Your advertising campaign is the lifeblood of your business but if your ads are bringing low conversion rates you need to analyze the factors that could be causing this. It is useless running an ad campaign, which has ads that are not pulling. Your ads are in effect your salespeople and we all know that without good salespeople businesses cannot succeed.
What are the factors that can cause low conversion rates? Here are a few points:1. The actual ad copy
2. Where you place your ads
3. Type of ads
4. Old and repetitive ads
The actual ad copy: if you have weak and ineffective ad copy you are setting yourself up for failure. You cannot expect good results from an ad that does not have the convincing power it should. If your ad does not either sell or create curiosity (pre sell) to your readers it is useless for your campaign. It is like having a salesman who cannot speak to your prospective clients and customers.
Where you place your ads: Placing of ads is very important. Putting an advertisement in an ineffective ezine, on a website etc is a wasted ad. This can cost you large amounts of money and time. To say nothing of the sales that are lost.
Type of ads: We all know that not all ads are created equal there are different types that will have more exposure than others. The 4 forms of paid online ads are:1. Classified: these are small ads that are generally placed towards the bottom of an ezine. They can also be placed in a group on a website. These are the cheapest ads and generally get the least exposure
2. Top Sponsor: These should be placed at the top of an ezine before the featured article, and will get good exposure
3. Middle Sponsor: some ezines run these ads and they will be placed usually after the featured article. They will get slightly less exposure than the Top Sponsor ads.
4. Solo Ads: These ads are sent out on their own to the entire database. These have the highest exposure of all.
Old and repetitive ads: Readers do need to see ads several times before buying but too many times and your sales will be lost. Many affiliate programs and network-marketing opportunities provide ads to their affiliates and members. However they neglect to put new ones there, this results in many people using these ads, over and over again. This continuous and repetitive use will result in readers getting bored and the ad becoming ineffective.
How to detect and pinpoint your ads weaknesses:• Tracking your ads
• Testing your ads
Tracking your ads : Tracking ads will show you how many click through you are getting and you can calculate the sales conversion from these statistics. You can see from the results where and which ads are pulling the best. You can use a program like Adminder to track and record your ads.
Testing your ads: Testing your ads is critical to their success. Split testing is one of the best ways. You will use 2 different ads for the same product and place them in the same ezine or publication, then track them and see how they pull. Classified ads are usually used for this purpose. You can use split testing for several areas of your advertising campaign like websites and landing pages but publications are the most common.
How to resolve the problems and increase conversion:• When you get your results of your testing you will be able to find out where and which ads are actually effective. This will allow you to change copy and Place them in publications, websites etc that are responsive.
o Record all findings in detail so that you can build on successes and avoid repeat failures.• Tweak and change ad copy often just a couple of words can make the difference.
You will find out which ads are pulling with your split testing.
• Try to have several ads for testing, keep a few good ads and rotate them. Make
Classifieds, and Solos. Also include some full page ads.
• Make landing pages for ads to help pre sell and get higher conversions. You cn
track them this way as well.
1. Headline: must be an attention grabbing, eye catching headline to make sure it stands out and is read by the reader.
2. Benefits: should be compelling and be able to sell or create curiosity.
3. Call for action: this should be strong and positive.
Your ad conversions can be greatly improved by following these simple steps. When you have strong pulling ads and advertise them at responsive places you will increase your conversion rates and boost your business. Always remember the 3 golden steps. Track, test, and record your results. By doing this you will make more sales and improve your profits 110%.
Advertising can take on many different forms and sizes. They range from the blazing billboards that take your message to the world to the humblest classified ad. However you choose to say it your ad must announce your product and service and demand to be read and acted upon. Your ad will do one of 2 things, create curiosity for the potential customer to want more information or close the sale.
In order to be truly effective your ad must be irresistible. The most important part of closing the sale is the call for action. You can make a straight link-“buy now”-“click here,” or use a subtler approach. Don’t just ask people for the sale make it an irresistible offer.
Everyone loves a bargain and can rarely resist the urge to save a little with a discount. Here are two ways to make your ad different using a discount coupon:• A discount coupon attached to your ad with a special link or code will make your ad irresistible and help you close the sale. Special links are used all the time but make yours stand out by putting it at the bottom of your ad in the form of a coupon.
• You can use a code for a mystery discount or a special link. Everyone likes a mystery and will be curious to go and see what you are offering them.• You can use your coupon for a free bonus gift just for trying our product or even just for visiting your site.
Discount coupons are a perfect way to invite your potential customer to ”come on in and save a bundle.” Now who can resist that! So don’t just pitch your sales make it worthwhile with an irresistible offer.
How do you present your ad to make an offer your reader can’t refuse? You make a conventional solo or expanded classified ad with benefits and then add a small coupon at the bottom.
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As always remember the golden rules: track, test and record If you are not tracking your ads you are loosing money and your valuable time. Why? Because if you do not know which ad is pulling and which have produced little or no response you could be repeating costly mistakes, and missing out on valuable resources. When you know which ads are pulling you can repeat the ad. Keep a log of where your successful ads are running, for example, which particular ezine, note it down for future or repeat advertising. If you have a similar offer that appeals to the same market you can use that particular ezine again. However on the other hand if an ad has had little or no response make a note of this ezine too so you do not advertise similar offers to this list again. Tracking ads can be automated and easy to set up. There are several programs out there to help you do this.
