COPY PITFALLS

COPY PITFALLS

Writing effective advertising copy for radio or television isn’t as easy as tossing a few words on paper and having someone read them with conviction. The fact is, there’s a method to writing copy and as time has passed, it has become more science than method. Here are some of the most common errors that untrained copywriters make:

THE CLICHÉ

How many times have you heard, “New and improved”? How about “…our professional staff…” or the ever popular, “…all your (BLANK) needs.” The biggest problem with using clichés in ad writing is that no one hears it anymore. No one believes it. And considering what you’ll pay for ad time, there is no room for empty words. If the copy written for your business contains clichés such as these, you need a better copywriter.

TOO MUCH INFORMATION

All too often, advertisers want to cram as much as they can into their 30 or 60 seconds with the idea that: “I’m paying for 60 seconds, so dagummit, I’m gonna put as much information in this ad as I can!”

But instead of propagating MORE information, these ads do less. Remember, the listener isn’t sitting there staring at the radio like a kid staring at a smartphone. And with the listener’s attention divided, too much information causes the mind to have to make a choice…either listen to the cluttered commercial or concentrate more on the other thing it’s doing. And in an ‘attention’ tug of war, the commercial always losses out. Studies have shown repeatedly that radio spots work best when they concentrate on no more than 3 information points.

BAD LOCATION DESCRIPTION

Unless you plan on having your customers mail themselves to your business, including the location as 2242 Main Street is a bad idea. When someone asks you for directions to someplace, how do you describe it? You use landmarks. “Doc’s? oh yeah…it’s on Main Street next to the library.” And your radio commercial should do the same thing.

If you copy contains errors like these, you need a better copywriter. Contact me for details.

shel@radiospotdoc.com

Or just click the CONTACT box at the top of the page.