Write Tight

Posted on February 18, 2008

My first news editor hammered one thing into my consciousness: write tight. Leave out the frills, just present the facts and move on.

Many people who think they are writers want to commit an act of literature every time they let the creative muse out of the bottle. Write tight is good advice no matter what you are writing, but especially today when you are developing search engine keyword ads.

Here’s why. The typical Google ad headline has a 25 character count maximum. Description lines one and two cannot exceed 35 characters each. Tolstoy and Faulkner would be in trouble. Let’s review some best practices for writing text, or pay-per-click ads.

Preparation Is Paramount. As in all marketing, the prep work is crucial in writing text ads. Carefully define your audience. Who are they from a demographic, psychographic and geographic perspective? Are they 16-year-olds whose raging hormones are blocking their ability to reason, or time-stressed 50-year-old IT executives? Get inside their heads. Determine what keywords they would search out. Once you have a few keywords identified, use one of the free keyword research tools to beef up your list.

Generate Action. Major companies may have the money to place “brand” ads for the purpose of generating impressions. This is not the purpose of a text ad. Its purpose is to create clicks. Think about what call-to-action phrases would make your target audience respond. For the 16-year-old it may be “get your ringtones now.” For the IT executive it may be “download our whitepaper.” Do you have a service that will solve a problem? Then, say something like “Do the job in half the time”, or “Improve your sex life.”

Less Is More. High concepts and the complex have no place in text ads. Twenty word headlines tend to force the marketer to be simple. Plays on words and attempts at humor usually fall flat in this genre. Simply tell the consumer what your offer is and don’t play games to try to get the consumer to click. You want only those consumers who will have some interest in your offer to come to your website. Tricks for clicks is a waste of money.

Make An Offer. If you have an attractive offer, use it. Offering a lower price? Say so: “10% Off”. Free is still the most powerful word in advertising. If that’s your offer, feel free to say “Free.” Just not in all caps, OK?

Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” This won’t wash in writing text ads. Take your time. Get it right. Write tight.

Harry Hoover is a partner in My Creative Team. He has 30 years of experience in crafting and delivering bottom line messages that ensure success for serious businesses like Bank of Commerce, CruisingTheICW.com, Duke Energy, Focus Four, Jacobsen, Levolor, National Gypsum, North Carolina Tourism, Premier, Rubbermaid, Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems, VELUX, and Verbatim.

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