How To Write Order Pulling Ads 2

Never forget the basic rule of advertising copywriting:
If the ad is not read, it won’t stimulate any sales; if it
is not seen, it cannot be read; and if it does not command
or grab the attention of the reader, it will not be seen!




Most successful advertising copywriters know these
fundamentals backwards and forwards. Whether you know them
already or you’re just now being exposed to them, your
knowledge and practise of these fundamentals will determine
the extent of your success as an advertising copywriter.

Classified ads are the ads from which all successful
businesses are started. These small, relatively inexpensive
ads, give the beginner an opportunity to advertise his
product or service without losing his shirt if the ad
doesn’t pull or people don’t break his door down with
demands for his product. Classified ads are written
according to all the advertising rules. What is said in a
classified ad is the same that’s said in a larger, more
elaborate type of ad, except it is in a condensed form.
To start learning how to write good classified ads, clip ten
classified ads from ten different mail order type
publications - ads that you think are pretty good. Paste
each of these ads onto a separate sheet of paper.

Analyse each of these ads:

How has the writer attracted your attention.

What is it about the ad that keeps your attention.

Are you stimulated to want to know more about the product
being advertised.

What action must you take?

Are all these points covered in the ad?

How strongly are you “turned on” by each of these ads?

Rate these ads on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the
best according to the formula I’ve given you. Now, just for
practice, without clipping the ads, do the same for ten
different ads from a magazine or newspaper. In fact every
ad you see from now on, quickly analyse it, and rate it
somewhere on your scale. If you practice this exercise on a
regular basis, You’ll soon be able to quickly recognise the
“Power Points” of any ad you see, and know within your own
mind whether an ad is good, bad or otherwise, and what makes
it so.

Practice for an hour each day, write the ads you’ve rated 8,
9 and 10 exactly as they have been written. This will give
you the “feel” of the fundamentals and style necessary in
writing classified ads.

Your next project will be to pick out what you consider to
be the ten “worst” ads you can find in the classified
sections. Clip these out and paste them onto a sheet of
paper so that you can work with them.

Read these ads over a couple of times, and beside each of
them, write a short comment stating why you think it’s bad,

i.e. Lost in the crowd.

doesn’t attract attention. Nothing special to make the reader
want to own the product. No demand for action.

You probably already know what’s coming next, and that’s
right. Break out those pencils, erasers and note paper -
and start rewriting these ads to include the missing
elements.

Each day for the next month, practise writing the ten best
ads for an hour, just the way they were originally written.
Pick out ten of the worst ads, analyse those ads, and then
practice rewriting those until they measure up to doing the
job they were intended to do.

Copyright Avril Harper, UK

Recommended Direct Mail & Copywriting Resource:

The Golden Mailbox, by Ted Nicholas & Stuart Goldsmith