Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - How You Can Create Advertising That Sells
Many people believe that yellow page advertising is the best possible advertising for a new business, but let me tell you I have heard some horror stories in my past. In fact let me tell you about one story, which is pretty much unforgivable. I was told by a Yellow Page Advertising Representative that the book closed in two days and if I did not get my Ad in now I could forget it until next year. I found out later that this was a lie, and the representatives in the area told that to everyone. Actually the book did not close for two months.This was not an off brand yellow page advertisement book; this was the actual phone company Yellow Pages. The lady who was selling the advertisement scribbled a bunch of stuff on a piece of paper and took my order. Then she had me sign it and I said but I can read it how are you going to make sure you got it right, she said not to worry that she would write it up when she got back.
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to
Imagine this scene -- it's a quiet Tuesday afternoon at your office...Then, suddenly, the tranquility is shattered when a process server arrives. Of course, the receptionist doesn't really know what to do and doesn't want to be responsible for signing for something like this. So, over the loudspeaker she pages someone above her to come out front to sign for the service of process.In just a few minutes, everyone in the office is asking, "What is a service of process?" Once they figure it out, they all start guessing as to why your company is being sued.Now, we know that lawsuits are a part of business. But, to those who are on the outside, all they think of are the disastrous and negative connotations that come with the word lawsuit. So before you know it, hours of productivity have been wasted by employees trying to figure out the drama behind the lawsuit.What could potentially make this situation worse is
Businesses spend too many dollars, however, on ads that simply will not result in increased sales and profits. These ads are poorly conceived, poorly written, poorly designed, poorly targeted, and poorly placed.
Sounds like a poor way to do business, doesn’t it?
I often ask clients (as tactfully as possible), why they have run a particular ad. I get a lot of blank stares. A few tense moments will pass while the client tries to think of a clever answer. "To get the company name out in front of the public so I can get more business." they reply, with some relief.
This poor soul has just described a lack of a well defined goal, which leads almost inevitably to what I call an institutional ad. An institutional ad can best be described as one which identifies the advertiser and lists address, telephone number, hours of operation, and (maybe) the company logo. That’s it. What a terrible waste of money!
Unless your company grosses a billion dollars a year, you can’t afford to do institutional ads. If your company does gross over a billion dollars a year...you’re probably too smart to run institutional ads.
Every ad you run must result in increased sales and profits and an enhanced image for your company. Every ad should make the customer a solid offer and give the customer sound reasons to buy from you now. Remember, the customer is sitting back and asking, "What can you do for me?" If you’re careful to answer that question with a powerful offer and reasons to buy now, you’re on your way to advertising success...which results in increased sales and profits.
How can you improve your chances of increasing sales?
Let’s look at some profit-producing ideas...
SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP
Very few businesses are prepared or qualified to produce quality advertising. If you spend more than $2,000 per month in advertising, you should seriously consider hiring a qualified advertising professional. There are any number of skilled freelancers who can develop strategy, and create your marketing materials with a keen eye to using proven methods and techniques.
Good advertising talent always pays it’s own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs, and shortened selling cycles.
If your resources are limited, don’t feel lost. There’s no reason why you can’t learn to write an effective ad. That’s what the rest of this article is all about...how *you* can create advertising that sells.
FOLLOW A PROVEN FORMULA
One of the oldest and most useful formulas for ad design takes its name from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verde. In this case the letters A-I-D-A stand for ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND ACTION.
In it’s simplest form this formula serves as a structural blueprint. It guides us to: (1) Get the prospect’s Attention, (2) Foster his or her Interest in your offer, (3) build Desire for your product or service and (4) Generate some type of Action on the part of the buyer.
As we expand on each of these elements individually, you’ll discover for yourself how to apply the formula to your specific situation.
ATTENTION (The Headline)
Hit your prospect right between the eyes with a magic wand. How? With a powerful benefit headline. The headline is the most important single element of your ad. You have two to three seconds to stop the reader as he or she passes by. You must stop the reader, and interest them in your benefit, if you expect them to read further.
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to
There are no two people alike in the world, so no two people have the same taste. Why is it then that the majority of homes have plain, white switchplates?Switchplates have been around since the days of indoor electricity. They cover an open area in a wall where a light switch is in place, making the area look neat as a pin as it covers the exposed wires, all while assisting in a hazard free area. The originals were quite hideous, usually made of a boxy style wood block, not meant for any sort of decorative purpose at all, just for practical use.We’ve certainly come a long way, as the days of your grandmother’s tarnished, brass switchplates, with the preamble to the constitution engraved on the top seem like a past dream (or nightmare) . They can really be quite a beneficial art form, for everyone with electricity needs to have a switchplate for safety reasons, so why on earth would you want to have the same exact,
Unless your company grosses a billion dollars a year, you can’t afford to do institutional ads. If your company does gross over a billion dollars a year...you’re probably too smart to run institutional ads.
