In my work as a copywriter, I am often asked by clients how they can improve the return they get on their investments in marketing and advertising. I'd like to tell you about the mistakes which small businesses tend to make in their ads so that you can avoid making them yourself.
Layout
Too many small business ads read like a list:
They'll put the company name at the top instead of an attention getting headline and follow with dry copy which simply does not hold the reader's interest. No compelling reason is given to follow up; and the ad concludes with a phone number and address.
These ads are ineffective; they don't get prospective customers to care about your company. Your reader wants to know one thing: what's in it for him or her.
This is a much more effective ad layout:
Headline at the top. (Don't be tricky: just state the strongest benefit of your product or service.)
Include a contact number or perhaps a coupon at the bottom right. This corner is called the "anchor point".
Company name and address at bottom left (where the prospect will find it once they're convinced.)
If you are using photos or illustrations, place headlines underneath them to keep your reader's eyes moving down the page. Make your headlines and photos part of a narrative.
A series of benefit-rich bullet points (long copy is also great, but much more difficult to write.)
How are your ads? Do they read like a shopping list, or a compelling story ending with a call to action? If the former, I know you'll get great results from changing your formats.
Failing to Test and Track Ad Response
Why should you test and track different ads? Because one ad, sales letter or web page may sell 2, 3 even 21 TIMES more than an alternative for exactly the same product or service. You need to know what's working and what isn't so you can cut the losers and optimise the winners.
How to Track Advertising Response
It's very simple to track your ads. For instance, you can ask callers how they found out about your business. If you have a lot of different ads out there, you can track things with more complex methods such as the following:
Coded coupons in your ads Different coloured reply-paid postcards Different department numbers Asking your callers to mention an offer or ask for someone by name etc.
Online advertising makes things even easier. There are plenty of ad tracking tools which you can use.
When one of my marketing consulting clients started tracking their ads a while back, they found that $500 newspaper ads were generating almost zero response, while cheap flyers were bringing in loads of customers. So they were able to save a bundle on ineffective advertising.
What To Test
Test these parts of your ads:
Headlines, Offers, Body Copy, Guarantee and Price
Hint: You'll get the greatest return by testing headlines first.
When you find something that works, stay with it until you find something better. It really isn't hard to improve your marketing ROI if you use this approach, yet hardly anyone does it! If YOU decide to take action on this tip, you can save money, leverage your marketing budget, and put some distance between you and your competition.
Just making sure that your ads are working well can dramatically increase your business; you may want to think about taking on a in-house copywriter. This can make a lot of difference in your advertising return on investment.
Not Making The Most of a Powerful Guarantee
Many small business fail to include a strong guarantee in their advertisements. This is a shame, since a powerful guarantee can mean response rates which are at least 50% higher.
Guarantees put your customers at ease about buying from you. Your confidence in your product or service will increase their confidence as well.
Here are a few tips for successfully incorporating your guarantee into your ads:
1. Your guarantee should make specific promises about results.
Stay away from the generic guarantee language like "satisfaction guaranteed". It's much better to use something along the lines of:
"If you don't love our product, we'll pay you to go to our competitors"
" 50% increase in traffic to your site in 60 days or your money back"
"Send $35 to [Your Business Name and Address] and if you're not happy with us, we'll refund you $40."
2. Test Your Guarantee
As a copywriter and small business consultant, I spend a lot of time working with my clients to produce guarantees which get the reader's attention. A lot of business owners worry that they will have a lot of customers taking advantage of their money back offers. If this is the case, then start small ? publish one ad with this guarantee, another without. Track your response rate and the number of returns you see. If it works for you, keep offering the guarantee.
A good guarantee will make, not lose money for your business.
You can fine tune the wording and dates of your guarantee to get even better results; you may see a significant difference between the response for a 30 day and 60 day guarantee.
3. Make your guarantee highly visible
Your guarantee should be a headline; you don't want your reader to miss it.
