When you’re not a marketer, writing an ad can seem daunting. There are so many questions and things to consider. It can be easy though when you follow a simple structure and a handful of rules.
Let’s go over what you need to know when creating an ad that leads your customers towards taking action.
THE STRUCTURE OF AN AD
So what does a compelling ad look like?
In order for your customer to take action, you should engage them with this 5 Step Formula:
1. Get their attention.
2. Remind them of their problem.
3. Break the problem state.
4. Tell them about the solution.
5. Tell them what action to take.
We’ll come to how to do each of these below.
ADVERTISING WITH AUDIO ADS
Structure of ads differ across different media platforms, each has its unique characteristics. This means that we have to do different things in print, television, online video and audio ads.
To give an obvious example, in a print ad, you need something to catch the reader’s eye. Otherwise, your ad is likely to lost on the page.
In an audio ad, you need something to catch their ear!
So what are the constraints with an audio ad?
You’ll need to check with the radio station where you’ll be playing your audio ad. And there are some easy rules to follow to make your audio ads more likely to be a good fit with them:
- Aim for a duration of of 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds.
- Always be truthful about your products and services.
- Never say bad things about your competitors.
- Never use words that may be subject to regulation unless you’re allowed to do so.
Remember whoever is playing your ad must comply with local laws and those of their listeners. But put simply… as long as you are careful to not lie or to defame anyone, this is usually easy to do.
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Imagine for a moment that you’re a vegetarian and hate meat. If I come along and try to sell you a juicy steak, it’s going to be very hard for me to make that sale.
But, if you love steak and I speak in the way you do, you’ll listen to everything I say. Especially when you’re hungry and thinking about dinner.
One common mistake when constructing ads is assuming that their audience is everyone.
It isn’t.
When advertising and designing a audio ad, you must identify your target audience.
How? think through your existing customers and select the ones that you find easiest to work with.
Next, create what’s known as a customer avatar. Find a photo of someone who looks like your customer. Give them a name, an age, and a few other details. The more specific you can make your customer avatar, the easier it will be to write your ad.
After you’ve created a customer avatar, think about how the problem that you solve affects them.
Finally, work out what you want them to do when they hear your audio ad/experience your advertising.
THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN WRITING YOUR AUDIO AD
Before we get to how to write your ad, there are a few important points to cover. Most of these apply to any ad in any medium.
People are more inclined to buy from people who are like themselves.
This means that it’s important that you speak the way your customer does.
So take a few moments to think about your ideal customer. What words do they use when they’re describing their problem? Why is it important for them to solve such problem?
The best way to do this is to find an actual person who is your ideal customer and ask them questions about it. You may have friend who fits into this category.. take one of them out for a coffee and ask them questions about it.
Pay attention to how they word things. What you’re looking for are their exact words.
When it seems like something is important to them, pause them and say something like “It sounds like…” followed by whatever they just said in their own words.
If you see them light up when you do this, you’re on the right track.
You also need to decide on the purpose of the ad. Are you going for brand recognition? Do you want to sell them something? Is it something else?
Whatever its purpose might be, your ad needs to provide some benefit to your customer. This can be anything you can imagine. Maybe it makes them laugh. Maybe it tells them how to solve a problem they have. Maybe it educates them about something.
The best ads do several of these at once. If you’d like some ideas on what this looks like, you can listen to some of our audio ad samples here.
HOW TO WRITE AN AUDIO AD
So now we know who our customer is, how do we write an ad for them?
We’ve already established the words that they use, so we want to make sure that we use those words in our ad.
As we’re doing this, it’s important to be aware that anything negative we say will become attached to us.
But we still have to identify the problem that we’re going to solve for our customer.
As I mentioned earlier, the very first thing we want to do is grab their attention.
Think about it for a moment. If you’re in a mall and an announcement comes over the PA system saying something like “Could Bob Smith please make your way to the security kiosk on level 2”, you’re likely going to pay attention to it if your name is Bob Smith. You likely won’t pay much attention to it otherwise
It’s the same with advertising.
So think about your ideal customer and their problem. Then create an opening statement designed to grab their attention.
Next you want to introduce their problem and stir it up a bit for them. Depending on the type of ad, this could be included in grabbing their attention.
You’ve seen ads that do this. Very obvious examples are the ads you’ll hear which start with statements like “Are you X, Y, Z” or “Do you find that you want X, but Y happens”.=
After introducing their problem, disrupt it a little. You don’t want the problem attached to you, but rather the solution. There are lots of ways to do this. Depending on the context, you can use phrases like “it’s not your fault” or “it doesn’t have to be that way”. These phrases are clichéd because they work.
Next, tell them about your solution to their problem. Though be sure to highlight the benefits they get, rather than the features.
And finally, tell them what you want them to do. If the purpose of your ad is to have people call you on the phone, you have to tell them that. If you’re going for brand recognition, you could finish with a catchphrase.
Whatever it is, if you don’t tell them to do it, they won’t.
HOW TO GET YOUR AUDIO AD CREATED FOR YOU
Now this may all sound daunting, so I’ve got some good news for you. Here at LFM Audio, we specialise in creating compelling audio ads for your clients.
With 72 hour turnaround and world-wide studios, trust us and your audio ads will be delivered on time. And with our fixed pricing, you’ll know in advance that we won’t break your budget.
We’ve covered a lot in this article. But there’s a lot more that we couldn’t fit in, like selecting the right music and phrasing things just right for your customers.
Let us take all those steps off your hands.
To get started, you can check out our samples here. And when you’re convinced that it’s right for you, all you have to do is click the handy button to place your order right now.
Get started here today here.
