HOW TO CREATE A PROFITABLE LITTLE AD
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.