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By Tatiana Velitchkov © 2002 One of the most interesting questions I get from my clients at Guaranteed-Hits.Com is: "What's the best way to get more results from my ads?" Many of these people are already savvy netrepreneurs: They're the ones who have developed winning products, have set down clear-cut positioning statements, and have thoroughly investigated their target markets. They've also chosen to advertise online because it's a medium that produces instant & measurable results -- and offers the widest degree of interactivity. But these marketers want assurance -- a "guarantee" if you will =) -- that every cent of their advertising budget will do its job. So they ask me: "What's the best way to get more results from my ads?" And I answer: "Just be clear about what you want your ad to do!" This is an old piece of advertising advice that still works on the net... and now I'm going to reveal to you the "4 IMPORTANT WAYS AN ONLINE AD CAN WORK FOR YOU," simply because I know it's something that will also benefit YOU. What Specific Job Do You Want Your Ad to DO? 1) Ads That Let Them Know This ad's objective is to build an initial public awareness for your product, your company, or yourself -- whichever you think will create the most necessary impact at the present time. When To Use This Kind Of Ad: - When you're new. - When your product is new. - When you've made major improvements to your old product. - When you're coming out with a special offer. - When you're holding a major contest or a sale. What This Ad Needs: - A strong positioning statement. Since you're introducing yourself anyway, make sure you make yourself distinctive enough not to be mistaken for anyone else (especially anyone else that's boring, old, or unreliable). - Visuals that impress. Remember, you need to make an impact, and that includes making a powerful visual statement. - Excitement factor. It's not enough to say you're coming out with something new -- make them focus on what's EXCITING about it, and how it's going to affect their lives. 2) Ads That Make Them Feel Most marketing experts agree that people REALLY make buying choices based on emotions, and then later think up logical explanations for their decisions. To maximize this kind of leverage, it only makes sense to launch ads once in a while with the sole purpose of creating a STRONG emotional appeal. When To Use This Kind Of Ad: - When people are already aware (even marginally) of the existence of your product / company / brand. - When you need people to associate good feelings with your company/your product, to push them closer towards making a purchase decision. What This Ad Needs: - A human interest angle. Concentrate on the things the average person holds dear -- family, friends, security, relationships -- and make a clear connection between them and your product/company. - Drama. This ad is about emotion, so do everything possible to HEIGHTEN the emotion. Do it with pictures, with stories, with words -- but be careful to keep everything authentic and sincere. 3) Ads Make Them Think This is the ad that convinces people about the superiority of your product, backing up your claim with scientific facts, proven data, and indisputable logic. Although this strategy MAY seem to run contrary to the "customers-use-their-emotions" theory, using an ad that's big on logic actually helps in many cases -- particularly when your prospects' emotions have already been invested, and all they need now are logical reasons to support their emotional decisions. When To Use This Kind Of Ad: - When your company/brand already elicits positive emotions from your prospects. - When you've been on the market for some time, and competitors are more or less using the same emotional appeals as you are. What This Ad Needs: - Numbers, percentages, and statistics. Actual results of how you/your product has changed the lives of actual people. Real data showing how much their profits have increased, how well their productivity has improved, or how much of their time has been saved. - Testimonials, recommendations, endorsements. These can come from satisfied clients and groups / organizations who are respected in the field. - Graphs, demonstrations. Since the online ad is a visual AND an interactive medium, use it to your advantage to strengthen your intellectual appeal. 4) Ads That Encourage Loyalty Back in high school -- whether we admit it or not -- we were ready to do most anything to be identified with a desirable group. Today we believe we're well past that identity crisis... but how many times have we instinctively chosen to buy a specific brand NOT because it's different from the others, but because it's what we've always identified with ourselves (or at least WANT to be identified with). When this happens, a product becomes more than just a product: It becomes a statement, an identity extension, a way of life. It becomes a BRAND that inspires our loyalty -- and it profits from our regular purchases whether we're talking about weeks or months or years. When To Use This Kind Of Ad: - When you've been on the market for a LONG TIME with a tried and true product formula, and nothing new could ever be really said about it. - When you don't intend to change your product -- but the generation of users that are loyal to it are beginning to change. - When you want to reach out to your old target audience AND attract the new audience that's just emerging. What This Ad Needs: - Poignancy. "Remember those good old days?" elements, stories which evoke fond memories and often involve the presence of your trusted brand. - Continuity. Stories showing how the then-young generation grew up with your product / brand, and how their kids (and grandkids) are using the same product now. - Innovation. Highlight how this old & trusted product is also improving itself to meet its users' changing needs. Yes, online advertising IS still a new arena -- but just because we moved advertising to the net doesn't mean we need to re-invent the entire wheel. After all, the wheel's function remains the same: "to conveniently move anything towards other places." If anything else, advertising's function will also remain the same: and that is to make MORE PEOPLE move towards YOU. © Tatiana Velitchkov About the Author: Tatiana is the publisher of: http://www.TheFortunesEzine.com , the FortunesEzineWeekly at http://www.TakeYourFortune.com , and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising site http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com |