How To Write Effective Advertising

Every Christian business owner should be familiar with how to write effective advertising. A.I.D.A. are  the 4 basic principles at the foundation of crafting advertising copy that grabs the readers attention and attracts customers for your business.

They are effective tools to use in your sales offers, marketing brochures and advertising copy. It's these four characteristics that will enable your advertising to be more than just another ad. When used properly they should inform and motivate your prospects to act.

It reminds me of the Bible verse in Habakkuk 2:2 where the Prophet is instructed to write down his vision. Then he's told to make it plain, so that the message could be easily understood and taken it to others.

Writing effective advertising has the same requirements. It too should tell an important message and be written using everyday wording that easy to understand and compels the reader to act upon what they've read.

Attention

Your ads should use attention grabbing headlines, words like "free and how to" work well when you are trying to attract buyers to an ad. This is the first principle and it's where most advertising copy falls short.

Interest

To generate interest every ad needs to have information of value to the reader. If it doesn't address a specific problem or need of the target audience it won't hold their interest.

Desire

To create a desire for a product your ad should list the benefits of using your product rather features or pricing. People would much rather pay a few dollars more for a flu shot than spend less money on medicine that doesn't completely solve their problem.

Action

This has to be the most crucial principle in the ad. You always want to tell your prospects just what action you want them to take. Using words like "click here" and "buy now" are the best way to let potential buyers know just what it is you want them to do after they have finished reading your ad.

I've put together a post on where Christian business owners can find free advertising for small businesses not long ago. It has lots more information that you'll find useful. I just completed a video on writing effective ads, using creative signs written men who are homeless and rely on their signs to communicate a message to passersby. Watch the short video and you'll see that most of them are unwittingly applying some or all of these advertising principles to hustle pocket change.

The key to writing effective advertising is using the 4 principles of I've discussed, and to meet as many of the following criteria as possible.

Use bold offers
Generate interest with a story
Offer information of value
Tell prospect what action you want them to take.

People seek out Prophets for answers, because of their relationship with God and their wisdom at solving problems. Customers will seek out your products, if you craft advertising copy that tells them how your product can solve their problem.