Billboard Advertising in San Antonio

A good advertising copy is supreme

In yesterday’s blog post, How long will it take for my advertising campaign to take effect? I briefly touched on reasons your advertising might be ineffective. One of these reasons included the copy you are using for your ads. Copy is a fairly complicated topic, so today we are going to switch gears and qualitatively discuss the elements of a good advertising copy. This is especially important in a market such as San Antonio where different copy might be needed to appeal to different demographics.

In the world of billboards, your prospects have 7 seconds to look at your ad, read its text, comprehend any graphics, and then take appropriate action. Corbett discusses 10 elements of good copy which is what this posting will center on.

You will not be able to use every element of good copy in every single one of your advertisements. For example, in a medium such as billboard or yellow pages where no motion or sound is able to be conveyed, you will not be able to fully utilize the 10 elements of copy. This is why it is important to use a media mix, and use billboards and out of home advertising as media insurance to maintain constant exposure.

The 10 elements of good copy (Corbett)
All of the bold elements are required

1. If your advertising is in print, you need a powerful headline or an opening statement if your advertising is electronic

• According to David Garfinkel, author of Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich, an effective headline is a simple formula Present a statement that begs a question. For example, Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” begs the question of how to win friends or influence people. A few examples:
• Real Estate:How to close on your home and make more moneySelf Defense: How to protect yourself and stay fit
• The number one priority you want to keep in mind is to have a headline which begs a question and leaves something to be figured out by your reader.

2. The Basic Story

• This is where you will deliver a one-sentence snapshot of what your company does. Do you sell cellular phones and electronics? Maybe it should read, “Get connected instantly to your friends with our cellular phones”

3. The Proposition

• The proposition should reflect your powerful headline and provide a justification for your prospects why they should do business with you. Usually it is delivered in the future tense. A cellular phone shop might say, “You will be broadcasting your voice the moment you leave our store”.

4. The Exact Offer

• The exact offer is often times the first part of your guarantee. State what you promise to do in your copy. There was a tremendously successful used car commercial running on the Las Vegas airwaves which read, “”His name is John Barr, he’s gonna sell you a car”. You cannot get any more spot on than that.

5. A Guarantee

• Don’t promise anything you cannot deliver, but if you can include a guarantee in your script, do so.

6. Immediacy

• Call now! Act Now! Time is running out! Can you create a sense of urgency? This element is only practical if you are issuing a call to action in your ad copy and might not need to be used for all advertising copy.

7. Your Name
8. Your Location
9. Your Unique Selling Position

• I discussed this briefly in the last section of, “What is the purpose of local advertising” and this is mandatory. What perception are you creating? How are you branding yourself to your local market? This is what you must communicate

10. Items in your business which need addressing

Four Step Process

To round off today’s post, Corbett discusses a four step method to use when writing your copy.

1. Get the attention of your target market using your headline
2. Let them know what it is you are offering
3. Develop your proposition with the rest of your ad - get them to act now
4. Tell your target what you are offering

Market to the individual, not the mass and you will be able to create effective copy.