HOW TO INCREASE THE RESPONSE YOU GET FROM YOUR LEAD GENERATING
ADS
I received two postcards in the mail yesterday. One was
cluttered with so much small text I had difficulty trying to
read it. I gave up and trashed it.
The second postcard had a total of 48 words on it including a
website address listed on the bottom of the card. The card
announced a new book on one of my favorite business topics. Part
of one chapter was available to read free at the website listed
on the card. I did... then ordered the book.
The person who sent that second postcard was using the classic 2
step selling process:
Step 1. Generate leads - in this case traffic to her website.
Step 2. Provide the requested information - in this case
provided online at the website.
This two step process is proving to be just as effective online
(Internet marketing) as it has been for many years in
traditional marketing.
WHY USE 2 STEPS?
It's easier to generate leads than to sell products or services.
You don't have to persuade anybody to spend money. Therefore you
can use simple and inexpensive methods of advertising to
generate leads. You can also build a list of prospects who don't
buy now and use it for future follow up.
TIP: Always try to get the contact information from your
prospects so you can communicate with them again in the future.
Implement an automatic follow up procedure to periodically
contact previous prospects who didn't buy. (This one procedure
alone can increase your number of new customers by 50% or more.)
KEEP IT SIMPLE
The purpose of a lead generating ad or message is to generate a
large number of inquiries. You're not selling your product or
service (yet). You're selling the reader on the action of
replying to your ad. The most effective message I've found for
generating the maximum number of replies includes only 3 things.
1. State the biggest benefit offered by your product or service.
2. Include a compelling reason for readers to request more
information NOW. 3. Provide a quick and easy way to respond.
Keep your message brief. Most short ads I develop produce more
replies than longer versions of the same ad. For example, one of
the most responsive ads I ever developed has only 14 words. The
version used on the Internet read:
Discover How To Build ANY Small Business FAST! Offer ends soon.
Free information. mailto:address@domain.com
The off-line version of this ad also included a phone number and
postal address so prospects had 3 ways to request more
information. I used it for classified ads in magazines and
printed it on postcards and mailed them to targeted lists. Every
version of the ad produced a large number of replies.
Many prospects responded out of curiosity. That was OK. I knew
they were part of my targeted market and had a compelling need
for what I was offering. I controlled that by circulating the ad
where it would be seen only by prospects in my targeted market.
Follow this model the next time you develop a lead generating ad
or message. Place your ad where lots of prospects in your
targeted market will see it. The number of leads it generates
from seriously interested prospects will surprise you.