Last Updated on April 20, 2020

I saw a lot of threads on forums about how to write good advertising copy. I’m happy to see that people realize the importance of the ad content, that they don’t count only on quantity, on the budget spent on showing the ads. This is true, with the same budget you can significantly increase revenues with well-written copy.
I used to work in advertising and there I heard about a principle which works and it is called the ABC of communication: A=attention, B=branding and C=communication. I think this principle can be adapted when writing internet ads also.
A – Attention
If you don’t catch viewers’ attention, then how would you expect they’d click on your ad? By mistake? It is possible, but you don’t get most benefits from mistaken clicks, do you? If I click by mistake, I have the mighty browser button called “back”, which I instantly press, then I continue what I was doing before the mistaken click. What did you get from me? One viewer and one page view count, which cannot convert in any sales. You just paid for my useless click. Who wants to pay for unnecessary things? Nobody does. So make sure your ad contains an attention trigger, allowing you to bring in some real potential buyers.
B – Branding
Your branding should be obvious and consistent, so you can create awareness for your business. Of course, for internet ads, teasers work fine if well written, so you can use them too. Anyway, make sure that your site has good branding if you want people remembering you and coming back again to you. I see everyday lots of sites which do not respect even the slightest rule of design, they are made of huge lines of words, after words, after words… some of them in red, others in yellow, very big, as they are written for visually impaired persons… I never remembered any of those sites, nor went back again to visit them, nor bookmarked them.
C – Communicate!
The ad should communicate clear what your business is about, in other words, what should I expect to see if clicked on your ad. If you say “Cool stuff! Come inside!” I have no reason in the world to enter. But if you say “Discounted books. Limited offer. Come in and take yours now.” I might click to see your offer. In this way, you will also get a higher conversion rate, because I’ll enter only if I might be interested in books. Always keep in mind that I’m not buying your product because of its great features. I’m buying it for the benefits it brings to me. I don’t buy scissors because they are made of stainless steel, they are sharp and small. I buy them because they can cut my nails very well and they can be taken in the purse during travels. There was a saying in sales and marketing (sorry, but I don’t remember who said it first), that you should sell the sizzling, not the steak.
Don’t forget to test. Test everything, change something from time to time, compare the results, see what worked best and go for it on larger scale.