Lesson 12 - Effective Copywriting Flashcards
● All the text you see in advertisements
● The creative element is most visible
● Primarily visual catches your attention immediately through
language
Copywriting
Types of Ads for Copywriting
- The message is complicated
- Ad for high-involvement product
- Information that needs definition and explanation
- Abstract qualities
Conveying through words.
Ad for high-involvement product
● The person who shapes and sculpts the words in an advertisement.
● Ad directors are the ones who directs the advertisement videos
Copywriter
What are the Tools/Techniques done by Copywriters?
- Tone of Voice
- Grammar
- Adese
● Copywriters write to the target audience. Write to the
person as if you are in a conversation.
● If they do not know the target audience they can
make use of Photo Profile and select a picture that will relate to the target audience
Tone of Voice
Copywriters also are attuned to the niceties of
grammar, syntax, and spelling, although sometimes
they will play with a word or phrase to create an
the effect, even if it’s grammatically incorrect
Grammar
○ Full of cliches and vague phrases
○ Formulaic advertising copy is one problem that is so
infamous comedians parody of it
○ This type of formula writing, violates all the guidelines
for writing effective copy. It is full cliches, superlatives,
stock phrases, and vague generalities.
○ Example: Now we offer the quality that you’ve been
waiting for - at a price you can afford. So buy now and save.
Adese
What are the steps to Writing Effective Copy?
- Be succinct
- Be single-minded
- Be specific
- Get personal
- Keep a single focus
- Be conversational
- Be original
- Use Variety
○ Use short familiar words, sentences, phrases, and
paragraphs
○ Keep it as simple and short as possible to be easily
understood
Be succinct
○ Focus on one message
Be single-minded
Use you, we, or they words
Get personal
Deliver a single message instead of one long
message
Keep a single focus
Use everyday language your audience can understand
Be conversational
○ Avoid long blocks of copy in print ads
○ Break the copy into short paragraphs so that it would be easy to absorb
Use Variety
Two types of Copywriting for Print:
- Copy Sheet
- Layout
Copysheet uses ________
Text
Layout uses ________
Visual Elements
What are the two categories of copy that print advertising uses?
- Display Copy
- Body Copy
● All elements that readers see in their initial scanning
● Set in larger type sizes than body copy
● Designed to get attention and to stop the viewer’s scanning
Display Copy
● Includes the elements that are designed to be read and absorbed, such as the text of the ad message and captions.
Body Copy
A key element in print advertising. It conveys the main message so that people get the point of the ad
Headlines
What are the two general categories?
- Direct Action
- Indirect Action
○ The benefits of using the
products
○ Straightforward and
informative
○ Ex: The power to kill germs
Direct Action
○ Not selective and do not
provide much information
○ More on building a brand identity rather than focusing on the benefit of the brand or product.
○ are not as selective and may not provide as much information, but may be better at drawing the reader into the message and building a brand image.
Indirect Action
What are the types of direct action headlines?
● Assertion
● Command
● How-to Heads
● News announcements
○ is a headline that states
the claim or a promise that will motivate someone to try the product.
Assertion
○ Politely tells the reader to
do something
○ Example: Protect your
family now.
Command
People are rewarded for investigating a product when the message tells them how to use it or how to solve a problem.
How-to Heads
Are used with
new-product introductions but are also with changes, reformulations, new styles, and new users.
News announcements
What are the types of indirect-action headlines?
- Puzzles
- Associations
Used strictly for their
curiosity and provocative
power.
Puzzles
○ These headlines use image and lifestyle to get attention and build interest
Associations
How to Write Headlines?
- A good headline will attract only those who are prospects.
- Work in combination with the visual to stop and grab the reader’s attention
- Identify the product and brand and start the sale
- Lead readers into the body copy
● Is the text of the ad, and its primary role is to maintain the interest of the reader.
● Summarizes the information
● It should be the heart of the message but readers rarely read this portion
Body Copy
How to Write Body Copy?
- Straightforward
- Narrative
- Dialogue
- Explanation
- Translation
Be direct when writing body copy
Straightforward
Telling a story in the First person or in the Third
person
Narrative
The reader listens in a conversation
Dialogue
○ Technical information, often at high tech or medicine
○ Tech fine
Translation
What contains the copywriter’s toolkit?
- Headline
- Overlines & Underlines
- Body Copy
- Subheads
- Callouts
- Captions
- Taglines
- Slogans
- Call to action
● Phrase or sentence that serves as the opening to the ad
Headline
These are phrases or sentences that either lead into the headline or follow up on the thought in the headline
Overlines and Underlines
The text of the ad. It’s a usually smaller-sized type and written in paragraphs or multiple lines
Body Copy
● Used in longer copy blocks, subheads begin a new sectionof the copy
● They are usually bold type or
larger than the body copy. Their purpose is to make the logic clear to the reader.
Subheads
These are sentences that float around the visual, usually with a line or arrow pointing to some specific element in the visual that they name and explain.
Callouts
Sentence or short piece of copy that explains what you are looking at in a photo or illustration
Captions
● A short phrase that wraps up the key idea or creative concept that usually appears at the end of the body copy
Taglines
● A distinctive catchphrase that serves as a motto for a campaign, brand or company
● Changes over time
Slogans
