Posts Tagged ‘online advertising’

The Challenge of the Sales Ad (part 3 of 3)

February 23rd, 2010

How to Write Ads for the Internet (part 3 of 3). See part 1. See part 2.

An effective sales ad is harder to create than a response ad. That’s because it’s much harder to get someone to give you their money, than to merely visit your site.

The only reason someone will voluntarily give you their money is in exchange for something they want. In the case of most businesses, that means solving a problem.

A famous marketing guru once said, ‘All marketing is about solving problems’. This statement is 100% correct. Your product is designed to solve a specific problem. If you don’t know what that problem is you can’t create a powerful sales ad.

For example, a car solves the problem of getting from point A to point B. A car does this so much better than anything else (fast, inexpensive, comfortable, fun) that it has become the #1 tool used by people to solve the point A to point B problem.

The entire focus of your sales ad needs to be the problem. Specifically…

  • What the problem is
  • Why the problem needs to be solved
  • How your product solves the problem
  • How your solution is different and/or better than other solutions
  • Why the prospect should trust you to solve it
  • What to do to have this problem solved

Your answers to these questions form the basis of your sales ad. They even fit into the following general overview of your sales ad.

A sales ad has four different sections. Each section has a specific job to do. The sections, and their specific purpose, are…

  • Gain a commitment to read the ad
  • Build the prospect’s interest
  • Create desire for the product
  • Ask the prospect to buy

Commitment to read the ad

This section consists of the ad’s headline and its first paragraph. Your goal is to make the ad so interesting to the prospect that he or she is compelled to read it.

The headline should state the specific problem that your product solves. That is, the outcome delivered by the product. For example…

The Cost of Security is Exploding. Now you can get better Security and Save Thousands!

The example headline promises to deliver something the prospect wants very badly. The use of the word ‘now’ also suggests something has changed, improving the credibility of the statement being made.

The first paragraph must immediately follow on from the headline. If it doesn’t do that, your prospect will quickly lose interest.

The first paragraph should also lend weight to the claim made in the ad headline. But it shouldn’t be too specific. At this point you’re looking for a commitment to read the ad, not a commitment to buy. For example…

Wouldn’t you love to get better security with SIA Licensed Guards, and cut the cost of your security? Not just for a limited time, but permanently. That’s exactly what you get from Check Security. Here’s how…

The example paragraph restates the product’s key promise, and then uses a hook to encourage further reading. Nobody interested in more security for less money will stop reading at the end of paragraph one.

That’s an important point. You want people to continue reading past the end of the first paragraph. The further into your ad you can get a person, the less likely it is he/she will stop reading. This is mainly down to the fact that your reader will have forgetten whatever it was he/she was doing before, and become increasingly interested in your offer.

Build the prospect’s interest

The example paragraph above is designed to lead the reader naturally into the second part of the ad. In this next section, you must build the prospect’s interest in what you have to sell. You do that by giving more detail about the product or service you’re selling.

This section should focus on what your product actually delivers, and how it works. You need to keep this section short and to the point. You must avoid getting bogged down in the detail. You’re not out to prove anything in this section. You’re simply whetting your prospect’s appetite for more.

Create desire for the product

At this point in your ad, only one thing will stop your prospect from buying. Doubt.

Doubt is the #1 sales killer. During the desire section of your ad you increase desire for the product by eliminating doubt. The doubts that rise in your prospect’s mind fall into these broad categories…

  • The product doesn’t do what you say
  • The product doesn’t exist (i.e. scam)
  • The product result doesn’t justify its price
  • The prospect doesn’t really have this problem
  • The problem isn’t more expensive than the price

Up to this point in your ad, you’ve simply made claims for your product. These are enough to get your prospect interested, and are the reason why he or she is still reading. But to get a sale, you need to create excitement. To convert interest into excitement, you must eliminate doubt. And to eliminate doubt, you must backup your claims.

