Target Your Solo Ads For Higher Conversion Rates

Solo ads are a necessity in online advertising. Yes you can have your blogs, hundreds of pages of content, pay-per-click campaigns, and highly optimized pages for search engine rankings, but you still won't receive the kind of bulk exposure that solo ads can give you. Effective solo ads can give your online business the shot it needs to quickly become a household name. Think about it. Let's say, for example, that you have received a solo ad about a brand new product some guru is launching. Pretty soon, you're going to see that same ad in hundreds of different emails, in blogs, on websites, in reviews written about the product... just about everywhere because of one solo ad. Pay per click advertising can not do that for you. Writing hundreds of pages of content can't do that for you. Only solo ads. Because it's an instant advertisement. With just one click of a mouse your solo ad is sent to thousands of people all over the world. Anyone who subscribes to the particular mailing list you submitted your ad to will see that solo ad. Case Study of Effective Solo Ad Advertising Just to show you an example of what I was talking about, I, like millions of other people, got an email announcing the brand new launch of Jason Potash's Article Announcer. Within just a few hours of that launch, there were a few more emails in my inbox announcing the same thing. I was beginning to get the picture that something big was being launched. The next day, a few more emails with the same announcement. By the time the week was over, I had heard from just about every top marketer with the same email, saw the announcement made on just about every affiliate marketin blog I read, and started to read third party reviews from people who had bought it already. All because of one solo ad. But, that didn't happen just by accident. No effective solo ad advertising does. It has to be by design. There has been mountains written about how to write a solo ad, but not too much on the actual how-to in placing the ad. Solo Ads Should Be On Target A solo ad that is written with a "targeting" mind set will be much more effective than trying to write an ad that is for everyone. But, like I said, this article is more about the submission aspect of solo ad advertising. Most people completely overlook this extremely important part of solo ad advertising. In the rush to get an ad out, a lot of people are going to the first advertising co-op they can find in order to get their ad out to the most subscribers, in the shortest amount of time, with the lowest cost. Not the greatest of ingredients for a successful solo ad campaign. I am not against the advertising co-op's, but feel that they are a little misleading in their advertising. When I want to launch a new solo ad, I go directly to the source for effective solo ad advertising. Ezine publishers. To the solo ad advertiser these guys and gals are your best friend. They hold the key to your prosperity. They have the mailing list. They have the publishing schedule. They set their rates. They need to become your friend. A Targeting Approach For best results with solo ads, you absolutely must target your audience. Before we go on, I want to clarify what I mean by this. A good percentage of the time, and this isn't wrong, you would place your solo ad with an ezine that is in the same topic, or niche of your ad. That isn't a bad thing to do. Sure, it's targeted and you will, if your solo ad is written effectively enough, create some click thrus and generate profit from it. However, I am finding a much higher conversion rate from my solo ads when I narrow the target a lot more. For instance, an ad I wrote recently for a website that is promoting fishing supplies was written with one specific customer in mind. I wasn't just aiming at fishermen. I was aiming at fishermen in the North East U.S. For those who are not familiar with fishing, there are different types of game fish in Maine than there are in Florida or Kansas, or Washington. Not only that, but there are different fishing tactics involved. I was aiming at one specific type of fisherman. The ad would have been a little effective if I aimed at all fishermen. But, I narrowed my target range to just North Eastern United States fishermen. Then, I went to find the best places to submit them. (This is part of the service I provide in writing solo ads. I don't just write the ads, I also find the best places to submit them for my clients.) I looked for ezines and websites that dealt with this type of fishing, negotiated with the publisher, and set a date for the initial mailing. The ad created a 37% click-thru on the first mailing and 50% on the second. All because it was very targeted. Targeted Solo Ad Tips A targeted solo ad is extremely important to your online advertising. Here's a few tips to help you make this process even more effective.

Write your solo ad in a targetted manner. If you're going to advertise to a specific group, then write the ad for that group.

If you can narrow your target more, do it. Don't get too worried here. If you can't narrow it down that's ok.

Become friends with the publisher. This might not work everytime, but the better acquainted you are with an ezine publisher, the better deals you might be able to get to help lower costs.

Try to set your own date of the mailing. You want to have as much control over the mailing of your solo ad as you can. If you want a specific date for a mass mailing, then work with the publisher to secure a certain date.

Give the publisher a little extra. In most cases, publishers are willing to work with you. But, even so, if your solo ad mailing created a great result, give the publisher a little piece of it. Endorse his ezine, put links on your site to his, send him a cash bonus.

Speak directly to the audience. Solo ads are all about connecting with the target audience. So speak directly to them. Your ad should sound like you are mailing this thing to them, and them only. Solo ad advertising is very powerful if you take the steps necessary to target your ad. Spend some time with your next ad and do the extra work in narrowing your target a little. You'll see an amazing response in your next campaign.