About Your Copy

Before we start, let's get one thing clear. This post is not about the copies we make for you on our copy machines. It's about the copy (text) that appears on your website and in your promotional materials. No matter what type of business you run, copy affects every part of your business. It's the cornerstone of your marketing, and it affects the executive team, the HR department, and every aspect of the organization. How? To answer that question, let's first take a look at what copy is and what it is not. Copywriting is the act of producing written text (copy). It's not the same as "copyright," which refers to one's legal right to produce and publish content. Wikipedia explains copywriting as "writing copy (text) for the purpose of advertising or marketing. The copy is meant to persuade someone to buy a product or influence their beliefs." That second part is especially important because it's the key differentiator between success and failure in copywriting. Weak copy will be thrown in the trash, while good copy will move the recipient to the desired action you want them to take. This applies not only to advertising and marketing but to any type of business and even personal communication. Effective copywriting is sometimes referred to as "a salesman in print." It can be seen in brochures, billboards, websites, emails, TV and radio ads, catalogs, and many other places where the goal is to move someone to a desired action. That action might be purchasing your product, engaging with your company, or picking up the phone to request more information. In short, copywriting is all about making the recipient move and act. Copywriting dates all the way back to the nineteenth century, when the newspaper industry was beginning to boom. At that time, copywriting referred to the words written by journalist being copied from their desk into the newspaper. Times may have changed, but copywriting is as crucial now in helping to sell your products as it was then in helping to sell newspapers. Good copywriting answers the problem of how to get more sales. Two big buzzwords today are content marketing and inbound marketing. Both essentially refer to copywriting. While effective copywriting is part science and part art, the fact is that anyone can create copy that moves people to act. Well-crafted copywriting doesn't need to be full of hype or written with bold typefaces and capitalization that beats people over the head. There are three basic steps you can take to create compelling copy. 1. Know your audience. It should be a given that you know exactly who you're creating the copy for. The more you know about your target audience, the easier it will be to create powerful copy. A demographic profile can help you not only create your copy but also know who you will be sending that content to. The following are some examples of data you'll find in a demographic profile: Gender Age Family Status Income Occupation Interests 2. Focus on them, not you. Everyone wants to be the center of attention. This applies in copywriting as well. The focus should be on the recipient, not how great you are. Your copy should answer the question: How will the products and services you offer benefit your customers and make their lives easier? Your copy must be able to answer the #1 question in every recipient's head: "What's in it for me?" In terms of copywriting, your product or service is far less important than its ability to fulfill your customers' needs. 3. Always include a call to action. Always. No matter what marketing medium you use to send and communicate the copy, there should always be a call to action. Never assume that the recipient will know what you want them to do next. Tell them exactly what the next step should be. Should they call, fill out a form, or visit your showroom? Make it crystal clear. It takes time, skill, practice, and patience to become a master copywriter. For businesses that want to produce effective copy that moves people to act, following these three simple steps can go a long way toward achieving that goal. Communication tools may be expanding and evolving, but one thing will never change: the need for good, effective copywriting. Bad content produced across multiple marketing channels will work just as poorly as it did across one. Change the words used to communicate your uniqueness and to tell your story, and you will change your business.

