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HOW TO WRITE IRRESISTIBLE AD COPY
When selling through advertising, you're faced with two options, both of which you will probably use frequently. Those options are display and classified advertising.
We won't deal here with radio and television copy writing because it is not something many of you will be using until you have developed a great deal of mail order experience. Once you're dealing with that sort of capital investment, you'll probably have an intimate understanding of the fact that expert help is essential to the successful launch of any campaign, and frankly, electronic media are not our field of experience.
Classified ad copy writing is a very exacting craft, not an art in the way that display advertising is. It involves following a few simple guidelines and requires little skill. That's why daily newspapers hire school and college students to take orders - and write - for their classified section over the telephone.
The first point worth noting is that classified ads are sold by the word or by the line. This has a bearing on how you write your ads, because if the ad is sold by the word, you're not going to write an ad that has a bunch of "A's" and "the's" in it. But at the same time, if it's sold by the line, it will be worth your while to include these words in the ad, as they'll appeal to the better educated segment of the market.
So an ad in at so much a line might read:
"The hottest thing in years. This is a household wonder you'll cherish for years."
The same ad at so much a word will read:
"Hottest recent development. Cherish this household innovation for generations."
Both are about the same length. The first reads nicely in proper English and the second used big, powerful words to make up for awkward structure.
When you buy by the word, which will be the case in most markets, use the biggest, most action-packed words you can think of. And while we're on the subject of word count, the way you mark your address in a classified is also important.
If you live on Dog Breath Lane, mark your address as 22 Dogbreath, unless in that subdivision, there also happens to be a Dog Breath circle, a Dog Breath Avenue and so forth, in which case Dogbreath Lane will do. You can usually get away with this ploy, since these ridiculous two name streets are there to sell houses, not to please the Post Office. If you live in Apartment 12, you can usually get away with 12-22 Dogbreath, which saves you another word. Never leave out the zip code, even a nine-digit zip code counts as one word and in many publications doesn't count as a word at all.
The initials of your name or company will also do unless you're trying to project an image, and this can save you from one to three words. Even your last name will be all right.
In most magazines and a few newspapers, your first word or line of type will be set in darker bold letters. Choose that first word or two very carefully. If you really want good results, do exactly the opposite of what most other advertisers are doing, or be different.
If you've got an income opportunity and CASH, MONEYMAKING or INCOME are the usual first two words, be a bit creative, perhaps with BROKE (no more! Try selling doogles! or HORRENDOUS) (budget, a thing of the past.)
The first word or line gets your reader interested, and no matter how large the circulation of the publication, you'll suffer terribly if you're not attracting the reader as well as the other advertisers. Those opening words are crucial. Like the man said, you don't get a second chance to make a good impression.
Once you've made the hook, hold the reader by telling him exactly what you're offering. If it's an ad for more information, let him know what kind of information and where it leads. Then drop the cost on him, if any and your name and address. If it's a product, in words that say a lot. It's fine to pussyfoot in a display ad if you can afford the space, but short, sharp, to-the-point is what sells from classifieds.
One minor point or style to remember, if you're offering a bonus, leave it to the very last. "Bonus with..." won't work. A bonus or free gift is offered for one reason only: to hook someone who has not quite been sold by the rest of the ad. The offer of a bonus won't work UNTIL they know what it comes with.
Writing display ad copy is much more involved and should really not be undertaken by even the brightest English graduate without some expert help. As we stated earlier, ad copy writing is one of the highest-paying of the creative professions, mainly because it is so difficult to do.
If you must do it yourself, here's a few things you can do to make the task a bit more successful.
Making use of the techniques we mentioned earlier, determine which benefit your client is like to be most interested in.
Target the emotion that motivates the need for that benefit in most people. If you can do that, you'll hook the right person for the product. If you're selling pantyhose for example, you know the anti-run characteristic motivates the buyer, and the reason why women want to buy anti-run hose is to look better longer.
Hey, there's the lead for your copy! In big letters, you're going to flag your ad with LOOK BETTER LONGER! You might want to bracket it top or bottom by writing in smaller letters:
"Da-don't-run-run hose will help you "LOOK BETTER LONGER" in the Da-don't-run-run hose." If the client is interested in hose, you've got her. If not, forget it. Anything else you could use to get a client who doesn't wear pantyhose will cost your clients who do use them, and that's a waste.
