When Writing Advertising Copy, Voice Isn’t the One Thing; It’s the Only Thing

When you’re writing the copy for your latest advertorial, the advertising copy should conform to journalistic style and tone as much as possible. Advertorials generally take the shape of a news article or editorial in print publications, such as newspapers and magazines. With advertorial writing, you’re blending techniques used in advertising with journalism. The goal is to sell a product or service while adhering to a style that clients see as having authority.

Here are a few tips to give your advertorial the authoritative voice it needs to get your product or service sold:

• The feature or human-interest story is an effective to way to lend credibility to the product or service you’re trying to sell.
• Be clear about what the main idea of the advertorial is. By the time the reader reaches the third paragraph, she should know what she’s reading about.
• Write in chunks. Use short two—or three—sentence blocks of information in each paragraph. The last thing you want is for the reader to get tired of reading a huge block of text and put the story down.
• Use quotes from happy customers to help potential clients envision what it would be like to use your product.
• Write snappy headlines and subheads that will draw your reader in.
• Stay away from jargon and industry speak. Instead use a conversational tone and use language that your potential client will understand.
• Use Associated Press style, or come up with a consistent style for the advertorial.
• Above all, don’t get wordy. Simple, snappy prose is the way to go.