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HOW TO WRITE PROFITABLE CLASSIFIED ADSEverybody wants to make more money. In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! One of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of the dreams of wealth is known within the professional circles of business as direct marketing, commonly referred to as mail order. However, hardly anyone gives much thought to the basic ingredient of selling by mail -- the writing of profitable classified ads. If your mail order business is to succeed, then you must acquire the expertise of writing classified ads that sell your product or services! What makes a classified ad good or bad? First of all, it must appeal to the reader, stating exactly what your product can do for him. Secondly, your classified must convey your message in the fewest possible number of words in order to keep advertising costs within your budget. Finally, a classified must produce the desired results, whether it is generating inquiries or promoting sales. Grabbing the reader's attention is your first objective. You must assume the reader is quickly scanning the page on which your ad appears in the company of numerous other classified ads, each set in the same typestyle and of approximately the same length. Therefore, there must be something about your classified that causes a reader to stop scanning down the column and read your entire ad. The first two or three words of your ad are of the utmost importance and are deserving of your careful consideration. Words or phrases that quickly involve the reader are the best attention- grabbers. Messages such as "FREE", "WIN", "MAKE BIG MONEY", "FANTASTIC", or "FAST PROFITS" will capture a reader's attention and draw his focus toward your ad. Whatever words you use as attention-grabbers to start your ads, you should bear in mind
that they'll be competing with similar words in other ads on the same page. Therefore, in
addition to your lead words, your ad must quickly go on to promise or state further
benefits of your product to the reader. Your ad might read something like this: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. In just a few words you've grabbed the attention of your prospect and interested him with something that he can do. The next step in successful classified copywriting is to increase the reader's desire
to get in on your offer. In a great many instances, this rule is by-passed, and is the
singlemost reason that an offer does not pull according to the expectations of the
advertiser. Think about it. You've captured the reader's attention. You've told him it's
easy and simple, and you're about to ask him to do something. Unless you take the time to
make the offer unavoidably attractive, your ad is only going to have accomplished half the
job for which it was designed. The reader will compare your ad with the others that have
grabbed his attention and will ultimately decide upon one that has better given him a
vision of the possibilities the product holds. It is at this point that you must insert a
word or phrase that will convince the prospect of your offer's proven value. Use of that
seemingly magic word "Guaranteed" or some equally powerful word or phrase will
let the reader know you mean business. Thus, we've got an ad that now reads: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. The reader's complete attention now is focused on your ad, and in his mind, he is
thinking that he can't lose by accepting your offer. You're ready to ask for his money.
This is known as a "demand for action." This portion of the ad should use such
words as" "Limited Offer", "Act Now!", "Write Today!",
"Only", and Just". Putting it all together, your ad could read: MAKE BIG MONEY! Easy & Simple. The formula for any good classified ad is the use of words that will capture the reader's Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action - commonly referred to as AIDA. Without these four ingredients carefully integrated into your classified, chances are your ad will just "lie there" and not do anything but cost you money. What we've shown above is a basic classified ad. Although such an ad could be placed in any leading publication and would produce a good response, it's known as a "blind ad" and would pull inquires and responses from a whole spectrum of people reading the publication in which it appeared. Many would send the $2 requested, but others would not. In other words, you would receive responses from as many people merely seeking to fill their boxes with free mail as from bona fide buyers. Let's give you an example of the kind of classified ad you might want to use to sell a
report such as this one. Using all the rules of basic advertising copywriting listed
above, and stating exactly what our product is, our ad will read: MONEY-MAKER'S SECRETS! How to Write Winning Classified Ads. Simple & easy to learn
- learn how to double or triple your responses. Rush $3 to ABC Sales, 10 Main, Anytown,
USA 10001. Remember: You've got to grab the reader's attention, interest him with something appealing, further stimulate him with some catch-phrase that makes him desire the product or services, and demand that he act immediately. There's no point in being tricky or clever with classified advertising. Just adhere to the basics and your profits will increase accordingly. One of the best ways of learning to write good classified ads is to study the classifieds that are already out there. Try to figure out exactly what they're attempting to sell. Practice rewriting the published ads according to the rules we've just given you. Whenever you sit down to write a classified, always write down everything you want to say. Go back over it, crossing out words and refining your phrases. Rewrite the ad several times for maximum effectiveness. After you have arrived at a final ad, try to write an entirely new ad for the same product. After completing the task again, choose the one that most appeals to you. The final ingredient of your ad is the name and address to which the reader is to respond - where he's to send his money or write for further information. Generally speaking, readers respond more often to ads that include a name than to those showing just initials or merely an address. However, because advertising costs are based upon the number of words or the amount of space your ad uses, the use of some names in classified ads could become quite expensive. If you were to ask your ad respondents to write or send their money to "The International Consumer Research and Publishers Association", to "American Book Mart Review", or even to "Economic Opportunity Digest", your advertising costs would be prohibitive. Therefore, shorten your name to simply "Researchers" or "ECD". The point is, consider your name in relation to the placement costs of your ad, and shorten excessively long names. The same rule that applies to names holds true when listing your post office box number. Shorten "Post Office Box 40" to "Box 40, or in the case of rural route, shorten it to RR. If the ad is sold by the line length, abbreviate extensions such as "Boulevard", "Drive" and "Avenue" to Blvd., Dr., and Ave. If the street name is completely unique, you want to leave the extension off entirely. A suite or apartment number can be listed as #303 rather than spelling out Suite #303". State or province names can always be abbreviated. Also, abbreviate directions in an address. Use "NE" in place of "Northeast" or "S" instead of "South". Always remember the rules of profitable classified ad writing, and follow them closely.
Use the AIDA formula in writing a succinct, clear, and eye-catching ad. Hold your costs in
line by using as few words as possible, but make sure that every word counts. Shorten
names and addresses to keep costs low. Also remember that the best, most productive use of
classified advertising is to generate inquiries, not sales. Now that you know the basics,
the rest is up to you. Practice writing and rewriting your classified ads until each one
becomes a successful tool for propelling you along the pathway to success. |