Once you've got the initial benefit out in the open, either explain it or be very sneaky about adding another. So say:
"These pantyhose will give you the confidence in your appearance you won't get with other pantyhose..." or
"LONGER... and without blowing your budget. These will give you the confidence..."
but the best way to sneak in additional benefits without looking pushy is to say:
"LONGER! Without blowing your budget, these pantyhose will give you the..." using the new benefit as a prefix.
And, oh, it's so much more complex than that. It's obviously a development in synthetic fibers that allows those hose to be superior, so that must be included too, because the customer wants to know why they're so good.
Where do you mention it though? It might be just as effective to get to it right after the heading, in this manner:
"LOOK BETTER LONGER! Thanks to a new development in synthetic fibers, Da-don't-run-run panty hose will give you the confidence in your appearance you won't get with other pantyhose."
Then the money aspect. And how do you do that? Do you make the sentence longer or start a new sentence? YOU MUST WEIGH EVERY WORD WITH A SURGEON'S CARE! And what about a coupon at the bottom?
Do you use a small order form or use the address of the company? How many words do you need, and if you need a lot of words, can you afford the space it will take to print them?
Get a word count, and fix it within fairly narrow limits or you'll bore the reader or leave no room for graphics or blank space, which you must have to some degree for proper esthetic effect.
Speaking of graphics, what will you have to use? Will you have to make your own? (Clip art used by most dealers is horribly tacky.) And heaven forbid, you design an ad based on another successful campaign by another firm with similar products... and it works so well that it sends their sales rising! It could happen.
There are many firms, probably even in small cities, that specialize in print media advertising, and many do excellent jobs.
You in Canada are fortunate, especially if you live in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or Calgary, since talent runs cheap in Canadian advertising firms and you can get excellent work, and we're sorry to say this but it will generally be more creative than American agencies of similar size.
The fact remains, though, that you know your product better than the agency, and you probably know how you want to sell it.
You might have ideas for wording, graphical layout, any number of things. If you truly want to make your campaign, and especially at that crucial first campaign, as profitable as possible, use the services of a graphics firm that composes print advertising at the very least, and ad agency at the best.
By the way, we've discovered a lot of graphics houses have some frustrated ad copy writers who can give you expert direction at low cost if you'll only ask.
Be ready to take in all your ideas at the time you get your ad done. Every bit of work you do yourself should come off the bill you'll be paying for the job, since it cuts the time the agency or graphics house has to take to prepare the ad.
HOW TO WRITE "ORDER-PULLlNG" ADS
The most important aspect of any business is selling the product or service. Without sales, no business can exist for very long.
All sales begin with some form of advertising. To build sales, this advertising must be seen or heard by potential buyers, and cause them to react to the advertising in some way. The credit for the success, or the blame for the failure of almost all ads, reverts back to the ad itself.
Generally, the "ad writer" wants the prospect to do one of the following:
a) Visit the store to see and judge the product for himself, or immediately write a check and send for the merchandise being advertised
b) Phone for an appointment to hear the full sales presentation, or write for further information which amounts to the same thing.
The bottom line in any ad is quite simple: To make the reader buy the product or service. Any ad that causes the reader to only pause in his thinking, to just admire the product, or to simply believe what's written about the product - is not doing its job completely.
The "ad writer" must know exactly what he wants his reader to do, and any ad that does not elicit the desired action is an absolute waste of time and money.
In order to elicit the desired action from the prospect, all ads are written according to a simple "master formula" which is called AIDA.
l) Attract the "attention" of your prospect 2) "Interest" your prospect in the product 3) Cause your prospect to "desire" the product 4) Demand "action" from the prospect
Never forget the basic rule of advertising copywriting: If the ad is not read, It won't stimulate any sales; if it is not seen, it cannot be read, and if it does not command or grab the attention of the reader, it will not be seen.
Most successful advertising copywriters know these fundamentals backwards and forwards. Whether you know them already or you're just now being exposed to them, your knowledge and practice of these fundamentals will determine the extent of your success as an advertising copywriter.
CLASSIFIED ADS:
Classified ads are the ads from which all successful businesses are started. These small, relatively inexpensive ads, give the beginner an opportunity to advertise his product or service without losing his shirt if the ad doesn't pull or the people don't break his door down with demands for his product. Classified ads are written according to all the advertising rules. What is said in a classified ad is the same that's said in a larger, more elaborate type of ad, excepting in condensed form.
To start learning how to write good classified ads, clip ten classified ads from ten different mail order type publications - ads that you think are pretty good. Paste each of these ads onto a separate sheet of paper.
Analyze each of these ads: How has the writer attracted your attention - what about the ads keeps your interest - are you stimulated to want to know more about the product being advertised - and finally, what action must you take? Are all of these points covered in the ad? How strongly are you "turned on" by each of these ads?
