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Creating Awesome Ads

  By Jim Foreman

As a popular Web Classifieds Publisher I see over two thousand ad submissions daily. The two most repeated mistakes writers make to compromise their ad's effectiveness are:

1) failure to qualify the audience and/or
2) not following proven ad writing basics.

I believe we can morph the solution to both mistakes into this one article.

To design an "AWESOME" ad follow these four essential AIDA basics.

(A)ttention - (I)nterest - (D)esire - (A)ction

If your ad doesn't contain "ALL" of these, it is not an "AWESOME" Ad!

(A) TTENTION: & AD TITLE ABC's

(a) Know Your Audience.

You must first capture your readers' attention. Picture the reader flipping through sections of classifieds containing hundreds of ads, of which your ad is just "another ride" in the park. The ad that attracts the reader's gaze has a title that may look "EXCITING" or even simply "COMFORTABLE" but, most certainly, the ad "SPEAKS" to them personally.

A sky divers club visiting Disney Land will likely seek rides for their "thrill" value, while a group of senior citizens may prefer the "comfort" of a safari monorail through the animal park.

Title "APPEAL" is different to different people for different reasons at different times in their different lives.

Before deciding where to advertise first decide who's your "target" audience. Ignoring category demographics is like trying to "sell air conditioners to Eskimos." It just doesn't generate enough heat to warm up the prospect to your product or service.

(b) Position Your Ad for Success.

Don't expect readers to come to your ad, take your ad to the people. If Mohammed can't go to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammed. Take the necessary time to place your ad in the most appropriate section(s) of the classifieds.

Now, that your ad is in the ball park, through proper placement,there must be "something" in the TITLE of your ad to STOP reader scanning long enough for them to focus on YOUR ad.

(c) Animate Your Ad

Animated banners out perform by 5:1 non-animated banners. Why? Because, it's inbred through genetics to FOCUS on MOVEMENT for PRIMAL reasons. Movement in the primeval forest usually meant either food or danger, and caused us (man the hunter) like other animals, to freeze and gaze intently.

Today's humans are very much like our ancestors. We utilize our inherent tendencies when moving through a forest of ads. Action words command our attention. This knowledge helps advertisers animate even non-graphic ads for greater "eye catching" appeal.

Consider these two ad titles: 1) "URL Broadcasting can Skyrocket Your Profit" or 2) "Use Submission Software for Improved Sales".

Both titles contain 6 words, 42 characters, and advertise submission software. But, do both command equal attention? Notice that one ad contains verbs and the other doesn't.

Verbs show ACTION!

Spend a goodly portion of your time, as I have here, on your ad TITLE or the reading process may END rather than START here. To generate attention, consider the flash value of the words in your ad's title.

An awesome ad must cause the reader to STOP and to INVESTIGATE your product.

(I) NTEREST:

The body of your ad must have cognitive appeal. It must make enough good sense, to be worthy of a visit to your site, an email info request, or just to continue reading the ad. Use the body's description of your ad to state the benefits or features your product holds "in store" for the reader.

Develop a mental picture of the customers who frequent the particular classified section where you place your ad. What are their demographics. What kinds of jobs do they have, cars do they drive, are they young, old, single, married? The clearer and more real your mental picture of your audience, the better you can match the features and benefits of your product to their interests.

There are general and specific reader interests. We all want to make a "smart" buy of a "dependable" product that is "productive" for our purposes. But, the web business man or woman will be especially interested in buying a "proven" product that "maximizes" their "exposure" to "new" clients and helps to "close" the sale.

Always look for the "unique" features of your product that is not being offered by your competitors. This is your market "niche".

After making logical sense to the reader, you will then need to turn interest into a "personal desire" for your product.

(D) ESIRE:

Interest alone is not enough! The awesome ad "stimulates" the reader toward desire. While interest can generally be obtained by highlighting the practical properties of your product, your words will need to stroke more basic buyer erogenous zones in order to produce DESIRE.

Is there something here that makes the reader feel good, excited, confident, secure, hopeful or powerful? Think about other emotions that your product or service might evoke. Does your product appeal to a particular sense. Can the reader taste, hear, smell, see, or feel your product. You need to CONVEY the EMOTIONAL APPEAL of your product TO THE READER!

All, and let me emphasize, ALL ! "human actions result from our desire to either experience pleasure or to avoid pain". Desire (for your offering) is created when your reader experiences either; an anticipation of "pleasure" or expectation of avoiding "pain" or problems from the use or purchase of your product. The influence that this "physiological" and "psychological" fact has on prospect purchases can not be overly stated.

Contrary to popular belief, we don't really desire money. We may desire the "pleasure" we believe money can bring. We may desire to not experience the "pain" that might result from not having money. The word "money" only "triggers" the feelings and desires (within us) which we seek...whether they be happy, secure, or powerful desires, based upon our personal value system and past experience.

It is the feelings that are attached to the words of our ads that give them power. Surviving is the "soul goal" of every living cell in "every living thing" that exists everywhere in the world. Primal concerns are satisfied FIRST. The more PRIMAL the feelings attached to the words in your ad, the GREATER their POWER!

Everyone has experienced the power of "impulse buying". Have you been grocery shopping while hungry? Well, if you have, then you were"prime" for food purchases. Did you make a new product buy because the food looked "tasty"? Did you purchase something on "crave value" rather than "food value", or maybe spend more money than you intended?

Well guess what? It is more than a little likely that; your product will be purchased on impulse. If your reader is not presently in primal state you've got to get them there. It is the job of your advertising to both create and satisfy the reader's hunger.

There are always good, better and best words. The right word(s) for creating product desire are the ones that elicit biological emotional responses in the reader. Emotional responses bypass the cognitive process and cause us to experience rather than merely read words.

(A) CTION:

If your reader does not take ACTION, there is no sale. How do you get your reader to act? Believe it or not it's easy, just use a "directive."

In your ad simply say: "call this number now", "email me for details", "go to our website" etc. Why would you create feelings in a prospect without telling them what to do with those feelings? Yet ironically, not asking for the sale is the single most repeated mistake that stops reader desire from leading to reader action.

Psychologists tell us that when given a directive (unless obviously harmful) our first instinct is to comply. If you are at work, you can turn to the person in the seat next to you, and in a slightly commanding voice say, "give me your pen for a minute"... chances are they will, and usually, without question, for no other reason than "you told them to do so."

If the first three ingredients (attention, interest, and desire) have been well done, and the reader is a qualified customer.... they will more than likely take the "action" you direct them to take.

Develop your web ad with the above thoughts in mind. Check your ad to see that the four AIDA basics have been met. Now you have an "AWESOME" web classified ad that will out pull, by many times, the thoughtless ads of your competition. That's the bottom line!

Author: Jim Foreman, President of NetSeek World Presence
Creator of DialUp Profits Websites. Click here to send email.
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