5 Ways to Make More Money Simply by Using Your Time Well

We entrepreneurs want to do everything personally. This often includes menial tasks that can cost us money. Sure, we get the satisfaction of doing it ourselves, but that satisfaction comes at the cost of profit. Broken faucet? We're on the job! But the time spent fixing that plumbing is time we didn't spend on the business, and that lost time could have earned us far more than what we saved by doing the job ourselves. Making money is rarely about saving it. It's largely about getting more out of every second of every day. When people talk about the richest people in the world, they don't just talk about their net worth. Instead, they talk about how much money they make per second or per hour. That's because deep down, we all know that life is a marathon, not a sprint. It's about making proper use of our time so we make more money per hour. So how can we accomplish more in less time? Here are five ideas to get you started. 1. Focus on the Jobs That Make the Most Money There are plenty of things an entrepreneur has to get done, and not all of them are business-related. Marketing, house cleaning, link building, and customer service are just some examples. Which of these isn't like the others? Which one won't make you money? If you answered house cleaning, you're right. Time is money, and if you spend your time on the little things, you'll end up sacrificing the big things -- the jobs that can pay for your food, rent, and car. Time management isn't just about finding time to do everything. It's about prioritizing and finding the time to do the right things. 2. Relax Many of us wrongly associate relaxation with lethargy or laziness. Nothing could be further from the truth. While most people would find it unthinkable to relax when they have a business to run, that's not true for those who make hundreds of dollars per hour. Relaxation allows a person to create space between their work and themselves. It gives them the time to rest, and with that time the ability to see the forest for the trees. Bury your nose in your work, and you'll start to lose perspective. Time off helps to maintain that edge. Taking some time to relax also lets you recharge. Most entrepreneurs handle multiple aspects of the business every day -- juggling numbers, thoughts, ideas, and who knows what else. Even in short bursts, such activity can be extremely tiring and can rob a person of their energy in record time. An entrepreneur low on energy is more likely to miss out on an important detail or two, and that can spell disaster down the road. 3. Get a Personal Assistant A personal assistant is there to make life easier for you and to sort out the little things, which is great since it lets you focus on the big issues instead. For as little as eight dollars per hour, you can hire someone who will perform basic tasks, such as making sure your bills get paid on time or doing your grocery shopping for you. If you develop a good relationship with your assistant and they prove trustworthy, you could even end up using them to sort through your email, so only important messages get your attention. Depending on your situation, you might not even need your assistant to be in the same country. Virtual assistants can work well as researchers and email handlers from anywhere in the world. 4. Find Out When You Do Your Best Work, and Work Then Each person has a different rhythm. Stephen King works in the morning and until noon. So did Henry Miller, who would work from morning till afternoon, spending evenings with friends. They understood they had a rhythm. Instead of fighting it, they embraced it fully. You should do the same. Figure out when you do your best work. Make a chart if it helps. Once you figure out when the best ideas come and when you feel in the zone, work out your schedule so it coincides with your ideal work time. 5. Get a Maid A clean workspace is a usable workspace. It's relatively easy to find people who can clean your house, wash your dishes, and cook. Those chores take time you could be spending on marketing a new product. Focus on making enough to afford to pay someone to clean your floors, while you ensure your financial independence and future. When it's all said and done, it really boils down to this: You need to figure out which aspects of your life make the most money and which ones can be delegated. If it isn't worth your time, don't do it. It's as simple as that.

Promises to Keep

In his classic poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Robert Frost speaks of taking a moment to watch the snow collect on the trees along a dark lane, presumably on his way to somewhere important. He closes with these lines: The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. As business professionals, we all struggle at times with similar feelings, conflicts, and doubts. We may want to stop for a moment in the middle of a busy day to enjoy a mental break, but in the back of our minds (or even the front sometimes), we can't shake the nagging sense that we should be focusing instead on the work that lies ahead. Like the narrator in Frost's poem, we, too, have promises we must keep -- commitments we've made to customers, vendors, employees, colleagues, family members, and friends. That can often mean long days, sleepless nights, and not a lot of extra time to watch snow falling on trees. In our drive to stay ahead, we often miss the forest entirely -- distracted by the hundreds of tiny details that make up our days. That's not to say our promises aren't important. Quite the contrary. In business, our word is what ultimately matters most to our customers, shareholders, vendors, and employees. Failing to keep our commitments can have dire consequences for our companies and our reputations. But there's also something to be said for taking the time to stop and look around. A small mental break might help to spark a bold new thought or rekindle a flame burnt out by trying to get too much done in far too little time. Such moments are important to our own well-being and to the health of our companies. They can't come at the expense of getting things done, but they should come more frequently than many of us allow. So as you go about managing your business, take some time to notice the little things around you. Like the fall of snow on the trees that line the path that wanders through your day.

An Important Business Lesson from an 8-Year-Old Girl

There's something undeniably different about this time of year -- an almost palatable sense of wonder, excitement, joy, and possibility not always seen in our everyday routine. Amid the hustle and bustle of shopping, planning, and reconnecting with family and friends, we often find ourselves thinking back to seasons past -- and forward to the future with renewed energy and hope. For a few weeks each December, we're willing to suspend disbelief and imagine the possibility of what we cannot see. New York Sun writer Francis Church shared his thoughts on this very subject more than a century ago. "The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see," Church wrote. "Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world." Church addressed his commentary to Virginia O'Hanlon, an eight-year-old girl who had posed a very simple question: Is there a Santa Claus? While intended to quell the fears of a questioning child, Church's words could just as easily apply to each of us in business today. Like young Virginia, we, too, find ourselves in doubt sometimes -- unsure whether we should trust the instincts that have taken us this far. In Virginia's case, those doubts were fueled by "little friends" who told her Santa Claus was not real. For us, those "friends" often manifest themselves internally as a quiet, yet nagging voice that assures us we'll find safety in convention and by taking the road more traveled. And so, like Virginia, we need an occasional reminder that seeking the unseeable and trusting the unknowable can lead to places many would consider unattainable.