Rate these ads on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best according to the formula I've given you. Now, just for practice, without clipping the ads, do the same thing with ten different ads from a Sears, Wards or JC Penney's catalog. In fact, every ad you see from now on, quickly analyze it, and rate it somewhere on your scale. If you'll practice this exercise on a regular basis, you'll soon be able to quickly recognize the "Power Points" of any ad you see, and know within your own mind whether an ad is good, bad or otherwise, and what makes it so.
Practice for an hour each day, write the ads you've rated 8, 9, and 10 exactly as they've been written. This will give you the "feel" of the fundamentals and style necessary in writing classified ads.
Your next project will be to pick out what you consider to be the ten "worst" ads you can find in the classifieds sections. Clip these out and paste them onto a sheet of paper so you can work with them.
Read these ads over a couple of times, and then beside each of them, write a short comment stating why you think it's bad Lost in the crowd, doesn't attract attention - doesn't hold the reader's interest - nothing special to make the reader w ant to own the product - no demand for action.
You probably already know what's coming next, and that's right, break out those pencils, erasers and scratch paper - and start rewriting these ads to include the missing elements.
Each day for the next month, practice writing the ten best ads for an hour, just the way they were originally written. Pick out ten of the worst ads, analyze those ads, and then practice rewriting those until they measure up to doing the job they were intended to do.
Once you're satisfied that the ads you've rewritten are perfect, go back into each ad and cross out the words that can be eliminated without detracting from the ad. Classified ads are almost always "finalized" in the style of a telegram.
EXAMPLE: I'll arrive at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon, the 15th. Meet me at Sardi's. All my love, Jim.
EDITED FOR SENDING: Arrive 2 PM - 15th - Sardi's. Love, Jim.
CLASSIFIED AD: Save on your food bills! Reduced prices on every shelf in the store! Stock up now while supplies are complete! Come on in today, to Jerry's Family Supermarkets!
EDITED FOR PUBLICATION: Save on Food! Everything bargain priced! Limited supplies! Hurry! Jerry's Markets!
It takes dedicated and regular practice, but you can do it. Simply recognize and understand the basic formula - practice reading and writing the good ones - and rewriting the bad ones to make them better. Practice, and keep at it, over and over, every day - until the formula, the idea, and the feel of this kind of ad writing becomes second nature to you. This is the ONLY WAY to gain expertise in writing good classified ads.
DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENTS:
A display or space ad differs from a classified ad because it has a headline, layout, and because the style isn't telegraphic. However, the fundamentals of writing the display or space ad are exactly the same as for a classified ad. The basic difference is that you have more room in which to emphasize the "master formula." Most successful copywriters rate the headline and/or the lead sentence of an ad as the most important part of the ad, and in reality, you should do the same. After all, when your ad is surrounded by hundreds of other ads, and information or entertainment, what makes you think anyone is going to see your particular ad?
The truth is, they're not going to see your ad unless you can "grab" their attention and entice them to read all of what you have to say. Your headline, or lead sentence when no headline is used, has to make it more difficult for your prospect to ignore or pass over, than to stop and read your ad. If you don't capture the attention of your reader with your headline, anything beyond is useless effort and wasted money.
Successful advertising headlines - in classified ads, your first three to five words serve as your headline - are written as promises, either implied or direct. The former promises to show you how to save money, make money, or attain a desired goal. The latter is a warning against something undesirable.
EXAMPLE OF A PROMISE: Are You Ready To Become A Millionaire - In Just 18 Months?
EXAMPLE OF A WARNING: Do You Make These Mistakes In English?
In both of these examples, I've posed a question as the headline. Headlines that ask a question seem to attract the reader's attention almost as surely as a moth is drawn to a flame. Once he's seen the question, he just can't seem to keep himself from reading the rest of the ad to find out the answer. The best headline questions are those that challenge the reader; that involve his self-esteem, and do not allow him to dismiss your question with a simple yes or no.
You'll be the envy of your friends is another kind of "reader appeal" to incorporate into your headline whenever appropriate. The appeal has to do with basic psychology: everyone wants to be well thought of, and consequently, will read into the body of your ad to find out how he can gain the respect and accolades of his friends.
Where ever and whenever possible, use colloquialisms or words that are not usually found in advertisements. The idea is to shock or shake the reader out of his reverie and cause him to take notice of your ad. Most of the headlines you see day in and day out, have a certain sameness with just the words rearranged. The reader may see these headlines with his eyes, but his brain fails to focus on any of them because there's nothing different or out of the ordinary to arrest his attention.