What can you offer prospective customers in terms of a guarantee that will make them more interested in doing business with you? - 16928
Layout
Too many small business ads read like a list:
They'll put the company name at the top instead of an attention getting headline and follow with dry copy which simply does not hold the reader's interest. No compelling reason is given to follow up; and the ad concludes with a phone number and address.
These ads are ineffective; they don't get prospective customers to care about your company. Your reader wants to know one thing: what's in it for him or her.
This is a much more effective ad layout:
Headline at the top. (Don't be tricky: just state the strongest benefit of your product or service.)
Include a contact number or perhaps a coupon at the bottom right. This corner is called the "anchor point".
Company name and address at bottom left (where the prospect will find it once they're convinced.)
If you are using photos or illustrations, place headlines underneath them to keep your reader's eyes moving down the page. Make your headlines and photos part of a narrative.
A series of benefit-rich bullet points (long copy is also great, but much more difficult to write.)
How are your ads? Do they read like a shopping list, or a compelling story ending with a call to action? If the former, I know you'll get great results from changing your formats.
Failing to Test and Track Ad Response
Why should you test and track different ads? Because one ad, sales letter or web page may sell 2, 3 even 21 TIMES more than an alternative for exactly the same product or service. You need to know what's working and what isn't so you can cut the losers and optimise the winners.
How to Track Advertising Response
It's very simple to track your ads. For instance, you can ask callers how they found out about your business. If you have a lot of different ads out there, you can track things with more complex methods such as the following:
Coded coupons in your ads Different coloured reply-paid postcards Different department numbers Asking your callers to mention an offer or ask for someone by name etc.
Online advertising makes things even easier. There are plenty of ad tracking tools which you can use.
When one of my marketing consulting clients started tracking their ads a while back, they found that $500 newspaper ads were generating almost zero response, while cheap flyers were bringing in loads of customers. So they were able to save a bundle on ineffective advertising.
What To Test
Test these parts of your ads:
Headlines, Offers, Body Copy, Guarantee and Price
Hint: You'll get the greatest return by testing headlines first.
When you find something that works, stay with it until you find something better. It really isn't hard to improve your marketing ROI if you use this approach, yet hardly anyone does it! If YOU decide to take action on this tip, you can save money, leverage your marketing budget, and put some distance between you and your competition.
Just making sure that your ads are working well can dramatically increase your business; you may want to think about taking on a in-house copywriter. This can make a lot of difference in your advertising return on investment.
Not Making The Most of a Powerful Guarantee
Many small business fail to include a strong guarantee in their advertisements. This is a shame, since a powerful guarantee can mean response rates which are at least 50% higher.
Guarantees put your customers at ease about buying from you. Your confidence in your product or service will increase their confidence as well.
Here are a few tips for successfully incorporating your guarantee into your ads:
1. Your guarantee should make specific promises about results.
Stay away from the generic guarantee language like "satisfaction guaranteed". It's much better to use something along the lines of:
"If you don't love our product, we'll pay you to go to our competitors"
" 50% increase in traffic to your site in 60 days or your money back"
"Send $35 to [Your Business Name and Address] and if you're not happy with us, we'll refund you $40."
2. Test Your Guarantee
As a copywriter and small business consultant, I spend a lot of time working with my clients to produce guarantees which get the reader's attention. A lot of business owners worry that they will have a lot of customers taking advantage of their money back offers. If this is the case, then start small ? publish one ad with this guarantee, another without. Track your response rate and the number of returns you see. If it works for you, keep offering the guarantee.
A good guarantee will make, not lose money for your business.
You can fine tune the wording and dates of your guarantee to get even better results; you may see a significant difference between the response for a 30 day and 60 day guarantee.
3. Make your guarantee highly visible
Your guarantee should be a headline; you don't want your reader to miss it.
What can you offer prospective customers in terms of a guarantee that will make them more interested in doing business with you? - 16928
About the Author:
Author: David B. Ascot has important information regarding sales lead generation strategies that will assist your business grow through online lead generation.
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