Times They are a Changin'

If your business is planning to rebrand itself (whether through a name change, a new logo, a business merger, or some other means), remember the name and/or logo is not the only thing that changes. Rebranding can be a large-scale operation that involves effort from multiple departments. While your to-do list may seem endless, here are a few of the top items to consider to ensure your rebranding process runs smoothly: Create a list of all printed collateral that needs to be updated (such as letterhead, envelopes, business cards, flyers, brochures, labels, forms, notepads, and packaging). Give us a call anytime if you have questions about turnaround times, company colors, logo changes, quantity purchase discounts, or anything else related to your printing needs. Update your trade show booth, banners, posters, giveaways, company pens, name-tags, and other trade show related materials. Keep customers in the loop by mailing "we're changing our name" postcards, including a blurb in your newsletter, and providing social media mentions (among other things). Update employee bios. Add your new name to each employee's company bio to show the transition. For example, "Mark Davis has worked at XYZ Company since it was founded in 1989, when it was called ABC Company." Change your name and logo on invoices, accounting templates, quote preparation software, and other types of reporting software. If you're considering a web domain name change, make sure the new domain name is available before switching, and then set up your old web address to forward automatically to your new website to ensure a smooth transition. Update email addresses and consider using an auto-responder to remind people to update their email address books. Also update email signatures and inform readers your address will be changing so they can update their spam blockers -- especially if you send email newsletters. Ensure your phone service provider has the correct company name, so it shows up correctly on caller ID. Inform all professional organizations, business groups, subscription services, and other interested parties of your name change. Update on-hold marketing messages and voice mail messages. Consider using both names with a greeting such as: "Thanks for calling XYZ Company, formerly known as ABC Company." We know that rebranding can be a daunting task, but you don't need to go it alone. Our team of printing professionals can help you every step of the way. When it comes to updating your print collateral, we're here to help, from developing creative new ideas to carrying the finished products to your document storage area. Give us a call today.

Why Authenticity is the Key to Growing Your Business

When it comes to content marketing, you can try all the advertising, promotional, and PR ploys, but authenticity remains key. What is authenticity, you might ask? Simply stated, it means staying true to your business values: who you are, who you serve, and what you do. It may sound like a no-brainer, but very few companies are able to withstand internal pressures or external turbulence without losing their authenticity, according to a recent study. How to apply authenticity It all starts from the top, so set a vision that your company's personnel understand, embrace, and can implement. Then ensure that your "authenticity" motto aligns with your business goals, so you can clearly demonstrate to stakeholders such as investors and lenders that you have a growth strategy in place. Here's how to do that: Be real Sounds easy, right? But you'd be surprised how many companies lose their operational soul, delve into every sector deemed profitable, or adopt strategies that are counter to their mission. Define what your business does -- its mission and vision -- and stick to those core values. Be charitable Ever heard of something called "corporate social responsibility"? Well, CSR is one way an organization can give back to society-at-large and the communities in which it does business. Consumers love that, and it's a win-win for both the company and the aid recipients. Be consistent Don't give mixed messages that might lead to mistrust and confusion, both of which could make you lose customers down the road. Stay close to your values, mission, and vision as much as possible. For example, Apple's tagline is "Think different." All of the company's products and services somewhat match that slogan. Back up what you say To build trust and customer loyalty, your word must be credible. If you want to establish a solid reputation, make sure your company delivers on its operational commitments. For example, if "Maintain customer satisfaction 24/7" is your tagline, prove it to patrons in the way your handle things like complaints, merchandise delivery, and service quality. Be responsive The last thing you want is bad press, so don't let word-of-mouth tarnish the reputation you've spent years, if not decades, building and growing. Be quick in handling customer inquiries as well as questions from any other relevant party. Think regulators, business partners, activists, and consumer groups. Respect privacy Build solid privacy practices in the way your company operates, especially when it comes to archiving online data. In this age, everything business-related is kept on the "cloud," so make sure your cloud provider has implemented effective policies to safeguard your company's data, as well as your customers' private information. Cultivate your client base To grow your business, you must cultivate your clientele. These include your existing and past customers, along with a mishmash of interested parties ranging from prospects to social media followers. It's important to cultivate fans because, while some may be unable to buy your product or service today, they definitely will in the future. Plus, they'll encourage their friends to do the same. Polish your reputation Don't spare any opportunity to polish your reputation, establish authority in your industry, or seize on a good PR occasion. Being authentic also means burnishing that authenticity every now and then, so everyone will take notice, including your competitors.

