How to Write Killer Ad Copy

You are ready to let the world (or your community) know about your company. You have committed to run several ads in your local paper, and there is blank ad space and a deadline looming. As someone who has been writing copy for the past decade, I’ve stared that empty space down many, many times, and it still keeps me up at night mumbling to myself. Any ad pro will tell you there is no formula for coming up with good ideas. No agency has a patented process for generating them. And you won’t find software that spits out award-winning work. Ideas can come from anywhere and anyone. If you’re a small business owner looking to write your own ads, how exactly do you create that consistently good ad copy? Here are a few tips and tricks that help me generate ideas for ads. But let’s first define the word “ads.” By ads, I mean flyers, posters, coffee mugs, newspaper ads, matchbook covers — doesn’t matter. The point is, any ad space you pay for is an opportunity to leave the right impression.

What makes your company so special? It’s not enough to just say you’re good. Your job is to convince the world why you’re good. Think about your strengths, and compare those strengths to your competition. Are you more affordable? More convenient? More efficient? Discover the attributes that attract your customers the most, and pick the most compelling one. Make that the objective of your ad.

One ad. One objective. Great advertising is deliberately simple, because great ads have one, clear objective. You may have many reasons why you’re better than the competition, resulting in many objectives. But we are creating an ad, not a list. Have you ever listened to two radio stations at once? Impossible. Both stations become indecipherable noise. If you present one ad with multiple objectives, it will get noisy. But if you focus your ad on a single objective, it will sing loud and clear.

Know your customers. Most entrepreneurs can describe their customers, but few can actually identify with them. In Woody Allen’s comedy “Zelig,” Allen’s character has the power to change his appearance to look like those around him: he’s a human chameleon. Become a Zelig around your customers — understand their fears and their desires, and you’ll create a more convincing ad.

When it’s time to create, talk it out. After you understand your objective and your customer, it’s time to get to work. Grab a colleague or two and start talking it out. (If you’re a one-person shop, talk to a business associate or even a friend — great ideas come from everywhere.) The dynamic of spontaneous banter is faster and more effective than banging away at a keyboard by yourself. The associations that spin around the room will take ideas in directions you never would have thought of and, ultimately, will create a more interesting solution for your ad.