However you use this discount coupon it will appeal to all your potential customers and can be used as a special coupon for established customers as well advertising is a highly competitive field and anything you do to make your ad irresistible and noteworthy will increase your sales and allow you to get ahead of your competition.
Whenever you try to sell anything you need to build a relationship with your reader. Few people will buy without this vital connection between you and those reading your sales copy. It doesn’t matter what sort of sales copy you are using. It can be a small classified ad or a full-blown Sales page. Unless you can build up this vital relationship with your reader you will make little or no sales.
How do you define a relationship built on merely reading your sales copy? It is the feeling a reader will have about you when reading your ad or sales letter. Your aim with any of your sales copy is to build a good rapport with your reader.
What sort of feelings do you want to create in your reader?• Empathy
• Your product/service can help them resolve their problem
• Trust
• Need to buy
A feeling of empathy: Your reader wants to feel that you understand their needs and wants. When you sympathize with your readers’ needs they will be able to form a bond, they will be able to say, “yes this person understands what I want and understands the problems I am facing.”
Creating a feeling that you can and will help them resolve their problem : Do not just reel off facts and figures. Show your reader positive and strong reasons why your product will help them. In this way they will feel that you are genuinely interested in solving their problems and really have a product /service that will do this.
Trust is the main ingredient in building a relationship with your potential customer. Sales can be made or lost on this all-important feeling. When people build trust in you and your product/service they will buy.
How do you achieve this?• Personalize
• Empathize
• Persuade
• Prove your trustworthiness
• State the problem your reader has and emphasize their need to resolve it. Declare your USPS (unique selling position) State what your product/service can do and how it will greatly help your reader solve a problem or satisfy a desire.
More techniques that will help you build a relationship.• Use of “trigger words”
• Presenting your sales copy (this reflects on you as a professional)
“Trigger words” are words that touch your reader’s emotions. They make them feel good and be more inclined to buy. for example: Do not just “build your business” “skyrocket your business.” You can see one trigger word can make your reader feel elated and optimistic that this can happen. With this feeling in mind a sale is very much more likely, and you have achieved this with one word. When you use these trigger words you will build a good rapport with your prospective buyer, and increase your chances of a sale.
Presentation is critical to the overall impression your visitor will get about you. When your ads and sales pages look good your reader will be impressed and perceive you as a true professional. First impressions are indeed lasting and if your visitor sees you as a professional they will build a good relationship with you as they read your copy.
So next time you send out an ad however small remember that everything your reader sees in your copy will build a relationship and can make or break your sale. Strive to impress your reader, build a relationship and then close the sale with your stunning ad copy.
With the rising cost of advertising we are always looking for new ways to save money on our advertising campaigns. Sometimes we ignore the money saving techniques that are right under our noses. There are several ways to save as discussed in our last issue. Today let us look into some techniques that are free, or very cost effective and very effective if used right. Today we will take a second look at the power of blogging.
Blogging: This form of promotion is very effective especially if you combine them with RSS feeds. Plus it will cost you very little and sometimes nothing at all!Blogging has been around for a time and is a popular thing to do. They can also be very profitable. Few people really plan for profit with their blogs. They just blog away and enjoy expressing themselves. However a business blog is special and requires a little thought:
1. Choose your title of the name for your blog with care. Yes this is the most important part of your blog. It is like the headline of an ad. It must grab your reader’s attention and compel him to read your blog! In order to do this you must:
a. Make it unique: people love to read about something different and a new angle on a subject or problem.
b. Make it interesting: draw your reader into your blog with an interesting topic that is hot and will intrigue your market. A special problem or an interesting piece of news will always be popular.
c. Make sure your title has your main keywords so that it can be found easily by searchers from the search engines
2. Key words-search engines: As mentioned above your keywords are an important part of your title. Keywords are the specific words or phrases that best describe the subject of your blog. These are the words that searchers will put into the search engines in order to find a subject, service or product that they are looking for. When you put certain keywords into your title the search engines will pick these up when they index your blog.
3. Make your blog concise create excitement and curiosity to know more: It is important not to bore your reader. Keep him interested by fun and useful information, stories etc. but always be sure to target your market and do not ramble. Make your blog into a little teaser so that your readers will want to know more and be compelled to click through to your article or product review etc,
4. Link to the product review or useful article: Do not forget to put a link to your website content. When you use http://blogger.com you will be able to get Googlebots to use this link as well. This will get your new website content included in the Google index in about 48 hours.
5. Ways to market:a. As mentioned above you can blog on http://blogger.com and get new content included in the Google search engine
b. Use blogging search engines
c. Exchange links with related blogs
d. Combine them with RSS feeds to get more readers
e. Use an email signature file which includes the link to your blog
f. Always keep your lists informed about important blogs
As you can see you can have fun expressing yourself with your blog and also save a lot of money on advertising. Most blog sites are free, and others have a very nominal fee. So enjoy yourself, and make money doing it with just a few minutes every day writing a little blog.
