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Skillshare

30 Copywriting Secrets from the Best Ad Campaign of All Time

via Skillshare

Overview

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In this course, you’ll learn how to write copy that grabs attention and motivates prospects to buy. 

I designed this course for anyone who wants a shortcut to learning how to write great copy. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to write copy that gets noticed, gets read and gets results.

You and I will examine the most successful advertising campaign in history. I’m talking about the newspaper ads for Volkswagen that ran during the 1960s and 1970s. This campaign took a boring, ugly, unknown product and made it one of the most talked-about, popular products in history. I’m going to show you dozens of ads from this campaign. Each one is a case study in how to write clever, powerful, funny, amazing copy.

You'll see how a successful ad is built. We'll cover headlines, visuals, opening lines, body copy, format of a sales pitch, testimonials, features and benefits, reader engagement, humour, irony, keys to being original, endings, and plenty more.

I designed this course for two people: copywriters who want to improve their craft, and aspiring copywriters who want to learn what actually works in copywriting.

This course contains no theory—just dozens of examples of copy that works, and a detailed explanation of why it works. To get a good idea of what we’ll cover, preview some of the lessons below. Then take this course. Forty years from now, people might be talking about your copy. Hey, you never know.

Syllabus

  • About this Class
  • _VW Secrets Introduction
  • VW Secret 1 Write a weak headline if your visual is strong
  • VW Secret 2 Sync your headline and your visual
  • VW Secret 3 Write headlines that compel buyers to read your copy
  • VW Secret 4 Make your headline a zinger if your visual is lame
  • VW Secret 5 If in doubt, ask a question
  • VW Secret 6 Start telling a story
  • VW Secret 7 Tie your headline to current events
  • VW Secret 8 Aim for the hunh factor
  • VW Secret 9 Make them smile
  • VW Secret 10 Use headlines for features, images for benefits
  • VW Secret 11 If comparing yourself you better be clever
  • VW Secret 12 Find headlines in your body copy
  • VW Secret 13 Deliver on the premise of your headline
  • VW Secret 14 If in doubt ask a question
  • VW Secret 15 Start with irony
  • VW Secret 16 Stick to one idea per ad
  • VW Secret 17 Follow a simple script
  • VW Secret 18 Give multiple benefits for each feature
  • VW Secret 19 Back all claims with proof
  • VW Secret 20 Borrow credibility
  • VW Secret 21 Keep your reader reading
  • VW Secret 22 Build trust with specifics
  • VW Secret 23 Write quirky testimonials
  • VW Secret 24 Use parallel structure
  • VW Secret 25 Spin your strongest feature into a theme
  • VW Secret 26 Use original clichés
  • VW Secret 27 Write in pictures
  • VW Secret 28 Come full circle at the end
  • VW Secret 29 Give your buyer something to think about
  • VW Secret 30 Write like a pro (a few words on style)

Taught by

Alan Sharpe

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