Community Care Marketing

If your business is looking for a creative way to increase name recognition and drive business, while at the same time giving back to your community and contributing to the common good, here are a few rewarding ideas to try: Distribute exclusive coupons for customers who bring a canned food donation to support the local food shelf. Post flyers at local organizations and sponsor a unique donation drive, such as "coats for kids" or "toys for tots." Team with a local shelter, hospital, or church to organize a giving tree, and encourage customers to take a tag and donate items to those in need. Find ways to encourage customers to participate in your goodwill efforts. For example, you could run a campaign such as "10 percent of all sales in December will be donated to XYZ charity." Create name recognition by volunteering as a team at local non-profit organizations and by sponsoring local charitable events. The holidays may be right around the corner, but it's never too late to make an impact in your community. You can easily use a mix of print media (posters, flyers, postcards, statement stuffers, etc.), social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), email marketing, and word of mouth to spread the word quickly. Think the Christmas season is sneaking up too fast? Create a New Year's campaign or a "giving hearts" campaign for Valentine's Day. The options are endless. And remember, while our hearts go out to others during the holiday season more than any other time, there are always those who are less fortunate than we are and will appreciate our help throughout the year. If you make community caring campaigns a regular part of your marketing, your contributions and goodwill will surely come full circle, benefiting your business and the people who work for you.

We Guarantee It!

What benefit is a guarantee if nobody knows about it? Not only does a guarantee show confidence in your products and offer peace of mind to customers, but it may also give potential customers added incentive to purchase your product over another. A guarantee can be printed as a standalone certificate, added to a label, or included on all types of business signage, flyers, business stationery, receipts, marketing materials, website, email signatures, product packaging, yellow pages ad, and more. Here are a few tips when promoting a guarantee: Compare your guarantee to your competition. If your competitors don't offer a guarantee, this is an extra reason to promote your guarantee heavily. Create a unique tagline or slogan that focuses on your company's strengths, such as: "Hassle-Free Returns" or "Receive your lunch order within 30 minutes or it's free." Clearly explain your guarantee terms. For example: "We provide a hassle-free, money-back guarantee within 30 days of purchase." Test your guarantee with a small target audience. If you're nervous about implementing it, test the results again. If you'd like creative ideas on how to spread the word about your guarantee, we'd love to help. Give us a call today!

Does it Make Economic Sense to Buy Locally in This Internet Age?