Your website content is a powerful sales tool and is used to presell to your potential customer. It is critical that you put the right content in your website to achieve this end. In order to make web copy that sells, it is important to know exactly what your visitors will want from your site.
Even before you build a business site you will need to be aware of one important thing. Everything on your website must be geared for selling/preselling. Your site must be fully focused on your main objective to sell your product/service to your visitor. You will be tailoring your website to your potential visitor and fulfilling their wants and needs.
Analyzing your visitors is a must when you plan to start a business website. Familiarize yourself with your market and understand what they will enjoy and encourage them to stay at you site. The longer they stay the more interested they will be in what you have to offer.
What sort of content will your visitors enjoy? Popular ones include:• Articles and tips about your product/service and related fields. Always include informative articles about your product/service. The primary reason that visitors come to your website will be to get more information o your product/service. Today’s savvy shopper wants to be fully informed about anything they are going to buy. Few people just buy something without checking all information about it.
• Articles about “hot” topics. What subjects are “hot “ in your field? You can make use of the business forums and check the threads to see what is being discussed, and form articles and tips around this.
• What is in the news? New trends in your field are always interesting to visitors. This shows your expertise and interest in your topic. It will boost your credibility and build trust in your potential customers.
• Related stories about your product /services. Short anecdotes that visitors can relate to and learn from are a nice touch. Do not overdo these and keep them on topic.
• Product reviews are great ways to presell to visitors. Do not make these gushing sales pitches. Make them real and honest. (You really need to use the product before you write one of these.) Done right these are strong presellers and will create curiosity in the visitor to check out your product.
• Resources and tricks of the trade. Insider secrets always fascinate potential buyers. They feel they are learning something that others may not know that will put them ahead of the game.
All these different forms of content will help to make your visitor in a “buying mood.” Give your visitors a little extra and make them happy and you will increase your sales. Web content is meant to entice, intrigue and persuade your visitors to buy your products and use your services. Good subject matter will do all this and more. When you take time to ensure you have this you will sell more and grow your business.
One of the most enjoyable and satisfying forms of business is selling a service. You may have just developed your business with a product but have you ever thought that for every product there is often a service that can also be offered to your market? As you move your business into the busy season you may like to think about this as a new facet to your business.
Developing a service :
Services can be based on your own talents. For example if you can write, do web design or have programming skills you have a large market as these skills are always in demand. However and this is something many do not think about, skills can be based on you own life experience. For example you have raised children successfully or have a special child who has a disability. Desperate parents are always seeking parenting and family advice columns and resource sites. Perhaps you have spent sometime being a caregiver to your parents. This is valuable information to start a service to help others in similar predicaments. Coaching on fitness and marketing are very popular these days.
As you can see there are several ways to develop a service. Just take a little time and consider what you can do and would like to share with others. Now you have a service in mind you will need to promote it by building trust and credibility.. Here are a few points to think about.
Building trust and credibility :
The first thing you will need to do with your new service is build trust and credibility. This is very necessary to get visitors to trust and hire you for your services. This is one of the hardest things to do when you begin a service. Here are some ways to do this:
1. Viral marketing: Write or have an e-book written about your industry or service. Make sure it is professional and full of useful original information. Put a couple of links to your website resources, newsletter and your service then use this book for your viral marketing. Just give it away free and encourage others to do so. When potential clients read this book they will be impressed by your knowledge and expertise. You can also write a 6-10 page report on your industry and service. Distributing articles will do the same thing. Just use a bio box at the end of your article and do not include links within the article.
2. Business networks and forums: Visit and participate in business networks like http://ryze.com and business forums like Anthony Blake’s business forum. Ask questions and answer them, and do not forget your little signature file. Some places like ryze allow posting of articles on networks. This is always a fun way to start a discussion and prove your credibility. Many people shy away from these forums thinking they do not have time but in reality you need only spend about an hour of your time if you keep focused and do not get involved in lengthy discussions. You can build up your reputation as an expert in your field.
3. Freelancing:If you have skills that can be utilized as a freelancer. For example writing, web design or programming then you can go through a contractor service like http://elance.com or http://guru.com Here you can build up a good amount of positive feedback which will help you build your service business with these contractors. I have personally been very successful with these contractors.
4. Website resources and content: fill your website with informative, interesting content and useful resources. Google will love you and so will your potential clients. This will give a big boost to your credibility and build trust with your visitors.
5. A newsletter: one of the greatest ways to build trust and credibility with your potential customers is to offer your visitors a quality free newsletter. You will collect leads in this way and build up relationships and trust with them. Over time you will see your subscribers convert to your paying clients in this way
6. Your sales page: It is most important to have a sales page that is personal, compelling and above all professional. If necessary hire an expert writer/copywriter to do this for you. Your sales page is a critical part of your business and must build trust when your reader looks at it.
With these few points you will be able to make a good start with your new service by building the trust and credibility with your potential visitors and convert them into loyal clients.