How to Make Your Ads Work for You
By
VendorSeek
Have you ever needed someone to originate an opportunity and then you would take care of the rest. Do you remember the tale of Cyrano? His words wooed the lovely Roxanne, yet his friend, Christian took the credit. In business, we need our print to play Cyrano. We need our copy to intrigue clients in order to generate leads for our sales team.
The following article focuses on ways to use print to boost sales.
Words before pictures
A cleverly crafted design may gain the affirmative nod from Web designers, but will not convince consumers to buy your services and products.
Your ad space must be devoted towards singing the praises of your products and services. More precisely, you need to tell the reader what your goods and services can do to improve their lives.
Make it obvious
You immediately need to tell your customer how your product and services will serve them well. This means describing a benefit in the headline of your ad. Don’t confuse an element of your product or service and the benefit. The benefit is what will intrigue your readers to know more.
Talk about the practicality
Part of the benefit is creating an image or discussing a scenario. Will your business directory make it easier for buyers to connect to sellers? If so, then paint that picture. Speak of the application process of your product or service.
Make it time friendly
People like to skim copy (especially Web browsers). Make your ad copy easy to skim by using spacing, bold words, and pictures. Readers are going to skim until they come across something they feel warrants closer attention.
What do others think?
You cannot go wrong with using testimonials. Consumers know you will obviously have nothing but good things to say about your own products and services, but will wonder about the thoughts of others in their situation. Provide them with a window into others’ experiences. Let satisfied customers provide a testament to the usefulness of your goods and services.
You don’t have to go big to get noticed
Full to half-page ads can be expensive. Consequently, you may only have the opportunity to advertise a few times employing bigger ads. It is much better to focus on the copy of your ad and use smaller ads more frequently. Consumers need to be repeatedly exposed to your products and services in order to support your brand’s tenacity.
Write your ad like a consumer
Always think like a member of your market. What is in it for them? This question you must constantly pose to yourself. Competition is fierce in all industries; what will make the consumer choose your products and services over those of others? When composing your call-to-action, remember to write something you would want to hear as a consumer.
Talk to them
Do not use the words “us” and “we” in your copy. Remember, the advertisement should not be about you. Write directly to the consumer; use the words “you” and “your” in your copy.
Show them the door
There needs to be some call-to-action in your copy. You want to get them to understand how your product or service will serve to their benefit and then present an option to make a purchase via a phone number, Web site, mail-in address, etc.
Make it happen now
Include a reason for the consumer to act now. Inform them of a special offer to the first few hundred customers or a discount to those who act before a certain date. You do not want the consumer to be lackadaisical in making their decision; you want them to react immediately.
Make it easy for them to act
You want to eliminate as many steps and as much time as possible between when the consumer is exposed to your ad and when they make a purchase. This means you need to make it easy on them to commit a buying action. Whether you are providing a prepaid postcard, a toll-free number, or hosting a shopping cart on your Web site, make the buying process hassle free for the consumer.
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