The
COPYWRITING
FORMULA
that Sells
By Kristina Mills
(c) 2004 Kristina Mills All Rights Reserved
www.33dayfireup.com
www.kristinamills.com
Introduction:
Discover the 6 steps to writing a winning ad
Understand the two different formulas for writing ads and which one applies
best to your product and when.
Know the components of a winning ad.
See examples of powerful headlines that you can adapt yourself.
The Formula:
Fundamentally, “successful” advertising is nothing more than salesmanship in print.
For instance, in a sales presentation you greet the prospect and build rapport with
him or her.
You then ask questions to determine their problems or needs.
You then introduce yourself and show your prospect how your product or service
fulfils those needs.
Along the way you ask questions to further qualify the prospect and to determine
hot buttons and any objections. You handle objections and you then ask for the
order.
The format of any piece of marketing collateral is exactly the same.
Any advertising or promotion that you do, whether it’s via newspaper ads, flyers,
radio or direct mail, should have one thing in mind – TO SELL. Either to sell an offer
or a contact or sell off the page.
In advertising there are two main formulae to follow. The one you use will depend on
whether or not you are promoting an avoidance or gain type of strategy in your
promotions. We’ll talk more about those later. In the meantime, here’s formula 1:
AAIDA
Attract Attention
Create Interest
Maintain Desire
Incite Action
Attention
Start with a headline or opening paragraph that:
flags your reader down eg. Business owners, florists, overworked butchers etc.
identifies with a problem they are having
promises a strong benefit
arouses their curiosity
gives them news that may interest them
scares them silly
Here are some examples …
Say goodbye to these 9 business problems that can cripple any business
Turn $5 into $500
Wanted: 10 business owners who are desperate to “Get a life!”
Notice how they either of an attention-grabbing benefit or address a challenge that
people may be facing?
For more ideas refer to “Headlines” training session.
Interest
Once you have grabbed their attention you need to interest them enough to keep
reading. The way to do that is to expand on the benefits or points mentioned in the
headline then hint at a solution.
Desire
This is when you go into benefits in greater detail then;
Dissolve scepticism by mentioning a guarantee or other credibility enhancing
measures such as testimonials;
Handle any objections in advance
Summarise the benefits
Action
Make a limited offer
Give the reasons why you are making the offer
Ask them to act
Make it easy for them to do so by giving them as many options as possible
The other formula is what we call …
“Problem Agitation Solution”.
1. Identify with the problem eg.
poor cashflow
not enough time in the day
have to wear too many hats
work horrendous hours
low profits
poor morale
etc. etc.
To identify with their problem you can use a headline like:
WARNING - “7 in 10 small businesses think they don’t have this problem yet 8 in
10 ARE in grave danger RIGHT NOW!”
Don’t pay another cent off your home loan until you read this!
2. Create Agitation
Make the problem larger than life. Follow on from the opening paragraph that
identifies with their problem but now you expand on that problem by identifying
how that problem is affecting that prospect but in an exaggerated way.
3. Solution
Now you offer a solution. Introduce the possible outcome, introduce Icon as the
solution to that outcome and then reveal the benefits of the relevant Icon service.
eg. Good news. At [name of company] …
Now here’s a way to solve that problem forever.
Now you can _____________ without ___________
6 Steps to Writing a Winning Lead Generation Ad
1. Write a headline that flags the reader down, promotes a benefit and mentions
the offer (if appropriate).
Home Owners … Don’t Sign Anything Until You Read This
Buying a Car? FREE Report Shows You How to SAVE $1000’s And Avoid The
Rip-Offs!
Thinking of a Sea Change? Grab Your FREE Guide - “Everything Sea Changers
Need to Know But Were Afraid to Ask”(worth $50)
2. Body copy continues to relate to the needs of the reader and continues on from
the headline.
3. Introduce the company but more importantly, the offer. Sell the benefits of the
offer.
Discover 10 secrets to sell your home in half the time for $1000’s more.
Find out the good, the bad and the ugly of shop fit-out
The shocking truth about dietary supplements
4. Show a picture of the offer where possible so as to maximise the perceived
value.
Naturally, it’s very important to tell people about the benefits of your free offer.
If you have a free e-book, mock up a 3D cover of that e-book and feature it in
your advertising material.
If you are offering two free seminar tickets mock up two ticket stubs and put a
price across them, cross out the price and across that right the words “free”.
If you have a free CD pack, take a photo of the CD pack and include it.
Here’s an example of an ad that features all the winning elements. Specifically:
Notice how the headline “How to Retire Successfully” offers a strong benefit.
Notice how the sub-head then says “FREE 32 page booklet” and promotes the
offer heavily. There are two main types of ads – one step and two step ads. The
two step ads promote an offer and when you promote an offer in your ad it’s
important that the entire ad focuses on selling the free offer and not the business
itself. Notice how this ad is a great example of that. It features an image of the
free booklet offer along with captions and arrows promoting various elements of
that booklet. The body copy then goes on to further sell the benefits of the offer
talking about all the valuable information inside. At the end of the ad is a call to
action that gives people a reason to call now.
5. Include testimonials about the free offer.
Remember the testimonial should be about the offer and NOT about your
product or service. The purpose of the ad is to simply sell the next step. In this
example below, attendance at a free seminar …
“This information was brilliant! I learned a ton of new ideas to apply to my
property portfolio. I’ve been to a whole bunch of free seminars that are a
waste of time. This one was absolutely packaged with value. Actually, I think
you should be charging $250 admission to this event.”
John Jones
6. Summarise the benefits succinctly and ask for the order.
If your ad features a coupon, repeat the strongest benefits in the coupon as
well.
Key Points Summarised:
1. There are two key formulas:
Attention Interest Desire Action – benefit/gain focus
Problem Agitation Solution – fear/avoidance focus
2. Each ad should contain a headline, powerful body copy, an offer and call to
action. To maximise credibility where possible include a guarantee and
testimonials.
For more resources visit www.33DayFireUp.com
For Kristina’s latest blogs visit www.kristinasview.com
For copywriting and consulting courses and training visit www.writersandconsultants.com
For further copywriting and consulting services visit www.kristinamills.com
Telephone us on : +617 5448 9465
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