A small ad can generate a greater return on your investment than any other type of advertising. You can also use it in a variety of media. For example, I often get profitable results from the same small ad in all of the following:
Internet - posted as a classified ad at
websites and in email newsletters (ezines).
Print - run as a classified or display ad in magazines.
Direct Mail - printed on a postcard and sent to targeted mailing lists.
Email - added as a "signature" to the bottom of my email messages.
A small classified or display ad doesn't provide enough space to generate sales directly from the ad. Instead, use the ad to generate inquiries from prospects seeking more information or to generate visitors to your store or website. Apply your usual selling procedure to close sales when you get the inquiry or visitor.
By trial and error I developed the following 4 step procedure for creating successful little classified or display ads. You can follow this same simple procedure to successfully create your own profitable little ads.
Select one product or service to promote and tailor your ad to one targeted market. You can develop ads for many different products and target them to many different markets. But each ad will be most effective when it promotes one product to one targeted market.
The headline is the most important part of your ad. It captures the reader's attention and provides a compelling reason to read your ad. The most effective headline clearly promotes your strongest benefit to readers in your targeted market. For example, "How To Build Your MLM Downline Fast" will immediately attract the attention of most network marketers. It offers the solution to their biggest problem... how to build their downline sales organization.
Keep your body copy brief. Include a few power words to reinforce the benefit promoted in your headline. For example, "Quick! Easy! Immediate results guaranteed!" could be used as body copy to reinforce the sample headline in Step 2.
End your body copy by telling the reader exactly how to respond to your ad. Keep it simple and make it easy. For example, "Call 1-800-123-4567 for FREE information TODAY!"
Keep trying to increase the number of responses from your ad. Test different headlines, different body copy, different media. Test even minor changes in your ad. I've seen ad responses jump dramatically after simply enclosing the headline in quotation marks. I've also seen ad responses to a different ad drop after making the same change. The only way to know if something works is to test it.
Test only one change at a time or you won't know which change produced the new result. Be sure to code each version of your ad so you can track the results from it. Whenever a new "test" version of your ad produces better results than your standard version, make it your new standard version. Continual testing enables you to gradually increase the response rate and profitability of your little ad. I once built the response to a recruiting ad printed on a postcard from 3 percent to over 20 percent this way.
Use this simple four step procedure to create your own small ads. If you already use small ads, apply this procedure to your existing ads to increase their effectiveness and profitability. The results will surprise you.