Is Advertising Copywriting Still Important? 

The other day a prospect asked me out of nowhere “is advertising copywriting still important? Is advertising important?”. And since these are questions I’ve gotten now on more than one occasion, I’m going to address them right now. 

The answer to both questions is yes – advertising is still important and (thus) so is advertising copywriting. For, if businesses depend on getting sales, advertising will remain relevant. And business will always depend on sales to survive; otherwise, they’ll just be hobbies. 

Claude Hopkins said in his book Scientific Advertising: advertising is salesmanship. And I’ve mentioned it throughout this blog – that copywriting is salesmanship in print and online. And that simply means that your advertising copy is working tirelessly, 24/7, to get as many sales as possible. 

But salesmanship is merely a generalization of why advertising copywriting is important. Now, I’m going to give 3 specific reasons for the importance of advertising copywriting.  

#1 Building Brand Awareness 

Advertising copywriting has a lot to do with the spreading of a brand message. Yet, most marketers don’t see it that way. 

That’s because advertising copy is often seen as “hard selling” copy. It’s that “BUY! BUY! BUY!” stigma that direct response advertising has that makes people think that advertising is just a manipulation tactic to get people to buy. But that’s not the case. 

I’m going to go back to a direct response copywriting example I have presented on this blog constantly – the Rolls Royce ad written by David Ogilvy. In it, you’ll find that Ogilvy gives the RR brand a glowing representation by focusing on the great benefits the customer gets with the car. He didn’t try to “Jedi mind Trick” his way into getting prospects to buy. Instead, he presented a clear brand message that let the reader know exactly what he was investing into. 

Excellent advertising copywriting builds brand awareness with a concise message designed with the market’s desires in mind. 

#2 Influencing Consideration for Your Offers 

Here’s the thing: if your ads do not help your prospects decide on whether to buy your offer, those ads were poorly written. 

As I’ve said before, your advertising is your 24/7 sales force. Therefore, their job is to constantly present the argument that your offer is the best choice to satisfy your prospects wants or needs. If your ad spends its time clowning around – making jokes and looking cute – instead of having serious business conversations with your market, then it’s high time you cut them loose. 

A fitting example of this is the Total Gym commercial featuring Chuck Norris. During this infomercial, you learn how Chuck Norris – one of the most respected and admired martial artists in the world – uses the Total Gym as part of his daily fitness routine. You learn the product’s ease of use and storage, as well as the results you can get. everything you need to know to make wise purchasing decision. 

Great advertisements make sure to show and tell the market what they’re buying, why they’re buying, how they’re buying it. That is influence consideration at its finest. 

#3 Repositioning Your Brand 

One benefit that most marketers forget about advertising is the ability it gives you to reposition a brand – when you know how to do it. 

Let’s say your brand is not getting as much attention as you’d like. Then it could be time to reposition your offers. And your advertising can do exactly that for you. 

Mother Energy Drink is an Australian brand that had developed a bad reputation due to its horrible taste. Coca-Cola, the brand’s manufacturer, wasn’t going to let the brand die. So, they repackaged the product and developed an advertising campaign focusing on the product’s new taste. The hope was to get people who had given up on the Mother brand to give it another try.  

Now, since this was a retail ad campaign, I cannot tell you whether the campaign succeeded or not. But I wanted to show that advertising – and advertising copywriting – can play a significant role in the repositioning of a brand. 

Is Advertising Copywriting Still Important? 

You must understand that advertising copywriting is still as relevant today as it was when advertising was first used. Advertising copywriting can help you build brand awareness, get influence consideration for your offers, and reposition your brand when necessary. 

What do you think? Is advertising copywriting still important today? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. And share this post if you think it could help someone become a better marketer.  

Thank you for your time.