Fred's Advertising Clinic - Part 5: Action!

So far in the Advertising Clinic, we've covered the first three parts of the formula for writing ad copy: Attention, interest and desire. Now we move on to the fourth and final part of the formula: Getting the customer to act.

If you've done the other three steps of the formula correctly, you've got the audience's attention. They're listening to what you have to say because you've built interest in your product. They want your product because you've built desire. But all this is for naught if you can't convince them to act.

The call to action means, quite simply, that you're telling your customer what to do. So what do you want them to do?

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Remember, though, that your call to action has to mesh with the rest of your script. If it's a hard sell, you can get right to it and tell them what to do. But if you've taken a softer approach, you'd seem overbearing and maybe even obnoxious, so a gentler call to action is needed. The same if you've taken a comedic approach. Don't blow the punch line with an obnoxious urge to BUY NOW BUY NOW! Stay in the spirit of your piece.

Let's look at the example we've been using all along: Dry Erase Markers.

One of our approaches has the markers saving the customer's job, and maybe even winning him or her a promotion. So our call to action appropriately would be something like, "Get that promotion you've been after -- use Dry Erase Markers."

We also explored an quasi-public service approach, in which Dry Erase Markers helps keep the family together and organized. So we close with, "Bring your family together... with Dry Erase Markers."

If our copy touts the correct-ability of Dry Erase Markers in a pretty straightforward manner, then our action step can be straightforward too: "Fix those mistakes. With Dry Erase."

If you can do it simply, you can even repeat one of the benefits in your action line for an extra boost: "Be Mistake-proof, use Dry Erase Markers."

One other thing: If you're plugging a specialty product, or one that's not available everywhere, don't leave the audience guessing. Be sure to tell them where to find you or your product: "Find Dry Erase Markers at your favorite stationery store." That's a call to action too.

Remember: To make the sale, you have to tell your customer to buy the product.

Next time in the Advertising Clinic, we pull it all together.

Fred's Advertising Clinic is written by producer and voiceover artist Fred Pagano,
owner of Brown Cow Studios of Boston.

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