We all love a good quote. Quotes encourage us, inspire us, entertain us, and make us think. In some cases, they affirm what we already know or suspect. In other cases, they shed light on a fresh opinion.
If you’re looking for words to inspire your copywriting and craft more responsive ads, these quotes from famous copywriters and direct response marketers will help.
Use These Quotes To Inspire Your Copywriting
On Advertising
“The best advertising should make you nervous about what you’re not buying” – Mary Wells Lawrence
“No argument in the world can ever compare with one dramatic demonstration.” – Claude Hopkins
“Advertising is salesmanship in print.” – John E. Kennedy
“Multiplied salesmanship.” – Claude Hopkins, on what advertising really is.
On Keeping Copy Simple
“Sometimes the best copy to sell a horse is ‘Horse for Sale.” – Jay Abraham
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” – Leo Burnett
“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.” – Shirley Polykoff
“Have you ever noticed that you often can’t even tell what they are trying to sell you on TV? You say to yourself, ‘What was that about?’” – Gary Bencivenga
On Making Your Copy Interesting
“People don’t read ads. They read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.” – Howard Gossage
“You cannot bore people into buying your product; you can only interest them in buying it.” – David Ogilvy
“When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.” – David Ogilvy
“In these formats (bookalogs and magalogs), you may devote as high as 50 percent of your selling space to provide great information, reserving maybe 50 percent to sell.” – Gary Bencivenga
“Make your advertising too valuable to throw away.” – Sonia Simone
On Knowing Your Target Market
“Don’t think like a fisherman, think like a fish.” – Gary Bencivenga
“Ads are planned and written with some utterly wrong conception. They are written to please the seller. The interest of the buyer are forgotten. One can never sell goods profitably, in person or in print, when that attitude exists.” – Claude Hopkins
“Your job is not to write copy. Your job is to know your visitors, customers and prospects so well, you understand the situation they’re in right now, where they’d like to be, and exactly how your solution can and will get them to their ideal self.” – Joanna Wiebe
“The very first thing you must come to realize is that you must become a “student of markets.” Not products. Not techniques. Not copywriting. Not how to buy space or whatever. Now, of course, all of these things are important and you must learn about them, but, the first and the most important thing you must learn is what people want to buy.” – Gary Halbert
On Writing In The Target Market’s Language
“I don’t know the rules of grammar. If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.” – David Ogilvy
“There is your audience. There is the language. There are the words that they use.” – Eugene Schwartz
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” – Elmore Leonard
On Writing Headlines
“Avoid the “hard-to-grasp” headline – the headline that requires thought and is not clear at first glance.” – John Caples
“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” – David Ogilvy
“It’s an ADVERTISEMENT for your ADVERTISEMENT.” – Trevor ‘Toe-Cracker’ Crook
“Some of the most tremendous flops among advertisements contain body matter filled with convincing copy. But it just wasn’t capsuled into a good headline. And so the excellent copy didn’t even get a reading.” – Victor Schwab
“Based on hundreds of tests conducted, a good headline can be as much as 17 times more effective than a so-so headline. And this is with exactly the same body copy!” – Ted Nicholas
On Writing Copy That Is Believable
“Nobody buys without belief.” – Gary Bencivenga
“Best in the world,” “lowest price in existence, ” etc are at best claiming the expected. But superlative of that sort are usually damaging. They suggestion looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.” – Claude Hopkins
“Copy must be believable.” – Helen Lansdowne Resor
Final Thoughts About Copywriting Quotes
These 28 copywriting quotes serve as a treasure trove of wisdom for aspiring and experienced copywriters alike. They remind us that good advertising is about connecting with people, keeping it simple, engaging interest, understanding your audience, using the right language, crafting captivating headlines, and, above all, being believable. By heeding these words of wisdom, you can elevate your copywriting skills and create ads that resonate and drive action.
Want to hire an expert copywriter to deliver some awesome ads? But don’t have the 6-figure budget to hire one of the afore-mentioned copywriting legends? The Copy Brothers write engaging and affordable social ad copy for both ecommerce and service-based businesses who run sales funnels.