How to Write Copy for Your Banner Ads

A proper pop up banner display can be a powerful advertising tool for any enterprise. Once it’s printed and placed where it needs to be, it can draw attention and inform prospects about your campaign. But, for a banner to fulfil its purpose, it must have one key ingredient: good copywriting.

For a business banner to sell, or any banner fore that matter, it must communicate. First, you must understand your audience, choose an appealing benefit, and create a clear, concise message.

By accomplishing that, you’ll give the banner a voice that will be heard loud and clear. Here are a few tips on how to write good copy that will get you a maximum return of investment.

Point Out the Benefits

Good copy isn’t focused on features, but benefits. It’s a rule that you can apply to any task, on any scale. So, forget the banner for a moment and think only about copywriting.

For example, there’s a new gym in town and it’s starting a promotion. They are offering 50% off for the first six months on all new memberships. A banner that says “50% discount” might be informative, but is it persuasive?

Let’s think of it this way: what’s in it for the prospect? In this particular case, they’ll get fit and healthy, while saving a couple of pennies. Before you start writing for flyers, banners, mailers, or any other medium, think of a benefit.

Consider Your Targets

Everything revolves around the audience. But, when it comes to banner ads, there are some bumps in the road.

When you read a newspaper, you are not reading it for the ads, but at least you are in reading mode. That doesn’t go for banners. In this case, you’re usually just a passer-by hurrying to get to work, listening to music on your earphones, or deep in conversation with a friend.

Perhaps you are driving by a banner, in which case you might only look at it for a fraction of a second. Keep these factors in mind as you are working on your copy. You need to make the most of that nanosecond.

There’s not a lot of time to attract an audience, since they are likely focusing on something else. Advertisers are familiar with that, perhaps a bit too well. They try to grab the attention of passers-by by crowding the streets with their messages.

But what happens to them? People ignore most of these messages, if not all.

If you are speaking to everyone, you are speaking to no one.

If you want people to consider your message, it must resonate with them on a personal level. And they’ll listen to it only when they want to. You must try targeting prospects who are most likely to show interest.

Learn about the needs and interests of your target audience. Learn their vernacular as well, you could use it to write copies. If what you have to offer might interest different groups of people, create a separate message for each of them.

See it Through Their Eyes

Let’s say you have a product or service that is perfect for a specific group of people. It could make their life easier or solve a problem they might have. If you speak using their words, they will be much more open to hearing about what you’re selling.

Refrain from using technical terms and shop talk, even though it might be difficult not to. Your prospects may not understand such talk well, and might only end up confused. Unless, of course, you are targeting tech-savvy people.

But, imagine you want to get to Joe Bloggs. Picture him looking at your ad that’s full of tech jargon and specs. What happens in those few moments? He sees some strange lingo he doesn’t understand (and he’ll never admit to that, of course).

So Joe ignores the ad and moves on. After all, you weren’t targeting him, but yourself. Even though you are an expert in your field and understand your product perfectly, the ad isn’t meant to please you, but your prospects.

Keep It Short and Simple

The most common mistake in writing copy for a banner ad is cramming a lot of info in it. Keep in mind, a banner is a huge canvas. It gives you plenty of room to work, just enough for all the precise details.

Generally, most prospects get hooked by glancing at just one or two words, aside from the image. If those are convincing enough, they’ll want to find out more.

Depending on the shape and format, a good headline usually has about six to eight words. Meaning: forget about perfect phrasing and complete sentences.

“Lose weight and get fit -50% for the first six months.” Too wordy, right? Our new gym wouldn’t be off to a good start.

“Lose weight – 50% off.” Now, this one’s shorter, more poignant, and conveys the same idea.

Simple goes hand in hand with short. Although these are two different criteria, they are equally important. The best thing might be to try and forget all about your service, product, promotion, and business for that matter, and just focus on one benefit alone.

Your main goal is to attract new business now, so put everything else aside. You’ll fill them in on the rest of the details later.

Back to our made-up gym. The “50% discount” makes the copy sound cold and mathematical. To simplify it, we could focus on weight loss, instead of the numbers. Something along the lines, “Shed those pounds. Save your pennies”.

Catchy Words

These are alright as long as you know what words your prospects deem to be catchy. Some words you should avoid altogether. Words like “innovative, “110% value”, “make money”, and “client-focused” have become clichés. Everyone uses them.

Such words have lost their efficiency a long time ago. Instead, it might be better to think of a catchy CTA or an enticing question.

The strongest word that you can use is “FREE”. But, if you’re planning on using it, exercise great care. If you use it, everything will be fine as long as you are sure your business is actually providing something of considerable value to its customers, free of charge.

Now that you know what your banner copy needs to be, it’s time to order one. Contact Printroom today, and let’s start working on it!