37 Ways To Ruin Your Ad Copy
Over the last four or five years, I have read hundreds, maybe even thousands of ad copies both online and offline. Some have been very effective but the vast majority have been poor and have probably contributed to the promoter losing thousands of dollars in sales.
Being able to write good copy is absolutely essential in the internet marketing world and unfortunately it's something that very few 'guru's ever talk about.
It doesn't matter whether you are writing articles, creating PPC ads or writing a pre-sales page for promoting a product as an affiliate; if you don't know how to write good copy, your efforts are going to go to waste and you could end up losing substantial amounts of money.
Now, I'm the first to admit, I'm no true professional in this field. I'm certainly no Marlon Sanders. However, I have written enough sales letters and done enough testing to be able to tell you what the most common mistakes are when writing a piece of copy.
Below I've made a list of 37 ad copy sins that I've noted down over the past few years and hopefully they will help you avoid some common mistakes and in turn result in you achieving better conversions.
-no visual aids
-no comparison to competition
-no reminding of benefits or deadlines
-no information about your business
-no appealing adjectives
-no appealing phrases
-too small of text
-no emotional appeal
-too large of paragraphs
-no story telling
-no underlining or bolding of keywords
-too short of ad copy
-too long of ad copy
-no facts or case studies
-hard to understand jargon
-no free bonuses
-no compelling headline
-no believable testimonials
-no sub headlines
-no attractive benefits
-no features
-no strong guarantees
-no asking or answering questions
-no proof of benefits offered
-no contact information for questions
-no endorsements
-no conversational writing
-no deadline to order
-no free trials
-spelling mistakes
-grammar mistakes
-too light of text
-too dark of background
-ad copy doesn't blend together
-no breaks in ad copy
-no bullets
-ad copy in all CAPS
Now, not all of these points are going to apply to every ad or sales letter you'll write; they are designed purely as a guide that hopefully you will be able to use in the future.
In conclusion, writing copy is something you absolutely must master. Top copywriters can charge as much as $20,000 to write a single sales letter and if you are capable enough to do it yourself, you will save (and make) thousands of dollars in the long term.
Tim Godfrey is the founder of OnlineBusinessRevenue.com. To learn more about how to make money online, visit the website or take a look at his best selling book, 'The Power Profits Workshop'.
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