Ok, here it is, the low down on Off line advertising.
First I have to point out that advertising is only one form of marketing a business and there are far cheaper alternatives that you could try first
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So what is good advertising??
Advertising is simply Salesmanship in print. In other words, if you are going to use advertising then you want to fill the space that you have bought with as much text as possible.
Most businesses tend to copy what everyone else has done before them, ie You put a big bold headline of the business name at the top, followed by a bullet pointed list of features you offer, and some beautifully designed graphic picture thats associated with your service or product
.. Doh!
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Just imagine for a minute that you are stood in front of a new customer. What are you likely to tell that new customer about your products/service? How would you describe the many benefits of doing business with you?
Now imagine if your best salesman (i.e. usually you as you know the product or service inside out) were to stand in front of a new customer and just be allowed to bleat out the company name, followed by a short list of features and then shut up, just think how unimpressed that customer would be. Do you think they would turn around and walk away? I do.
If the customer is stood in front of you then you would give every ounce of detail possible to that customer regarding the benefits they will receive and then the features that you use to deliver to that customers need.
So why stop short when it comes to advertising. Whether its you yellow pages ad, newspaper as, or magazine ad, you need to be using Advertorials (Editorial style ads).
For example: Just look on the back of the free magazines that come with the Weekend papers. Ok these are usually full pages, which are very expensive, but they work. There is always a large description telling why you should buy and a call to action e.g. a number to call quoting reference number 1234 for credit card orders, or a coupon to cut out and return with a cheque, or a brochure to send off for etc. This type of ad pulls in thousands of pounds in orders and that is why they keep repeating them.
Just because you dont want a new set of pans with a free set of carving knives, or the latest light weight hover, it doesnt mean that no one else does.
When you are writing the ad write it as thought you are speaking directly to one person like I am doing to YOU right now.
Because you are literally taking the best of the best from the conversations that you would normally have with a customer face to face and putting it in print.
You have to start with a bold headline to draw the customer into you ad. Just like a news paper uses headline to draw you into the story. Just think about when you read a paper. What do you look at first? Yes, the headlines. Most people will flick through a paper scanning the Headlines to see which articles to read. They are not scanning for adverts. So you have to make your ad look as much like the rest of the newspaper as possible.
A word of caution. When you show your friends or colleagues your new ad dont be surprised if you get a negative reaction. If they are not in the market for what you are advertising then why would they find the advert appealing? You are looking for people who want what you have now, at this precise point.
I have example ads where by two carpet cleaning companies advertised in the same local newspaper over a two week period. One used the traditional Company Name, bullet point list, and the 2nd one used the advertorial type ad. Both used the same size ad space and so paid the same amount.
Over the two week period the first one received just 2 enquiries, the 2nd one obtained 11 Orders for real work. Now which one would you use for your business?? Thats an 1100% difference in response.
So you may be asking yourself why dose everyone tend to follow like sheep on stick to the normal template. Its a good question and do you want to really know why, then Ill tell you. Its because glossy ads win awards for the designers and make easy money for the advertisers.
Most people advertising for the first time will simply take the advertiser up on the offer when they say and we can give you a template to help create your ad
. and our in house graphic designer will assist you. You send in what you want in the ad, well put together a draft and you can approve it or change it have you heard something similar to that before??
You have to understand that the advertiser doesnt care what you ad looks like or how many leads or orders it generates, just as long as they take your money and sell the space on the page. They may lure you be telling you about the many 1000s of copies that get distributed, but ask yourself, how many of those 1000s actually fall into your prospect profile ??
If you are going to use advertising as a medium then you need to know how to create the ad yourself. If you would like to know how they just drop me an email.
The other way to use ad in newspapers etc is to use small classified ads. It only takes a few lines and so is cheap. What you want to advertise is something for FREE. i.e. a FREE Report disclosing the 8 easy steps to decorating your house, or A Free report on how to easily mange your stock reducing wastage and freeing up your time. Etc. What ever your product or service offer to give something for free in the form of a report.
Those that call for the report are really sticking their hand up to say we want to know about that, please tell us. When they call you can collect all their details, always get permission to store them in your database. Now you have the hook to start really marketing to them as a qualified lead.
I hope this has helped a little. If you would like to know more about other ways to generate leads for your business then please feels free to send me an email. But do it now before the summer holidays kick in.
Warmly
Steve Crane.