EXAMPLE OF COLLOQUIALISM: Are You Developing A POT BELLY?
Another attention-grabber kind of head-line is the comparative price headline: Three For Only $3, Regularly $3 Each! Still another of the "tried and proven" kind of headlines is the specific question: Do You Suffer From These Symptoms. And of course, if you offer a strong guarantee, you should say so in your headline: Your Money Refunded, If You Don't Make $100,000 Your First Year.
How To headlines have a very strong basic appeal, but in some instances, they're better used as book titles than advertising headlines. Who Else wants in on the finer things - which your product or service presumably offers - is another approach with a very strong reader appeal. The psychology here being the need of everyone to belong to a group - complete with status and prestige motivations.
Whenever, and as often as you can possibly work it in, you should use the word "you" in your headline, and throughout your copy. After all, your ad should be directed to "one" person, and the person reading your ad wants to feel that you're talking to him personally, not everyone who lives on his street.
Personalize, and be specific! You can throw the teachings of your English teachers out the window, and the rules of "third person, singular" or whatever else tends to inhibit your writing. Whenever you sit down to write advertising copy in tended to pull the orders - sell the product - you should picture yourself in a one-on-one situation and "talk" to your reader just as if you sitting across from him at your dining room table. Say what you mean, and sell HIM on the product your offering. Be specific and ask him if these are the things that bother him - are these the things he wants - and he's the one you want to buy the product...
The layout you devise for your ad, or the frame you build around it, should also command attention. Either make it so spectacular that it stands out like lobster at a chili dinner, or so uncommonly simple that it catches the reader's eye because of its very simplicity. It's also important that you don't get cute with a lot of unrelated graphics and artwork. Your ad should convey the feeling of excitement and movement, but should not tire the eyes or disrupt the flow of the message you're trying to present. Any graphics or artwork you use should be relevant to your product, its use and/or the copy you've written about it. Graphics should not be used as artistic touches, or to create an atmosphere. Any illustrations with your ad should compliment the selling of your product, and prove or substantiate specific points in your copy.
Once you have your reader's attention, the only way you're going to keep it, is by quickly and emphatically telling him what your product will do for him.
Your potential buyer doesn't care in the least how long it's taken you to produce the product, how long you've been in business, nor how many years you've spent learning your craft. He wants to know specifically how he's going to benefit from the purchase of your product.
Generally, his wants will fall into one of the following categories: Better health, more comfort, more money, more leisure time, more popularity, greater beauty, success and/or security.
Even though you have your reader's attention, you must follow through with an enumeration of the benefits he can gain. In essence, you must reiterate the advantages, comfort and happiness he'll enjoy - as you have implied in your headline.
Mentally picture your prospect - determine his wants and emotional needs - put yourself in his shoes, and ask yourself If I were reading this ad, what are the things that would appeal to me? Write your copy to appeal to your reader's wants and emotional needs/ego cravings.
Remember, it's not the "safety features" that have sold cars for the past 50 years - nor has it been the need of transportation - it has been, and almost certainly always will be the advertising writer's recognition of people's wants and emotional needs/ego cravings. Visualize your prospect, recognize his wants and satisfy them. Writing good advertising copy is nothing more or less than knowing "who" your buyers are; recognizing what he wants; and then telling him how your product will fulfill each of those wants, Remember this because it's one of the "vitally important" keys to writing advertising copy that does the job you intend for it to do.
The "desire" portion of your ad is where you present the facts of your product; create and justify your prospect's conviction, and cause him to demand "a piece of the action" for himself.
It's vitally necessary that you present "proven facts" about your product because survey results show that at least 8% of the people reading your ad - especially those reading it for the first time - Will tend to question its authenticity.
So, the more facts you can present in the ad, the more credible your offer. As you write this part of your ad, always remember that the more facts about the product you present, the more product you'll sell. People want facts as reasons, and/or excuses for buying a product - to justify to themselves and others, that they haven't been "taken" by a slick copywriter.
It's like the girl who wants to marry the guy her father calls a "no good bum." Her heart - her emotions - tell her yes, but she needs facts to nullify the seed of doubt lingering in her mind - to rationalize her decision to go on with the wedding.
In other words, the "desire" portion of your ad has to build belief and credibility in the mind of your prospect. It has to assure him of his good judgment in the final decision to buy - furnish evidence of the benefits you've promised - and afford him a "safety net" in case anyone should question his decision to buy.
