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.
About the Author
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant.
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