What is the body copy of an advertisement?

Making your support copy effective and on-brand

Headlines are vital to a distinctive brand voice — but body copy does a lot of the heavy lifting. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you’re writing that ever-so-crucial supporting text.

Communicate the outcome

When writing body copy, the most important rule for our brand is to pay off the trait that’s within us (which you’ll include in the headline) by telling the reader about the results (or potential results) of it.

Lead with the most important details

It’s a fact that’s sad but true: a majority of your readers probably aren’t going to make it all the way through your copy. In order to make sure they take away the message they’re supposed to, put the key details at the beginning of your text.

Simplicity is key

Unless it’s a multi-page piece, keep your body copy focused on one message, and communicate that message in the simplest terms possible. When you try to do too much, your audience is likely to tune out.

Eliminate the adverbs

Sure, they add a touch of poetry, but they get in the way of a straightforward message.

Break up your text

Use bullet points and paragraphs to make the copy easy to scan, read, and understand.

Advertising body copy can be written to go along with various types of creative appeals and executions comparisons, price appeals, demonstrations, humor, dramatizations, and the like.

Copywriters choose an advertising copy style that is appropriate for the type of appeal being used and effective for executing the creative strategy and communicating the advertiser’s message to the target audience.

There are various ways in which the text can be written.

Types of Body Copy in Advertising

Some kinds of body copy are described below:

1. Emotive

Within this kind of copy, the emotions can be appealed to.

The principle of emotional needs is self-assertion, sex, and love, companionship, self-preservation, acquisitiveness, curiosity, comfort, and security.

2. Factual Hard Selling

This body copy uses the five-point AIDCA formula.

It is the attention, interest, desire, conviction, and action.

It is very competitive, persuasive and actively promoting.

Related: 16 Practical Tips for Writing Effective Advertising Copy.

3. Factual Educational

This is still a hard selling ad, but it will be more informative, like the ads for the latest model car.

4. Narrative

It is a more literary and leisurely written text.

The ad copy is more like a story.

5. Prestige

Again, the advertising copy may be in the narrative style but is used mainly for public relations purposes.

6. Picture and Caption

This body copy is usually a series of pictures or cartoons with captions explaining how to use the product.

7. Monologue or Dialogue

Real or fictitious characters may be used to present the sales message.

This could be a testimonial advertisement with well-known personalities expounding the merits of the product or the service.

8. Gimmick

Difficult to put over effectively because there is usually a need for concentrated reading, this tyle is sometimes used when a very original presentation is required.

It is more likely to be used in magazines.

9. Reader

It is headed by a statement that it is an advertiser’s announcement.

10. Testimonial

This may be in the form of a monologue, but it could be a testimonial statement linked to normal text copy.

What are the most popular types of online advertising?

11. Quotation

Within this type of body copy, a famous person’s words are quoted.

12. Back Selling

This is used to tell readers about a material, ingredient or component which is contained ina finished product, the object being to encourage its continued usage.

Related: 9 Different Types of Display Advertising (With Examples).

13. Straight line

This explained in straight forward terms why a reader will benefit from the use of a brand.

14. Dialogue

It delivers the selling points of a message to the audience through a character.

15. Direct Response

It highlights the urgency of acting immediately.

This relies on sales promotion devices.

16. Translation

It defines technical pieces of information into understandable language.

Thus, now you know the examples of body copy in advertising.

More:

Body copy is known as the main text in an advertisement, print matter, company literature or any website which is distinct from logo, headline, sub-headline and graphics. This provides two most important purposes. This portion will help readers develop interest and secondly it will help them remember the product name and the reasons why they liked the particular product or the news item. The first sentence of the body copy should flow the headline and is the main text of any marketing communications vehicle.

There are few important guidelines while writing a powerful body copy. They are-

Body copy is one of the main reasons why a product sells. It motivates the reader to act, gives importance on how the product will provide benefits to the customer and also contains the product details within it. Emotional and logical appeal is used in the text to develop a desire for the products or services. Sometimes, the marketer purposefully uses imperfect grammar in a body copy, but can still be easily understood; it commonly imitates spoken word in order to make an intimate feeling for the reader. Like the headline, sentences in a body copy usually contains the word ‘you’, uses active voice, exciting verbs based content which are more action oriented, and colloquial vocabulary. This simulates personal communication between a company and its customer.

Examples

Let us consider the following advertisement

Message: This advertisement is for car magazines instead of general magazines. It target segment is specifically car lovers. By providing detailed information, readers are automatically informed how this car is better than the current model and also its competitors’, and provides reason as in why people should purchase it.

Headline : The headline for this ad is “There Is No Need for Other Adjective. This Is Just ELEGANT.” The word ‘ELEGANT’ fits very well with the image of Lexus and reinforces readers’ positive feelings toward Lexus, which will help effectively interact with the all the three pictures provided in the advertisements

Body copy: It provides very detailed information, such as new technology and specific features of this car is provided. This is because the target audience is those who read car magazine frequently and should be interested in the new technology features which will drive the sales.

Hence, this concludes the definition of Body Copy along with its overview.

This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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