Much has been written about the advantages of shopping and buying products online or from big box retailers. But does buying locally offer any benefits the Internet and big box stores can't match? Saving a few dollars by buying online is a given in many product categories. Amazon has becomes a household name by selling books and every other imaginable item, many of which they don't manufacture themselves, at discounted rates. However, before you spend that next dollar online or in a big box store instead of with a local business, consider the impact your decision has on your community and even your own pocket. The short-term benefits of saving a few dollars are dwarfed by the long-term negative consequences, including job loss in the local community. Buying local isn't just a feel good act or an act of charity. Buying local has a profound impact not only on the local community but also on the entire region surrounding the community. When local businesses close their doors, they create a social and economic hole which is hard to measure and even harder to fill. With the closing of each local business, the quality of life in the community changes in ways that go far beyond dollars and cents. Independent local businesses spend money locally on a wide variety of services needed for their own ongoing operations. They hire locally and spend money with their own local vendors. Local businesses hire local accountants, consult with local attorneys, work with local building contractors, electricians, and plumbers, and advertise locally. In general, they do far more to keep the flow of money in their local community than online companies or big box retailers do. Out-of-the-area corporations use minimal local services and goods. Most of the profits are kept with the corporate headquarters where they stay. Here are some other facts to consider. Small businesses account for over 75% of all new jobs in the U.S. Small businesses employ over half of all U.S. workers. Twice the amount of money stays in the community when it's spent with a local business versus an online company or big national box store. Local economies aren't hurting due to lack of money coming in. Instead, the shortfalls come from too much money flowing out to big corporations out of the area. National and international politics and policies have a far lesser impact when the community shops locally, thereby relying less on out-of-town corporations. Local shopping money has a much higher chance of recirculation within the local community. Locally owned businesses typically provide higher wages and better working conditions than large corporate chains and Internet-only businesses. You can see, touch, and feel what you're buying locally, instead of having to wait until the shipment arrives. There are no shipping costs or delivery delays when you buy locally. When buying locally, you can get your questions answered in person or on the phone instead of playing email tag with the online vendor. Your local business owner's livelihood is dependent upon giving great service. If they don't, you won't go back. So they try hard to satisfy their customers because they know there are only so many customers in the local market. If you encounter any issues or problems, local ownership can make quick decisions to resolve the matter. Important decisions are made locally by people who actually live in the local community and feel the real impact of those decisions. Local businesses add charm and a unique atmosphere to their local community. They help build strong communities and vibrant town centers that foster social relationships not possible with websites or big box stores. Local businesses don't ask for special favors. They simply want a fair and equitable playing field on which to compete. Many small business owners have their life savings tied up in their companies, so they have much vested in the success of their business (and the local economy). Small businesses simply want it known that sometimes a few dollars saved in the short term does far more damage to the vitality and well-being of the community at large in the long run. Now that you know some of the facts, it's time to visit your local businesses. They'll welcome you and thank you for supporting your community. Happy shopping!

Does Giving Away Products Bring Business?

The idea of giving away free trials and samples of products or services has been around for many years. From high-tech software companies to sidewalk food vendors, it's a strategy that has continued to prove its value through the years. Even after taking into account the associated costs, the ROI has proven attractive for many businesses in both the real world and online. The Psychology of Free Objections are a natural part of the buying cycle. No matter how great a product or service might be, prospects are likely to have some reservations about buying it. Free acts as an emotional hot button which reduces or eliminates many of these barriers. Does the Freemium Model Make Sense For Your Business? According to Wikipedia, the term "freemium" describes "a business model by which a proprietary product or service is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for advanced features, functionality, or virtual goods." Does this model make sense for your business? Arguments can be made for both sides. The naysayers will argue that giving anything away for free erodes company profits and attracts the types of customers who are always looking for free items or special discounts. Loyalty is rare with these types of customers since they only buy when they can get something free or at an extreme discount. Daily deal horror stories are a prime example of the negative effects of discounted offers. We've all read reports of business owners who have seen poor results from daily deal coupon sites that encouraged or demanded that they offer extreme discounts in order to take part in a campaign. In rare cases, some have even gone bankrupt as a result of a daily deal discount gone bad. The pro side argues that freemiums encourage prospects to give businesses a trial run they might otherwise never have given them. Freemiums reduce or eliminate the barrier to entry of doing business with your company. If you deliver what you promise, a certain percentage of freemium users will convert to new paying customers who will return again and again. Companies like Dropbox, Skype, Evernote, Mailchimp, and LinkedIn have built their entire business around the strength of this strategy by giving away the basic version of their product for free to build a customer base. App services for iPhone and Android phones have also used this strategy effectively by offering a free basic version to lure customers and then offering a paid version with more advanced features. For many small businesses, giving away products or services doesn't make economic sense unless there's a strong strategic plan in place first. Free or even heavily discounted products require funding and a strong balance sheet to cover the costs. One strategy to consider is to have a sales funnel in place before implementation. Customers gained through free or heavy discounted offers are then encouraged to step into higher-priced services and products. This can be done through marketing communications that show the features and benefits of buying these premium services. There are many unknowns in answering whether or not freemiums will work for your business. What's clear is that the path to success or failure lies with having a sound strategy in place before implementation. Another key component is being intimately aware of the financials, including profit margins, customer acquisition costs, and the lifetime value of a customer. Implementing and testing a freemium on a small scale before rolling it out to a wider audience can give real answers to the viability of this model in your business.

Spice up your Coupons!

