web site.

The Sizzle is for sale!(not the steak).

The copywriting process tends to run a lot more smoothly if you have in front of you three lists consisting of benefits, features, and competitive advantages. Organizing them on one page in a column arrangement is the simplest and most effective way to handle the information. Just so you know:There may appear to be a thin, if not invisible, boundary between "features" and "benefits," but grasping the distinction may make all the difference in your marketing success. Features are vital and need to be acknowledged, but advantages are the selling factors that customers and prospects can connect to and identify with. Basically, advantages are qualities that have been customized, developed, and projected into the future. It answers the question, "What's in it for me?" "Why should I care?" or "How will my life be enriched by purchasing your goods or services?"

Crafting the Message

Getting people's attention and igniting interest may sometimes be as easy as adding your best selling point into the headline or the first phrase of your ad or letter. Several tried-and-proven headline tactics for attracting readers into your message include asking an interesting question, making a thought-provoking remark, or opening the headline with the phrase "How To". Headlines that express a feeling of urgency, offer a brief testimonial of a delighted customer, or have the feel of a news broadcast have been proven to attract consumers to stop and read.

By the way, one of the most effective and successful advertising headlines of all time, which was also the title of a best-selling book published in 1936, is "How to Win Friends and Influence People," by Dale Carnegie. The title/headline is filled with advantages. It includes the words "How To," and it appeals directly to everyone's strong desire to be well-liked, to be in charge of their lives, and to be significant. Another successful book Carnegie authored tapped into a similar formula. It's entitled "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living." Apparently, the double-barreled strategy was extremely beneficial for him.

Many well-intended commercials, pamphlets, and letters start off with a nice head of steam, but fade out as they reach the moment of truth, namely, the call for action! If you don't make it 100 percent obvious precisely what you want the prospect to do after hearing/seeing your message, and if you don't provide them with a compelling incentive to do so, there's a significant risk you'll lose them.

As the acronym AIDA illustrates, a response-producing ad or letter must first attract the Attention of the target audience, stimulate Interest, ignite Desire, and finally inspire Action. Without all four of those "cylinders" firing at the proper moment, the delicate series of events might swiftly come to a grinding stop.