Advertising can rake in a lot of sales, but the addition of copywriting takes it to the next level. Most popular businesses know this and they have invested in advertising copywriting. But what makes copywriting crucial to advertising?
Copywriting is important in advertising because it helps brands get a great return on investment. Running ads can be expensive, but copywriting makes the ads attention-grabbing and persuasive. This compels more buyers to click on your ads. It can also raise brand awareness and drive traffic.
All of the best ads utilize copywriting, so the two practices go hand in hand. This post covers the benefits of copywriting in advertising and how you can optimize your ads to perform better.
Importance Of Copywriting In Advertising
Advertising has always been critical in attracting buyers’ attention. To make an ad stand out and grab attention, it needs well-designed copy. Below are some benefits of using copywriting in advertising.
1. Raising Brand Awareness
Although some marketers may not share this point of view, it’s easy to see that advertising copywriting helps spread brand awareness.
This is because people are used to seeing hard-sell advertisements such as “Only 5% left BUY NOW!!”
Many people see ads as a manipulation technique marketers employ to get into their wallets. However, this perception can be changed if brands use copywriting techniques for their ads.
To illustrate this point, let’s refer to a famous copywriting advert from the father of advertising.
When David Ogilvy wrote the Rolls Royce advert, he did not use any hard sell tricks to convince people to buy the car.
Instead, he focused on the benefits a consumer would enjoy if they chose Rolls Royce. He wrote, “At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the electric clock”.
That classic automotive advertisement is a great representation of how copywriting advertising can help raise brand awareness.
The referenced car not only gained notoriety but so did the brand. A concise message with the end user in mind sells a brand.
2. Influencing Buyers To Consider Your Offers
Copywriting has the power to influence your prospect’s decision on whether or not to buy your product. Without the copywriting element, an ad may not successfully help a buyer make a purchase.
Advertising is like a salesperson who works for you 24/7. Subsequently, your ads should consistently offer the best argument in favor of your product.
They should demonstrate why your offer is the best solution for the buyer’s pain points. Including copywriting in advertising enables you to cut to the chase.
It eliminates any distracting information and focuses on what is important.
A great copywriting advertisement tells the audience about the product, why they should buy it, and how to take the next step. With these details in mind, a prospect is more likely to consider making a purchase.
3. Repositioning Your Brand
Over time, business performance may take a dip because of various reasons. In some cases, you might also need to introduce fresh changes to your brand.
One way to do this is to reposition your brand. When done correctly, advertising can help you reposition your brand and pitch it to modern consumers.
Take Gucci, for example. The brand was at its peak around the 2010s. However, its audience aged, and the brand no longer appealed to the younger generation.
In an effort to reach out to the younger generation, the brand launched a new collection in 2015.
Alongside the launch came a newly polished logo on its products, a gender-fluid focus, and Instagram-style communication.
From 2016 to now, Gucci has experienced tremendous growth and profits because it repositioned its brand with proper copywriting techniques.
Ultimately, copywriting in advertising can help you rebrand for better performance and profit.
4. Improving The Return On Investment
Running paid ads can quickly eat through your budget, especially if running ads is your primary marketing strategy.
Therefore, any strategy that reduces ad costs while maximizing ad returns can come in handy.
Copywriting in marketing can help you lower your overall ad spending. Ads, especially Google ads, are awarded a quality score.
Much like a credit score affects your loan qualification and interest rates, your quality score influences the cost per click of your ads and how well they perform.
One of the key factors influencing your quality score is the quality of your ad copy. Proper copywriting enables your ad to reach the right audience and resonate with them.
This increases the click-through rate. The higher the quality of your copy and CTR are, the higher the ad quality score will be.
With a high ad quality score, you will enjoy lower costs per conversion and higher ad ranking.
This helps you save money and increases the chances of your ads being seen, and it’s all thanks to advertising copywriting!
5. Driving Traffic
Whether you are running social media ads or Google ads, copywriting can help drive traffic to your website. As mentioned above, it can also boost your click-through and conversion rates.
The more clicks you get on your ad, the more traffic will arrive on your site. If copywriters identify and understand your target audience, they can leverage the right keywords and messages.
When people see this targeted content, they feel more comfortable engaging with the brand because it feels familiar. Subsequently, more right people click on the ad, thus improving overall conversion rates.
In addition, copywriting uses strong calls to action, which compel the reader to engage with the brand. Traffic is the lifeblood of any brand, and copywriting is an excellent way to draw more people in.
6. Evoking Emotions
By nature, humans feel and express themselves better through emotion than through logic. The same thing applies to making purchase decisions.
Studies have shown that people sometimes buy things due to emotions instead of reason. Any advert that can appeal to the emotional side of a prospect is likely to convert.
Copywriting leverages emotions to persuade people to buy products or services.
For instance, this ad copy by De Beers Group might appeal to potential boyfriends: “Kill her two annoying ex-boyfriends with one stone.”
After reading the ad, one feels inclined to buy a gift for the girl to spite the exes. The copy is a bit humorous, but it also invokes feelings of protectiveness.
Whether a person feels sad or excited, they are likely to respond to an advertisement that appeals to the right emotions.
7. Inspiring Curiosity
People are naturally curious and are always trying to learn more. An advert can take advantage of curiosity by setting up an expectation but leaving people hanging.
A skilled copywriter can seamlessly weave curiosity into the story they are selling.