In today's competitive business market, a 10 percent off coupon is rarely enough enticement to convince customers to purchase from you versus your competitor. Here are a few creative ideas to spice up your coupons: Offer something for free or a "buy one-get one" on a popular item. Customers love these types of deals, and they are a great way to entice people into your business. Design your coupons as an "admit one" type of event ticket to save on an exclusive list of items. Provide a coupon for a free bonus item or valuable upgrade. For example, purchase a haircut and receive a free shampoo and style. Provide a cash value discount rather than a percentage off (such as $10 off a $30 purchase), since a dollar amount is perceived as more valuable because it feels like cash. Offer a discount on a complementary product or service to convince the customer to buy other products they hadn't intended to purchase. Provide discounts for specific groups, such as teachers, senior citizens, daycares, or healthcare professionals. Offer a scratch-off mystery savings or a secret code with a discount amount that can only be revealed at the time of purchase. Provide a discount based on the weather, a local sports team score, or something else relevant to your customers. For example, you might offer a 30% discount if yesterday's temperature reached 30 degrees (high or low, that is, depending on the locale). Ask customers to provide information on the coupon if they want to be entered into a grand prize drawing when they redeem the coupon (or easily track coupon use by using direct mail coupons that already include customer information). Distribute coupons with your receipts to encourage follow-up purchases. Consider turning your coupon into a discount card or customer loyalty promotion that entitles the user to a regular discount every time they visit, which will encourage them to return again and again for exclusive savings. Offer a coupon for free shipping or free delivery, as well as free return shipping for those who are on the fence about purchasing from you. Bundle a group of products or services together, showing the itemized pricing for each. Then show a discounted bundle price for value savings when purchased together. If you'd like help creating the perfect coupons your customers will look forward to receiving, our team of creative experts is here to help. Give us a call today!

How to Produce Stellar Ad Copy in the Post-PC Era

These days, the Internet has asserted its ubiquity on everything from social media and e-commerce to the way consumers communicate and get information. That said, printing and paper-based marketing are still strong -- and that's not about to change anytime soon. In this context, it's either you adapt your ad copy to a mix of printing and digital or see your business fall by the wayside. We don't want that last part, do we? Here are a few key items to consider as you gradually reshuffle your mixture of print and electronic copy. Understand the cross-device reality The first thing to understand is the notion of "cross-device" reality. That means your ad content must be accessible and sharable across devices as diverse as personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and notebooks, as well as on the printed page. For example, if you produce a sales letter you plan to mail and make accessible online, make sure you also make it readable on mobile devices. Specialists call this "responsive design," meaning you optimize your content to be viewable on all types of devices. Don't forget shrink-proof paragraphs Create shorter paragraphs to prevent the shrinkage that typically happens when you move from one browser to another or from a desktop to a smartphone or tablet. Believe it or not, a six or seven line paragraph on a desktop computer might appear fuzzy on a handheld device, turning it into an unreadable chunk that could only confuse and exacerbate your prospects and customers. So make your paragraphs concise and straight to the point. Ideally, you'll want to limit yourself to around 250-400 characters. If possible, you can even adopt the "Twitter rule" and make the paragraph less than or equal to 140 characters. Speak to the device Marketers always say it's all about content, content, content. It may be time to start thinking device, device, device. But remember that good old paper-based copy doesn't come with device-compatibility constraints. That's one reason experts continue to recommend non-electronic promotion as an added tactic. For electronic messaging, though, it's imperative to consider your audience and the various devices they use to access it. For example, someone checking your ad copy on a smartphone could be at a party or on their way home. Conversely, promotional content you send via desktop email will be read by consumers at work, home, school, and so forth. You get the point. The reader can't be on the go with their PC. The issue of device compatibility is so important that even Google has spoken about it. The bottom line: adapt your ad copy to your target audience, their preferences, and the devices on which they're more likely to read your ad copy. Love modularity Make your ad copy modular. You won't regret it. Modular text is content that is not clearly stated in the initial ad copy, but that unfolds when the user shows interest in it or explores it. For example, say you run a fashion e-commerce portal and are running a campaign offering discounts on shoes. You can place modular content next to the footwear, so shoppers interested in, say, matching pants and shirts can buy these items as well. Heed the power of structure Structure is very important when it comes to producing stellar ad copy. The buzzword in the industry is content choreography, meaning the way you embed things like text, audio, video, and infographics into your content. You can structure your ad content the way you want, but make sure you keep three key things in mind: a clear description of your product or service; benefits or added value; and a call to action.