Five Steps to Writing a Good Advertising Jingle

Monica Patrick reports:

"Advertising jingles are musical techniques businesses use to establish a brand in a memorable, entertaining way. A jingle relays information about a company or product through music and lyrics. Small businesses hire jingle writers to create tunes, or they ask creative team members to produce a jingle. If you've got a product to sell or want to establish your business with consumers, learn how to write a good, catchy jingle for all of your company advertisements. This process could take weeks or months, so plan ahead if you want to write a jingle for a specific deadline. 1. Establish how long the jingle needs to be. Consider the venues of advertising your small business will use...2. Select a musical genre that your target audience would most identify with...3. Write a core message or catchy sentence for the jingle. For example, 'Betty's cupcakes make me smile,' or 'No shoes are hotter than Clyde's shoes!' Make the core message as short as possible, but using a few lines in a rhyming verse is acceptable and easy to remember. 4. Set the message to music, using the core message and the genre you selected. Allow a brief musical intro and finish, placing the actual message in the center. Time yourself to verify that the jingle is the right length. 5. Practice and edit the jingle until you and your creative team have a good jingle to present. Record the jingle, and seek advertising air time to play the jingle...Test your jingles in a focus group or through a research survey. Ask about effectiveness and overall impressions...If you decide to use an old song that someone else owns, you'll need to get copyright permission."