People tend to believe the things that appeal to their individual desires, fears and other emotions. Once you've established a belief in this manner, logic and reasoning are used to support it. People believe what they "want" to believe. Your reader "wants" to believe your ad if he's read it through this far - it's up to you to support his initial desire.
Study your product and everything about it - visualize the wants of your prospective buyers - dig up the facts, and you'll almost always find plenty of facts to support the buyer's reasons for buying.
Here is where you use results of test conducted, growing sales figures to prove increasing popularity, and "user" testimonials or endorsements. It's also important that you present these fact - test results, sales figures, and/or testimonials - from the consumer point of view, and not that of the manufacturer
Before you end this portion of your ad and get into your demand for action, summarize everything you've presented thus far. Draw a mental picture for your potential buyer. Let him imagine owning the product. Induce him to visualize all of the benefits you've promised. Give him the keys to seeing himself richer, enjoying luxury, having time to do whatever he'd like to do, and with all of his dreams fulfilled.
This can be handled in one or two sentences, or spelled out in a paragraph or more, but it's the absolute ingredient you must include prior to closing the sale. Study all the sales presentations you've ever heard - look at every winning ad - this the element included in all of them that actually makes the sale for you. Remember it, use it, and don't try to sell anything without it.
As Victor Schwab puts it 90 succinctly in his best-selling book, How To Write A Good Advertisement: Every one of the fundamentals in the "master formula" is necessary. Those people who are -easy' to sell may perhaps be sold even if some of these factors are left out, but it's wiser to plan your advertisement go that it will have a powerful impact upon those who are "hardest" to sell, For, unlike face-to-face selling, we cannot in printed advertising come to a "trial close" in our sales talk - in order to see if those who are easier to sell will welcome the dotted line without further persuasion. We must assume that we are talking to the hardest ones - and that the more thoroughly our copy sells both the hard and the easy, the better chance we have against the competition for the consumer dollars - and also the less dependent we will be upon the usual completely ineffective follow-through on our advertising effort which later takes place at the sales counter itself.
ASK FOR ACTION DEMAND THE MONEY!
Lots of ads are beautiful, almost perfectly written, and quite convincing - yet they fail to ask for or demand action from the reader. If you want the reader to have your product, then tell him so and demand that he send his money now. Unless you enjoy entertaining your prospects with your beautiful writing skills, always demand that he complete the sale now, by taking action now - by calling a telephone number and ordering, or by writing his check and rushing it to the post office.
Once you've got him on the hook, land him! Don't let him get away. Probably, one of the most common and best methods of moving the reader's to act now, is written in some form of the following:
All of this can be yours! You can start enjoying this new way of life immediately, simply by sending a check for $XX! Don't put it off, then later wish you had gotten in on the ground floor Make out that check now, and "be IN on the ground floor!" Act now, and as an "early-bird" buyer, we'll include a big bonus package - absolutely free, simply for acting immediately! You win all the way! We take all the risks. If you're not satisfied, simply return the product and we'll quickly refund your money! Do it now! Get that check on its way to us today, and receive the big bonus package! After next week, we won't be able to include the bonus as a part of this fantastic deal, so act now! The sooner you act, the more you win!
Offering a reward of some kind will almost always stimulate the prospect to take action. However, in mentioning the reward or bonus, be very careful that you don't end up receiving primarily, requests for the bonus with mountains of requests for refunds on the product to follow. The bonus should be mentioned only casually if you're asking for product orders; and with lots of fanfare only when you're seeking inquiries.
Too often the copywriter, in his enthusiasm to pull in a record number of responses, confuses the reader by "forgetting about the product," and devoting his entire space allotted for the "demand for action" to sending for the bonus. Any reward offered should be closely related to the product, and a bonus offered only for immediate action on the part of the potential buyer.
Specify a time limit. Tell your prospect that he must act within a certain time limit or lose out on the bonus, face probably higher prices, or even the withdrawal of your offer. This is always a good hook to get action.
Any kind of guarantee you offer always helps to produce action from the prospect. And the more liberal you can make your guarantee, the more product orders you'll receive. Be sure you state the guarantee clearly and simply. Make it so easy to understand that even a child would not misinterpret what you're saying.
The action you want your prospect to take should be easy - clearly stated - and devoid of any complicated procedural steps on his part, or numerous directions for him to follow.
Picture your prospect, very comfortable in his favorite easy chair, idly flipping through a magazine while "half-watching" TV. He notices your ad, reads through it, and he's sold on your product. Now what does he do?