Copywriting can inspire curiosity by giving incomplete product details and asking the reader to perform a specific action to learn more.
In some cases, a brand may offer a freebie or product sample that is related to the main product.
The key goal is to let the consumer have a taste of the product so that they will look forward to the main attraction. Advertising a freebie is a win-win situation.
You attract more prospects who are likely to be loyal customers, and the customer saves money. Additionally, satisfied customers will elevate your brand through referrals.
8. Ensuring Clarity in Advertisements
When it comes to advertisements, there is limited space to deliver your message. No one has time to read a whole page of text, and many platforms limit the number of words/characters you can use.
Copywriting helps businesses to keep their adverts short and to the point. This ensures that the message is clear. Copywriting uses simplified language that is relatable to the target audience.
Moreover, the advertising copy is refined repeatedly until it is free from fluff and grammatical errors. The resulting advertisement is a punchy and authentic message that the readers can instantly understand.
Good copy also helps keep the advertisement on point. It is easy to go overboard and add too many details.
While this might look good to the business, it’s bad for a consumer who has limited time and attention. Unfortunately, too many details become distracting to the reader.
The copywriter should stay on course and only mention that which is essential to the reader. For instance, copywriting focuses on a product’s benefits instead of its features.
This way, readers see how the product will immediately improve their lives.
9. Producing Original Ads
Stephan Vogel once said, “Nothing is more efficient than creative advertising.” Originality is crucial in advertising since people like to see new things each time.
An original advert is comprised of rare and surprising ideas. It should stand out from bland, repetitive slogans that saturate the market.
For instance, Coca-Cola’s commercial, The Happiness Factory, helps customers to visualize the inside of a vending machine. This advert is not only original, but it also captures the viewer’s imagination.
An original ad will get people interested in the product and will make it stick in their minds. Even if prospects do not end up buying right away, they will remember your brand in the future.
Copywriting thrives on creativity, so original ideas are essential for each advert. This helps your brand stand out from the competition, thus giving prospects a reason to engage with your business.
10. Creating Targeted Content
Copywriting brings boring adverts to life by ensuring they are appealing enough to draw the reader in. It cleverly presents the benefits to the reader in a way that makes the reader the focus of the advert.
A great copywriter knows what makes their audience tick and leverages such areas to reach the audience. In turn, the audience can’t help but want to click on the Buy Now button.
For instance, Russel Brunson excels at selling his book “Traffic Secrets”. If you love reading marketing books, then you know that there are thousands of them on the market, so why does this one stand out?
Russel’s advertising approach is exceptional because his advertising message makes a direct hit on his audience’s pain points.
The most critical points of his message are underlined or in bold to draw attention to them.
5 Effective Advertising Copywriting Strategies For High Performing Ads
As we’ve established, advertising copywriting is the key to boosting conversions. But crafting a high-performing ad is no easy feat. Below are some strategies to help you optimize your ads.
1. Focus More On The Customer Benefits Than Product Features
Since ad copy must be brief, it’s extremely important to sort what goes in and what is cut. Many advertisers mistakenly prioritize product features over benefits.
What they fail to realize is that people aren’t usually persuaded by features, so it’s a waste of space to include them in the ad.
On the flip side, people look for benefits–something that will make their lives easier and better. If you can offer that, consumers are more than willing to buy.
So, focus on how consuming your product or service will help your consumers deal with their pain points.
2. Keep It Concise
The last thing your audience needs is boring, winding text that can’t get to the point. People have short attention spans, so you only have a few seconds to make your point.
Go through an extensive editing and proofreading process before you run your ads. Review your draft and remove all unnecessary words. You should also replace weak words with punchy ones.
You will end up with a short, yet concise ad that is powerful and gets straight to the point.
3. Make Use Of Emotional Triggers
Emotional triggers are a powerful way to convince an online audience to take action. When you use enticing offers in your PPC ad copy, you amplify the click-through rates.
If you can appeal to the emotions or curiosity of your audience, you’ll have higher engagement. You can use both negative and positive emotional triggers depending on what you are advertising.
The key is to maintain balance and ensure that the core message remains unaltered.
For example, an ad based on cancer treatments would use different emotional triggers compared to an ad promoting comedy programs.
4. Use Numbers Or Statistics In Your Headlines
An excellent way to establish credibility is to back up your claims with data. Include relevant numbers or statistics in your copy if you want to make a point.
Sometimes a great chart or infographic will convince people to trust you and buy your product. Prices are a great numerical inclusion for your headlines if you incorporate them properly.
Many potential buyers already know what to expect in terms of pricing, but putting prices in your headlines helps them compare you against your competitors and make a quick decision.
5. Conclude Your Ad With A Strong Call To Action
Although it comes last, a call to action has the power to compel your readers to take action. To add power to your CTA, capitalize on the interest you built by listing the product benefits.
In addition, ensure the CTA is clear and concise. Generally, your call to action will vary depending on what you want people to do after reading your ad.
To determine the best call to action, create a few variations and test them. Then pick the one that performs best for your final copy.
Final Thoughts
Copywriting in advertising helps your ad to perform better by making it persuasive and compelling. The more compelling your ad copy is, the more people will take action.
This will lead to more conversions and a great ROI. To enjoy the benefits of copywriting in advertising, you need to optimize your ads.
Some ways to improve your ads include keeping copy concise, focusing on product benefits and using emotional triggers. Look at every ad through the eyes of the audience!