You should do this with some subtlety. You can’t simply say ‘This isn’t a scam’, because all that does is raise the concern in the mind of the prospect. Here are some common ways to deal with doubt…

  • Testimonial evidence from existing customers. These should be scans of the original hard copy, or video testimonial
  • Scientific evidence
  • A free trial period
  • A money back guarantee
  • A generous warranty
  • A summary of your expertise (if you’re the product)

Your use of these techniques should be in conjunction with the benefit being delivered. In other words, you need to keep the prospect interested while you eliminate his or her natural doubts. The end result of reading this section of your ad should be an overwhelming desire to buy the product.

Ask the prospect to buy

It might seem obvious, yet one of the most common mistakes made by amateurs is forgetting to ask for the sale.

When asking for the sale, it’s best to order the prospect to buy. That is, to tell the prospect what to do. You should also restate your product’s main benefit in the form of a question when you do this. For example…

You’d to get more security, protect your business with SIA Licensed Guards and save thousands of dollars wouldn’t you? Click here and join now…

This example shows how to ask a question that can only be answered with ‘yes’. You get the prospect to agree that what your product delivers is something he or she wants. Then you tell the prospect what he or she must do to get it. In this case, to click a link.

Finishing off…

Many amateurs are uncomfortable with asking for the sale, especially in so blatant a manner as I have suggested. Amateurs tend to follow up with more words. It’s almost as if they’re apologizing for having had the temerity to try and sell something.

Don’t make this mistake. Ask for the sale, and be done with it. Don’t type another word.

You never really finish

At some point you have to stop writing your sales ad and post it to the web. You never really finish writing an ad. It’s more accurate to say that you abandon it.

I’ve found it worthwhile rewriting my sales ads every couple of weeks, in an attempt to improve them. My first effort is never my best. I encourage you to do the same, and let your ad evolve over time.


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The Art of Response Advertising (part 2 of 3)

February 22nd, 2010

How to Write Ads for the Internet (part 2 of 3). See part 1.

In theory, getting the response should be easy. After all, you’re only asking for a little of your prospect’s time. Of course, there’s often a difference between theory and practice.

In the case of a response ad, you’re up against the following…

  • Getting the prospect to notice your ad
  • Getting the prospect interested enough to read your ad
  • Persuading the prospect that finding out more about your product is a worthwhile use of his or her time
  • Overcoming the prospect’s natural skepticism

The Internet further compounds these problems as follows…

  • Your ad is often only one ad among millions
  • Web sites are often hard to read, especially compared to magazines and newspapers
  • Most website owners are not publishing professionals, and may botch your ad, rendering it useless
  • Most specialist online ad sites attract other people in business, rather than good prospects for your product
  • If your ad is on a slow-loading web page, nobody will wait around long enough to see it

The paradox of the Internet is that it makes it easier for the prospect to physically respond, but much harder to bring the ad to your prospect’s attention.

The successful response ad

A response ad needs to do the following…

  • Get the prospect to notice it
  • Get the prospect interested in your product
  • Persuade the prospect to respond

These three tasks are all a response ad has to do. You should remove anything else from a response ad. Here’s an example…

Not making money from business networking? I’ll show you how to turn business cards into cash – instantly! Discover Beyond Networking.

Getting noticed

The way to get people to notice your response ad is through its headline. The headline on a response ad has one job to do. It must attract attention to itself. It must…

  • Draw the prospect’s eyes toward it
  • Spark the prospect’s interest

A headline will draw attention to itself if it’s bold, startling, or shocking. It will be especially effective if the headline is written to appeal to people likely to buy your product.

When creating a new ad headline, you should start by looking at the most exciting thing that your product offers, and find a way to state it in a single sentence.

A response ad headline should also be…

  • Short
  • Punchy
  • Exciting

Most Internet advertisers write dull ad headlines. Many simply name their product, and expect people to notice their ad sitting there among hundreds of others.

That’s not going to happen. Nobody sets out to surf the web so they can read advertising. Your response ad won’t work if it’s not the most exciting thing on the page.

