Here at the Link Directories we want to help you get the most out of your advertising and we want you to place adverts that will work for you and help to bring you in new customers. But for a lot of our customers who may not have advertised before, the thought of putting an advert together can seem daunting.
So we have put together our 9 Top Tips to help get you started and to help you create a great advert…
1 – THINK ABOUT YOUR MESSAGE
Before putting an advert together, you must think about what the message is that you are trying to get across. You should be Clear, and Concise, keep the wording Direct and to the point – too much information can put people off. Use Colours and Fonts that are easy to read and that compliment or match your current logos and branding, whilst still capturing their attention.
2 – GOOD HEADLINE
You need to think about what you want from the advert. You want to grab the readers attention, so think about who you are trying to attract and what would get their attention. Try to avoid putting your company name at the top of the advert, put an offer – ie £100 OFF – that’s more likely to grab their attention and keep them interested. Try to put your company name and logo at the bottom of the advert, that way it’s the last thing that they read and hopefully remember. David Ogilvy – also known as the Father of Advertising said that “5 times as many people read the headline than read the copy. When you have written your headline you have spent 80 cents out of your dollar”.
3 – WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT
You need to show customers why they should choose you, why are you their number 1 choice? So have a think about what it is that makes you different from other businesses. What is your USP – your Unique Selling Point? Try to promote that in your advert, it can be what other businesses are also doing, but perhaps they are not shouting about it.
4 – HAVE AN OFFER
Everyone loves a bargain. These days no one wants to feel like they are paying full price for anything. So whether it’s an Unbeatable Price, Free Trial, Money Off or Free Postage, if you go out of your way to provide your customers with a good deal it will help you become successful. Advertise the offer Clearly and consider using money rather than %, for example £25 off sounds better than 10% discount.
5 – TALK ABOUT BENEFITS
Show customers what’s in it for them. So as well as explaining what or how important your product or services are, list how they can help your customers. What benefits are there to your customers for using your products?
6 – CALL TO ACTION
Don’t just tell your customers what you offer, encourage them to Take Action. This can be done is a variety of ways. Email you for more info – Pick up the Phone – Visit your Website (here you would then require a Landing Page for them to go to) – Complete a Form for more Information.
7 – DEADLINES
You want to encourage your customers to Take Action NOW! Give your advert a deadline, make it seem Urgent. Have an offer on a certain product and make it a Seasonal offer, or valid for this Month Only, or a Limited Time only, or only have a Limited Number of products to give away – ie first 20 Only.
8 –TESTIMONIALS
One of the most important tools in any business is building relationships with our customers. People have a lot of concerns these days about where they spend their money and it is important to build Trust in your business and it will then help customers to choose you. A great way to do this is to collect testimonials and add a couple to your advert from customers who have been happy and satisfied with your products. Seeing that other customers have been happy can give them peace of mind and so making it easier for them to trust and hopefully then choose you.
9 – CONTACT DETAILS
Finally remember – you have told customers what you are selling, what makes you stand out from the crowd, how you can benefit the customer, what great offers that you have & how good other customers think you are. Remember to tell them where they can purchase from, so include contact name, telephone numbers, web address and social media platforms.
So that’s it, my 9 top tips to creating a great advert.
I hope that this all makes sense and helps you to think about what you need to include into your advert to help you get great results.
Please remember I am always here to help, so if you are struggling at all, please pick up the phone and we can meet or just talk things through, and should you ever need any help with any art work or design, Link Creative can always give you a helping hand.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing your end results …
x
