OUJ3700

Print and Digital

Writing tips

• Every second counts; therefore, every word counts.

• Speak to the audience the way you would speak to your friend at a restaurant. Be more conversational.

• Contractions are your friend.

• This is the “Tell Them” part of the equation.

Writing tips

• Jargon is lazy.

• Conveniently located….• Now that (insert season here) is in the air….• The friendly folks at….• But wait, there’s more….• Don’t miss out….• Huge selection….

Get rid of jargon• Active

• Alive

• Brimming

• Captivating

• Lively

• Secluded

• Vivid

Paint a picture and help the person understand what your place is like if they have never visited there before.

Get rid of question lead ins

• Are you looking for a great way to cool your house?

• What if the answer is no?

• You lose your audience.

• Question lead in=one letter grade deduction….

Avoid generalizations

• Yuck: We have dozens of suits on sale.

• Yeah: We have blue, black, single-breasted, 5-button and powder blue suits.

Avoid if

See my question point.

If….half a letter grade….

Watch prepositions

• At Dan’s Suitshack, we have alterations.

• Dan’s Suitshack has alterations.

• Think SVO

Two other thoughts

• Don’t go negative

• Think active present tense

Thinking about art direction

1. Write your copy the way it will appear as the finished product. If you are writing 16x9, format your screen that way. It will save you lots of time.

2. Remember a column of ad copy is usually 30-50 characters wide.

3. Adjust words so the copy breaks naturally.

4. Talk about type and font.

Print principles

1. One liner

2. News/Demos

3. The Story

4. The Sermon

5. The Outline

THE FASTBALL70-75% of the time

Print principlesThe One liner

• One simple sentence that says it all.

• If you have a good commitment statement, you’re really close to having your copy read.

• The visual delivers much of the communication.

The one line doesn’t have to be words.

Example of a one liner

Example one liner

Print principlesNews/Demo• When ads have worthwhile info, we are more apt to read it.

• New information (price, use, sale) is a good time to run an ad.

• Your challenge is to not make it seem like the same old story.

• Differentiate why it is news: (Think contrast before/after)

• Demonstrate your advantage (side by side, new/old)

• Good deeds matter. Cause marketing is becoming a big deal.

News example

THE breaking ball20-25% of the time

Print principlesThe story

• Think testimonials

• Thinks case studies

• Establish characters and conflict

• Have your hero be the product and save the day.

The story examples

The story examples

Print principlesthe sermon

• Act as an authority.

• Act as a friend.

• Tell them what you’re going to tell them.

• Tell them.

• Tell them what you told them.

• Think of the art as a visual aid. If we are talking about drunk driving, I would to see an accident. If I’m asking people to listen, ears help.

sermon example

Sermon example

Print principlesthe outline

• These have lots of copy.

• Subheads tell the story.

• Small illustrations guide the story.

• Make sure you have a call to action at the end.

• Think infographs.

Outline example

Web ads

Web writing tips

• Think about font size.

• 14 font • Think about conversational writing.

• Think about legibility. I think dark text on a light background is easiest to read.

• Think about bandwidth.

• Remember mobile.

• Don’t see the ad for as long…

Web advertisingtypes of ads• Banner ads

• Logos

• Tile/Cube ads

• Pop-Up ads

• Button ads

• Intermercial

• Keyword Ads

Web advertisingbanner ads

• Thinks online billboard.

• It’s in a boxed environment to the side of the article or website you are visiting.

• They can be static or moving.

Banner ad

Web advertisingLogos

• If you have a strong brand or are looking for just name retention, these work well.

• You can connect these to conversions and allow the web host to get a part of the profit. This can reduce cost.

Web advertisingTile or Cube Ads

• These are more square in nature.

• You don’t have much copy, if any to use.

• They are at the bottom and sides of pages.

• Big and bold helps here.

Cube ad

Web advertisingPop Up ads

• They appear on screen for five seconds when you visit a page.

• They can feature audio and video.

• Not everyone has their speakers on when online.

• Focus on a dirt simple, must do now conversion step.

• Anticipate backlash on social channels.

Web advertisingButton ads

• These are also square in nature.

• The action step is to download software.

• Anti-virus people use this all the time.

Button ad

Web advertisingintermercial

• It’s an interactive pop up ad.

• The best ones try and work through some form of gaming theme.

• Make sure the visual work, because people tend to mute or keep speakers off when videos appear without prompting.

• If you make people click to play the video, I think it’s much more effective.

• These don’t have to be :30