A small ad can generate a greater return on your
investment than any other type of advertising. You can also use it in a
variety of media.
For example, I often get profitable results from the
same small ad in all of the following:
Internet - posted as a classified ad at websites and in
email newsletters (ezines).
Print - run as a classified or display ad in magazines.
Direct Mail - printed on a postcard and sent to
targeted mailing lists.
Email - added as a "signature" to the bottom
of my email messages.
A small classified or display ad doesn't provide enough
space to generate sales directly from the ad. Instead, use the ad to generate
inquiries from prospects seeking more information or to generate visitors to
your store or website. Apply your usual selling procedure to close sales when
you get the inquiry or visitor.
A SIMPLE 4 STEP PROCEDURE
By trial and error I developed the following 4 step
procedure for creating successful little classified or display ads. You can
follow this same simple procedure to successfully create your own profitable
little ads.
STEP 1: PROMOTE ONE PRODUCT TO ONE TARGETED MARKET
Select one product or service to promote and tailor your ad to one targeted
market. You can develop ads for many different products and target them to
many different markets. But each ad will be most effective when it promotes
one product to one targeted market.
STEP 2: DEVELOP A HEADLINE WITH YOUR STRONGEST
BENEFIT
The headline is the most important part of your ad. It captures the reader's
attention and provides a compelling reason to read your ad. The most effective
headline clearly promotes your strongest benefit to readers in your targeted
market. For example, "How To Build Your MLM Downline Fast" will
immediately attract the attention of most network marketers. It offers the
solution to their biggest problem... how to build their downline sales
organization.
STEP 3: REINFORCE YOUR HEADLINE WITH BODY COPY
Keep your body copy brief. Include a few power words to reinforce the benefit
promoted in your headline. For example, "Quick! Easy! Immediate results
guaranteed!" could be used as body copy to reinforce the sample headline
in Step 2. End your body copy by telling the reader exactly how to respond to
your ad. Keep it simple and make it easy. For example, "Call
1-800-123-4567 for FREE information TODAY!"
STEP 4: REVISE AND TEST -- OVER AND OVER AGAIN
Keep trying to increase the number of responses from your ad. Test different
headlines, different body copy, different media. Test even minor changes in
your ad. I've seen ad responses jump dramatically after simply enclosing the
headline in quotation marks. I've also seen ad responses to a different ad
drop after making the same change.
The only way to know if something works is to test it.
Test only one change at a time or you won't know which change produced the new
result. Be sure to code each version of your ad so you can track the results
from it. Whenever a new "test" version of your ad produces better
results than your standard version, make it your new standard version.
Continual testing enables you to gradually increase the
response rate and profitability of your little ad.
I once built the response to a recruiting ad printed on
a postcard from 3 percent to over 20 percent this way.
Use this simple four step procedure to create your own
small ads. If you already use small ads, apply this procedure to your existing
ads to increase their effectiveness and profitability.
The results will surprise you.
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of
recruiting sales personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business owners titled
"How to Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards" and
several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper. For more
information... Email: BobLeduc@aol.com
Subject: "Postcards". Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific
time) Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133