Remember, he's very comfortable - you've "grabbed" his attention, sparked his interest, painted a picture of him enjoying a new kind of satisfaction, and he's ready to buy... Anything and everything you ask or cause him to do is going to disrupt this aura of comfort and contentment. Whatever he must do had better be simple, quick and easy!
Tell him without any ifs, ands or buts, what to do - fill out the coupon, include your check for the full amount, and send it in to us today! Make it as easy for him as you possibly can -simple and direct. And by all means, make sure your address is on the order form he's supposed to complete and mail in to you - your name and address on the order form, as well as just above it. People sometimes fill out a coupon, tear it off, seal it in an envelope and don't know where to send it. The easier you make it for him to respond, the more responses you'll get!
There you have it, a complete course on how to write ads that will pull more orders for you - sell more of your product for you. It's important to learn "why" ads are written as they are - to understand and use, the "master formula" in your own ad writing endeavors.
By conscientiously studying good advertising copy, and practice in writing ads of your own, now that you have the knowledge and understand what makes advertising copy work, you should be able to quickly develop your copyrighting abilities to produce order-pulling ads for your own products. Even so, and once you do become proficient in writing ads for your own products, you must never stop "noticing" how ads are written, designed and put together by other people. To stop learning would be comparable to shutting yourself off from the rest of the world.
The best ad writers are people in touch with the world in which they live. Every time they see a good ad, they clip it out and save it. Regularly, they pull out these files of good ads and study them, always analyzing what makes them good, and why they work. There's no school in the country that can give you the same kind of education and expertise so necessary in the field of ad writing. You must keep yourself up-to-date, aware of, and in-the-know about the other guy - his innovations, style changes, and the methods he's using to sell his products. On-the-job-training - study and practice - that's what it takes - and if you've got that burning ambition to succeed, you can do it too!
QUESTIONS ANSWERS:
l) WHAT'S THE MOST PROFITABLE WAY TO USE CLASSIFIEDS... Classifieds are best used to build your mailing list of qualified prospects. Use classifieds to offer a free catalog, booklet or report relative to your product line,
2) WHAT CAN YOU SELL "DIRECTLY" FROM CLASSIFIEDS... Generally, anything and everything, so long as it doesn't cost more than five dollars which is about the most people will pay in response to an offer in the classifieds. These types of ads are great for pulling inquiries such as: Write for further information, Send $3, get two for the price of one. Dealers wanted, send for product info and a real money-makers kit!
3) WHAT ARE THE BEST MONTHS OF THE YEAR TO ADVERTISE... All twelve months of the year! Responses to your ads during some months will be slower in accumulating, but by keying your ads according to the month they appear, and a careful tabulation of your returns from each keyed ad, you'll see that steady year round advertising will continue to pull orders for you, regardless of the month it's published. I've personally received inquiries and orders from ads placed as long as 2 years previous to the date of the response.
4) ARE MAIL ORDER PUBLICATIONS GOOD ADVERTISING BUYS... The least effective are the ad sheets. Most of the ads in these publications are "exchange ads," meaning that the publisher of ad sheet "A" runs the ads of publisher "B" without charge, because publisher "B" is running the ads of publisher "A" without charge. The "claimed" circulation figures of these publications are almost always based on "wishes, hopes and wants" while the "true" circulation goes out to similar small, part-time mail order dealers. Very poor medium for investing advertising dollars because everybody receiving a copy is a "seller" and nobody is buying. When an ad sheet is received by someone not involved in mail order, it's usually given a cursory glance and then discarded as "junk mail."
Tabloid newspapers are slightly better than the ad sheets, but not by much! The important difference with the tabloids is in the "helpful information" articles they try to carry for the mail order beginner. A "fair media" for recruiting dealers or independent sales reps for mail order products, and for renting mailing lists, but still circulated amongst "sellers" with very few buyers. Besides that, the life of a mail order tab sheet is about the same as that of your daily newspaper.
With mail order magazines, it depends on the quality of the publication and its business concepts. Some mail order magazines are nothing more than expanded ad sheets, while others strive to help the opportunity seekers with on-going advice and tips he can use in the development and growth of his own wealth-building projects.
5) HOW CAN I DECIDE WHERE TO ADVERTISE MY PRODUCT... First of all, you have to determine who your prospective buyers are. Then you do a little bit of market research. Talk to your friends, neighbors and people at random who might fit this profile. Ask them if they would be interested in a product such as yours, and then ask them which publications they read. Next, go to your public library for a listing of the publications of this type from the Standard Rate & Data Service catalogs.