Every ad you run must result in increased sales and profits and an enhanced image for your company. Every ad should make the customer a solid offer and give the customer sound reasons to buy from you now. Remember, the customer is sitting back and asking, "What can you do for me?" If you’re careful to answer that question with a powerful offer and reasons to buy now, you’re on your way to advertising success...which results in increased sales and profits.
How can you improve your chances of increasing sales?
Let’s look at some profit-producing ideas...
SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP
Very few businesses are prepared or qualified to produce quality advertising. If you spend more than $2,000 per month in advertising, you should seriously consider hiring a qualified advertising professional. There are any number of skilled freelancers who can develop strategy, and create your marketing materials with a keen eye to using proven methods and techniques.
Good advertising talent always pays it’s own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs, and shortened selling cycles.
If your resources are limited, don’t feel lost. There’s no reason why you can’t learn to write an effective ad. That’s what the rest of this article is all about...how *you* can create advertising that sells.
FOLLOW A PROVEN FORMULA
One of the oldest and most useful formulas for ad design takes its name from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verde. In this case the letters A-I-D-A stand for ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND ACTION.
In it’s simplest form this formula serves as a structural blueprint. It guides us to: (1) Get the prospect’s Attention, (2) Foster his or her Interest in your offer, (3) build Desire for your product or service and (4) Generate some type of Action on the part of the buyer.
As we expand on each of these elements individually, you’ll discover for yourself how to apply the formula to your specific situation.
ATTENTION (The Headline)
Hit your prospect right between the eyes with a magic wand. How? With a powerful benefit headline. The headline is the most important single element of your ad. You have two to three seconds to stop the reader as he or she passes by. You must stop the reader, and interest them in your benefit, if you expect them to read further.
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to
Copyright (c) 2006 Audrey BurtonI have heard "I hate marketing" or some version of that statement many times, and I understand. I like marketing, and still sometimes I hate marketing.One of the biggest problems is that there are so many options that it's sometimes impossible to know if you're doing the right things at the right times. I really do understand.If you have thousands of dollars in your marketing budget, you can pay consultants to help you with creating a plan, purchasing print advertising, executing a search engine optimization (SEO) program, creating an effective pay per click internet advertising campaign and/or creating a viral marketing movie. Oh yea, you will also need a highly effective and gorgeous website.One way I suggest for business owners to become educated on the business side of their businesses is to take free teleclasses. This is a great, easy way to become educated on market
Let’s look at some profit-producing ideas...
SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP
Very few businesses are prepared or qualified to produce quality advertising. If you spend more than $2,000 per month in advertising, you should seriously consider hiring a qualified advertising professional. There are any number of skilled freelancers who can develop strategy, and create your marketing materials with a keen eye to using proven methods and techniques.
Good advertising talent always pays it’s own way through increased sales and profits, improved cost-effectiveness, reduced selling costs, and shortened selling cycles.
If your resources are limited, don’t feel lost. There’s no reason why you can’t learn to write an effective ad. That’s what the rest of this article is all about...how *you* can create advertising that sells.
FOLLOW A PROVEN FORMULA
One of the oldest and most useful formulas for ad design takes its name from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verde. In this case the letters A-I-D-A stand for ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND ACTION.
In it’s simplest form this formula serves as a structural blueprint. It guides us to: (1) Get the prospect’s Attention, (2) Foster his or her Interest in your offer, (3) build Desire for your product or service and (4) Generate some type of Action on the part of the buyer.
As we expand on each of these elements individually, you’ll discover for yourself how to apply the formula to your specific situation.
ATTENTION (The Headline)
Hit your prospect right between the eyes with a magic wand. How? With a powerful benefit headline. The headline is the most important single element of your ad. You have two to three seconds to stop the reader as he or she passes by. You must stop the reader, and interest them in your benefit, if you expect them to read further.
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to
In today’s world advertisement plays a very unique role in providing a particular product its status of familiarity. Advertising thus can be defined as a bridge between the newly launched product and the consumer. Advertisement provides the opportunity to mould the opinion of the audience in favor of the product. Even the most drab and dull subjects can be turned into an interesting one with the magical wand of advertising. Copywriting (both in print and media) provides the audience with such simple and loveable jingles that go to a great extent in popularizing the advertisement as well the product. Its role in creating a general awareness of the product among its target audience is very important. It is based on this advertisement that a consumer first comes to know the new product’s features, availability status, and price. It is based on the proper advertising of any product that its survival in the market is decided.Advert
One of the oldest and most useful formulas for ad design takes its name from the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verde. In this case the letters A-I-D-A stand for ATTENTION, INTEREST, DESIRE, AND ACTION.