Your ad will be exciting to your prospect if it promises to deliver something he or she wants. If you can find a short, punchy, and exciting way to say it, your headline will draw attention to itself.

Your prospect’s subconscious mind will see the entire webpage, and notice anything interesting. If your ad headline is interesting, your prospect’s subconscious mind will bring it to your prospect’s attention.

You’ve probably noticed this when reading a newspaper. Your eye tends to be drawn, almost subconsciously, to things you find interesting.

Developing interest

Getting the prospect to look at your ad is the first battle. The next task is to get him/her to read it. This starts with the headline, which must promise something interesting.

You must immediately follow the headline with something that reinforces the promised benefit. The headline must lead logically into the first sentence of the ad.

The first sentence must then follow logically into the second. These sentences should also be short, punchy, and exciting.

Your goal is simply to get a response. You’re not selling your product in this ad. You’re selling your sales ad.

You want the person to become interested enough to volunteer to stop what he or she was doing, and click through to your sales page instead.

Don’t mention the price of your product, no matter how inexpensive it is. The price is never a benefit in the mind of the prospect. Yes, there are exceptions to this rule. It’s not likely the exception will apply to your product.

Getting the response

The culmination of your response ad is the response. Its reason for being is to attract people to your website.

For that to happen, your prospect must become excited about what he or she is reading. You should then invite the prospect to respond. Ideally, you will tell the prospect what to do in your invitation. For example: Click here now…

This ‘invitation’ is both an instruction that tells the client what to do, and an order to do it immediately.

In part one you looked at the two types of advertising. They are the response ad, and the sales ad. You also looked at how each type of ad fits into the 2-step process.


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How to Write Ads for the Internet (1 of 3)

February 21st, 2010

Advertising is one of the hardest things to get right. This is especially true on the Internet, where you’re competing with thousands of other advertisers.

Fortunately, most of the advertising on the Internet is written by amateurs who have no idea what they’re doing. This makes it easy for a skilled ad writer to stand out from the crowd.

This article is written for people new to advertising, and gives you an introduction to the two main types of advertising. It explains what each type is designed to do, and shows you when to use each one.

Most people don’t know what you’re about to discover, yet it’s not possible to create powerful online ads unless you know this information.

The two types of advertising

There are only 2 types of advertising that matter on the Internet. They are…

  1. Response advertising
  2. Sales advertising

Response advertising

A response ad is designed to get people to reply to the ad. This is the sole purpose of a response ad.

A response ad shouldn’t focus on selling a product, but on selling the response.

Sales advertising

A sales ad is designed to get people to buy a product or service. This is the sole purpose of a sales ad.

Two-step advertising

With two-step advertising, there are two distinct steps in the sales process…

  1. Get people to visit your sales page
  2. Ask for the sale

A response ad is used in step one, and a sales ad in step two.

Your goal in step one is to generate enough interest in your product or service that a person stops what he or she is doing, and visits your sales page instead. For example…

Wedding Reception Entertainment that will take your friends and family by surprise, and ensure they’ll talk about your wedding for years!

Your goal in step two is to generate enough desire for your product that the prospect buys it.

There are millions of suitable websites on the Internet. A suitable site is one that attracts people who are likely to have an interest in your product or service.

You need to find as many of these websites as you can, and put your response ad on as many of them as you can afford.

Your response ad then has the job of gaining the attention of the people who visit those websites, and persuading them to stop what they’re doing and visit your sales ad instead.

The Internet is especially suited to two-step advertising because every page can be linked to any another. If your prospect is interested in your ad, all he or she has to do to respond is click on it. As soon as your prospect does, he or she is taken to your sales page.

Take it from me, it’s much easier to get a person to click on an ad than it is to get him or her to send a reply coupon back through the mail. Or to dial an 800 number.

Despite the Internet’s ease of response, getting a prospect to reply to your ad is still a challenge. We’ll look at how to go about this in the next article.


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