Make a list of the addresses, circulation figures, reader demographics and advertising rates. To determine the true costs of your advertising and decide which is the better buy, divide the total audited circulation figure into the cost for a one inch ad: $10 per inch with a publication showing 10,000 circulation would be 10,000 into $10 or $.10 per thousand. Looking at the advertising rates for Book Business Mart, you would take 42,500 into $15 for an advertising rate of less than THREE TENTHS OF ONE CENT PER THOUSAND. Obviously, your best buy in this case would be Book Business Mart because of the lower cost per thousand.
Write and ask for sample copies of the magazines you've tentatively chosen to place your advertising in. Look over their advertising - be sure that they don't or won't put your ad in the "gutter" which is the inside column next to the binding. How many other mail order type ads are they carrying - you want to go with a publication that's busy, not one that has only a few ads. The more ads in the publication, the better the response the advertisers are getting, or else they wouldn't be investing their money in that publication.
To "properly" test your ad, you should let it run through at least three consecutive issues of any publication. If your responses are small, try a different publication. Then, if your responses are still small, look at your ad and think about rewriting it for greater appeal, and pulling power. In a great many instances, it's the ad and not the publication's pulling power that's at fault!
Tips on Writing a Successful Ad
When knowledge is based on truth, it is powerful!
When it is critical knowledge," its presence can drive our success, while its absence may contribute to our failure. I will attempt to convey in this report some useful and practical knowledge about how to write awesome ads for the World Wide Web. It is my sincere belief that; if you act upon the suggestions that will be presented here, you may well be taking steps which will give your ad greater pulling power.
Web advertising takes many forms; web pages, classified ads, e-mail responses, news group postings, and even your signature file. No matter which form you employ unless your advertising is seen, nothing is sold. Being seen is of key importance.
However, a less considered but equally important factor is your viewing audience. Disregarding your audience results in the problem of "selling air conditioners to Eskimos." It just doesn't generate much interest. A reader who has no interest in your advertising material is not part of a "qualified audience" and is not a "potential customer.
"Classified ads placed in the appropriate section for your product will naturally draw a qualified audience of potential customers. Ad placement within the section is the single most important factor determining whether or not your ad is seen within the section. Secondly, the content of your ad will determine which (and if) potential customers do in fact actually read your ad. When placing classified ads on the web some rules of thumb are:
1) Choose classifieds that have the largest number of ads because, this is generally a good indicator of how much reader traffic there will be for your classified.
2) Determine how the ads are ranked or sorted within the sections and attempt to be listed at or near the top.
3) Develop reader stopping ad content.
DESIGNING AN AWESOME CLASSIFIED
The four essential ingredients of an awesome classified are:
ATTENTION - INTEREST - DESIRE - ACTION
If your ad is missing any of these it is not an AWESOME Ad!
ATTENTION: You must first get the readers attention. Picture him scanning the section of the classified page in which your ad is listed. For him or her it is much like which ride at the amusement park to take next. Something about your ad must grab their attention to direct their focus toward your product.
Since classified ads usually lack graphics, it then comes down to something about the words you use, or about the way you use them. Some web advertisers seem to think that if you use lots of !!! (exclamation marks) or *** (asterisks) or maybe MAKE IT ALL CAPS that this will draw their attention. The problem here is that:
Everyone knows it's glitter and meant to get your attention. This may often interfere with the readers ability to take your words seriously. Subconsciously he may even expect your ad to be some kind of gimmick. Right or wrong, stereotype or not, my advice is let your words speak for themselves and steer clear of such tactics. We will discuss guidelines for choosing the right words later.
INTEREST: The ad must have appeal. This is a good place to state the benefits or some attractive features of your product. Knowing the demographics of your readers or the category section your ad is placed in, helps in understanding their interests. What benefits of your product or service is most likely to appeal to this group? Develop a mental picture of some of the customers who would come from this demographic group, and will buy your product. What kinds of jobs do they have, cars do they drive... are they young, old, single, married...?
Having a mental picture of your audience is important when you want to understand their interests and know what benefits of your product you should spotlight.
DESIRE: Appealing to their interest is not enough. The ad must then "further stimulate your reader." While interest can generally be obtained by the practical properties of your product, desire needs to spark a more emotional reaction. Is there something about your product that will make them feel good, excited, confident, secure, hopeful or powerful? Think about what other emotions your product can ignite. Does your product appeal to a particular sense. Can the reader taste, hear, smell, see or hear your product. Realize that most actions which we take are sparked by desire and most desire is stimulated by feelings. We don't really desire money.