In it’s simplest form this formula serves as a structural blueprint. It guides us to: (1) Get the prospect’s Attention, (2) Foster his or her Interest in your offer, (3) build Desire for your product or service and (4) Generate some type of Action on the part of the buyer.
As we expand on each of these elements individually, you’ll discover for yourself how to apply the formula to your specific situation.
ATTENTION (The Headline)
Hit your prospect right between the eyes with a magic wand. How? With a powerful benefit headline. The headline is the most important single element of your ad. You have two to three seconds to stop the reader as he or she passes by. You must stop the reader, and interest them in your benefit, if you expect them to read further.
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to
The main reason is to stop any potential lawsuits from happening! But do you know how many individuals I have talked to about this very thing? Many! Do you know what the majority have told me? They have locks and cameras, so they don’t need anymore security than that!This is a mess waiting to happen, the reason is as follows. This attitude is the reason things happen in business establishments that prompt major lawsuits from those that get hurt in some way while on the premises or by someone on the premises.The reasons are as follows:Hiring/Retention Negligence Security Negligence Premises Liability Fail to Protect Fail to Provide SecurityThis starts off with the very first thing you do in business, hire employees without doing background checks on them! One of the fastest ways to get sued today in business is to not check the backgrounds of employees and they turn out to be criminals!
A powerful headline will (1) stop the reader (2) isolate and qualify your best prospects, and (3) pull your reader into the sub-heads and body copy.
How do you write the attention-getting headline? First, carefully review all the benefits of-use of your product or service. Second, take your most important benefit and weave that benefit into your headline. Use action words to describe the benefit to one individual reader.
Here are some examples...
"Save 50% On Office Supplies...Send For Your Free Catalog Today !"
"How YOU Can Create Advertising That SELLS!"
"New! Amazing Techniques That You Can Use To Land A High-Paying Job...Today!"
"How To Design Profit-Producing Web Sites That SELL!"
APPEALING TO BUSINESS EXECUTIVES
When writing your ad to a business-to-business audience you should keep in mind the six key benefits most likely to get attention:
1.Save Money 2.Save Time 3.Increase Sales 4.Increase Profits 5.Enhance Image 6.Boost cash flow
Most other benefits are subordinate to these key six. I call them the"Business Benefit Six-Pack." Show your customer how your product or service provides these benefits, and you will dramatically improve your results.
INTEREST AND DESIRE> (The Offer, Body Copy, Benefits-Benefits- Benefits)
You build interest in your product or service (and the desire to buy) by making the customer a compelling offer and by describing as many benefits as possible in simple and interesting terms.
Tip # 1: Top ad pros always write the ad first, then buy whatever space necessary to display the ad message with clarity and power.
Tip # 2: Words sell...graphic design displays the words in a visually appealing way. Don’t confuse the two. No amount of trendy design will make a poorly written ad sell for you. Good design reinforces good copy...it cannot take the place of it! The implication for internet marketers is that content is king. Avoid glitsy, moving graphics that only distract from your message and increase load times. Good design and good copy should work synergistically.
Tip #3: Long copy sells...as long as it’s good copy. I call it "greased slide" copy. You get the reader on the top of the slide when he reads a powerful headline, and he can’t get off until he has taken the action asked for (i.e., ordered the product, made the trip to the store, dialed the phone, clicked the order/inquiry button, filled out the on-line order, etc.).
ACTION(Ask For The Order)
Now comes the moment of truth. You must ask for the order. Give reasons for the customer to buy now...and make it easy for him to do so. In direct response marketing, this will involve a coupon for mail orders, a toll-free order line, an e-mail address, an on-line order form, a fax order line..any means to make it easy and simple to order!
Take the fear out of the purchase. Give solid guarantees. Offer secure ordering for on-line customers. Show testimonials from satisfied customers.
Show what the customer is going to lose if he doesn’t order now.
If you are a retailer, include a map to your store(s) (newcomers love them). Show the credit cards you accept, list the hours of operation, tell them about your friendly staff, include a special coupon or other incentive. In other words, "Roll out the red carpet."
INVEST IN FUTURE PROFITS
So there you have it. A primer on good advertising. If I’ve piqued your interest to learn more, then check out the other articles available at this resource.
Remember, bad advertising...no matter what the media...is an unproductive expense.
Good advertising is an investment in future profits!
Good advertising and good management go together. You can’t have a successful business on-line or off-line---without both.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/7202/casualarticles-How-You-Can-Create-Advertising-That-Sells.html">How You Can Create Advertising That Sells</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/7202/casualarticles-How-You-Can-Create-Advertising-That-Sells.html]How You Can Create Advertising That Sells[/url]
Related Articles:
Online Shopping With Delhi Manufacturers
Bookmark it:
|