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Visit www.whitepapermedia.com. This is the first in a series about writing better copy for sales materials and advertisements. This article will cover the importance of good copywriting, finding a USP, making sure you solve a problem, understanding your target audience, researching your competition, and going with instincts.

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The Importance of good copy:

Good words are worth a thousand pictures. I just made that up. But it's true in some advertising cases. Great copy for your ads, brochures, and websites is vital if you want to compete in an ever-growing sea of advertising. The usual cliches are tired, and most people have their ad-filters set on high. It's 2006 now, and most people, especially young people, hate advertising that insults their intelligence. Savvy marketers will see past the first headline that pops into their head (hopefully it wasn't: "lowest prices in town").

I don't remember where, but I heard that 2006 will be "the year of content." I might have made that up also, but I think it is very true. People will have so much available to read, that they will only read what interests them, and they can easily find it by searching online. I'm not trying to be another "the internet is taking over everything" freak, but it is true that advertising dollars are moving online fast. Marketing online will soon require either a lot of words, or a lot of money to be effective.

Even when you spend extra money on advertising space, you still have competition. The only way you can gain the edge now is with better pictures and more importantly better words. Even if you are the title sponsor, and your signs are the largest, when would it be more important to find the right words? As Roy H. Williams says in the Wizard of ads: "Forget about a better mousetrap. Concentrate on better words."

Find the USP, and flaunt it.

To find your USP, consider what is different about your company. Are you the ONLY company doing something specific? Are you the only one that can combine x service/product with x service/product? What problem can you solve for your customer that competition cannot should highlight your unique Selling Proposition in your body copy. Drive the point home multiple times, using different words. If possible, try to reference to your USP in your headlines, taglines and body copy. Try not to be too obvious though. Every ad needs a touch of class, remember not to insult audience intelligence. Just make sure that you are communicating the USP up-front. For more on USP's, click here.

Pick a Target Audience.

Yea that is annoying to hear when you really want "everyone", but make sure you define one or two for your copy. When you narrow down your audience, you can gear the message toward them better and get higher returns, most likely more than with a "blanketed" approach. If you have a broad audience, consider breaking up your marketing materials to cater to each audience. That's not against the rules, and large companies do it all the time.

Solve a Problem.

Your product or service is suppose to solve a problem for your customer. In your copy, rather than focus on your product, focus on the problem it solves. It will steer your language in the right direction. Along the same lines is making sure that you focus on benefits rather than features. Here is an example (Based on the new MacBook release by Apple):

Feature: The new power adapter with MagSafe connector is designed to magnetically guide your cord into place, and has a magnetic connection.

Benefit: It connects and disconnects easily and smoothly if someone(else) trips over it, and the connection places less wear on connectors, so you wont have to replace it often.

Try to help the reader envision themselves using your product or service. Paint a picture for them to help them see how they will be happier after they use what you have.

Research.

Once you know your audience and U