We desire the feelings that we think money will bring us, whether they be happy, secure, or powerful. Yet, the word "money" may trigger the desire that triggers the feelings which we value and want to experience.
ACTION: If your reader does not take action, then you are dead in the water. How do you get your reader to act? Believe it or not this is the simplest step. Simply use a directive. Psychologists tell us that when given a directive (unless obviously harmful) our first instinct is to comply. Turn to the person in the seat next to you, and in a slightly commanding voice say, "give me your pen for a minute"... chances are they will, and usually, without question, for no other reason than "you told them to." Don't say... "will you give me your pen for a minute?" because now they have to think, and if they have to think they may refuse. In your ad simply say: "call this number now", "email me for details", "go to our website" etc. If the first three ingredients (attention, interest, and desire) have been well done, and the reader is a qualified customer.... they will most likely take the action you direct them to take.
WHAT TYPE OF AD SHOULD YOU USE
There are three ad types:
Qualified - Partially Qualified - and Blind
The qualified ad is specific and includes more detail about the product you are selling. Some products lend themselves to qualified ad content better than others. Hair pieces for men is an example. If your product is particularly "person dependent" use this type. Qualified ads will receive the least response but more of the responses which are received will result in sales.
The partially qualified ad offers a special benefit, such as money or self- improvement. The readers have some idea of what you are offering, but don't know the specifics. If they are interested and desire your product they will follow your directive and send for more info. If you know where a partially qualified ad response comes from, you may be able to tailor your response to increase the percent of resulting sales.
Blind ads offer only a few details, they are short, and bring in the largest response. However, blind ads produce the lowest percentage of actual orders per response, they are often answered just out of curiosity.
ADDING WORD POWER TO YOUR CLASSIFIED AD
Some words are more powerful than others. Saying, your ad must "spark your readers interest," is more powerful than saying, your ad must "get the readers attention." Why? because by using "spark," you can see something igniting within the reader, flaming their interest, and sense they are feeling some excitement. Yes, getting them to have feelings about your words is what you want to accomplish. It is the feelings that are attached to the words that give them power. Look at the list of words below and see if you can recognize the feelings behind the words, that give them power. If you are having trouble finding power words to use in your ad, it is probably because you are concentrating to hard on what words you want to use instead of what sorts of feelings you want the reader to feel. Decide on the feelings first and then experiment with the words that best convey them.
Researchers at Yale University say that the twelve most POWERFUL words in the English language are:
1. DISCOVER 2. EASY 3. GUARANTEE 4. HEALTH 5. LOVE 6. MONEY 7. NEW 8. PROVEN 9. RESULTS 10 SAFETY 11. SAVE 12. YOU 13. FREE - ( I just had to add this one in ! )
The above list contains the type of attention getting words that you should try to include in your classified advertising ad title. Scan a bunch of classifieds (as many as necessary), picking out other such words from the title of the ads that attracted your attention. Do this until you have a list of about 50 words. Try to pick out the individual words and not the phrases. Phrases will come later. Keep this list at hand when you are designing your classified ad. Glance at the list occasionally while writing down possible titles for your ad. The title is the most important part of the ad. You may need to spend 90 percent of the time it takes to design your ad, just on the title alone.
Now write down every word that you can possibly think of which describes a particular feature or benefit of your product. What do you always tell the customer about your product?
Benefits - benefits -benefits! Features - features- features!
Verbs and adjectives are great. Verbs because they show action and adjectives because they are descriptive. Active and descriptive words tend to make us to react with feelings.
Now let's put it all together and create a simple classified car ad.
Want a Dependable Used Car that Looks Fantastic and Drives Great? 1994 Olds Cutlass - low mileage - automatic transmission - radio plays CD's -- tinted glass - factory air - great gas mileage - So "cherry" people will stare with envy when you drive by - Call today 555-5555 ask for Joe.
Well, this one I did quickly. Maybe you can make it better. Anyway, now review the ad. Does the title grab the reader's attention. Does the ad offer features or benefits of interest to car buyers? Is some emotional desire created to further stimulate the reader? Does the ad direct the reader's action?
Now go to it! Create your own awesome classified keeping the above thoughts in mind. Review your ad and check to see that all the important ingredients of a good ad are present. Find a classifieds site on the web with plenty of ads in a category related to your product. Get your ad listed first if you can. And wait for the response. "If you are not getting responses, then either change the title of the ad, change the wording, or Advertise in more locations!
Good Luck out there...
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