How to Write a Real Estate Ad, Part 2

How to Write a Real Estate Ad - Magazine Ad Writing 101 by Brandon Cornett

Creating a Real Estate "Item of Interest"
Before you try to write your magazine ad, ask yourself this question: "What item of interest am I marketing here?"
Remember, your real estate services alone are not an item of interest -- at least not for the average consumer who doesn't know you. Sorry, but that's the reality of it. So instead of writing a real estate ad that says "Call me about my real estate services," try to identify an item of interest. This might mean that you need to actually create an item of interest before you try to advertise anything ... but you'll get better results in the end.
Here's a nudge to get you started. What special event, special product, or special service do you have that might be an item of interest? "Special" is the key word here. Anything less than special will be ignored in a real estate ad headline.
Let's take a hypothetical scenario. Let's say you've created an online real estate forum for home buyers in your area. People can register in seconds and participate to get answers to their home buying questions, to share thoughts with other home buyers, etc. (Ambitious, you say? Well, ambition is what it takes to succeed as a real estate agent these days ... but I digress.)
Chances are, yours would be the only real estate forum of its kind within your city or town. So it would be a truly special real estate service / product. It would be an item of interest to many people.
Now that's something worth advertising! In fact, with an item that interesting, your real estate ad would practically write itself.
Writing Your Ad Headline
The three most important components of a magazine ad are the headline, the main image, and the offer / call to action. I combined the last two elements (the offer and the call to action) because they are so closely related.
As for headlines, this is where many real estate agents falter when writing a magazine ad. Headline writing is essential to your real estate advertising success, because people will make a decision to read further (or not) based solely on the headline and the supporting image.
I'm not going to delve too far into the "how" of headline writing in this article, because I've dedicated a chapter to that subject in my real estate direct mail book. So let's cover some of the basics of writing a strong headline for your real estate magazine ad:
• Make sure your ad headline identifies your primary audience in some way (either directly, or by way of the benefit it promises).
• Make sure your ad headline offer a strong benefit to the reader.
• Make the benefits crystal clear upon first glance (using simple, straightforward language).
• Write an ad headline that's interesting enough to move the reader into the message. Remember, it helps immensely to start with an item of interest before you write your real estate ad headline!
• Write the kind of enticing (but truthful) headline that makes it nearly impossible for the reader not to read further.
• Use your main image to reinforce the message in your headline, and vice versa.
• Make sure your headline is truthful and relevant to the message that follows. (No misleading the reader with bait-and-switch headlines!)