Tweet

Marketing With Classified Ads-What It Takes To Make Them Work

Written by: Jeff Casmer

Article Overview: Not all ezines are created equal; some of them have poor formatting and lack luster articles, and others are a breath of fresh. But nearly all ezines, good or bad, have classified ads.

Marketing With Classified Ads-What It Takes To Make Them Work

Not all ezines are created equal; some of them have poor formatting and lack luster articles, and others are a breath of fresh. But nearly all ezines, good or bad, have classified ads.
Marketing with classified ads is so popular online because it is cost effective and it works.

Correction: They work when they have all the following parts and these parts are working together to churn sales.

Before you get started you get started it's crucial that you dispel one very age old ad writing myth: getting it right the first time. Nobody, not even an ad writing wiz, can put together a profit pulling classified ad in mere minuets and nobody gets it perfect in their first attempt.

Professional ad writers will produce 20-30 variations of each part in order to put together a well written classified ad that delivers.

That said your classified ad should contain the following: an attention grabbing headline a compelling body, and a clear call to action.

An ad writer who is able to produce a profit pulling ad knows that every ad needs to have all those parts and that each part has only one, job and it should never multitask.

The headline:

Your headline sells your ad. Your ad may never get read without an attention grabbing headline, which is why 80 percent of your time should be spent creating a captivating headline. If you don't pull your readers in from the get go, the chances of you closing the deal is slime.

On that note, avoid making the mistake of writing cute or sensational headlines with no relevance to the offer just to get attention. Even if you do get one or two sales you won't be creating a positive business to customer (B2C) relationship. No web business (or any business for that matter) can survive without that. You can be catchy while still be being honest.

Your headline should excite the reader so use action words and avoid sounding passive in your classified ad. Marketing with classified ads is not a passive activity. You can also try creating curiosity or asking a question. Remember, draw the reader in and be prepared to answer the god of all customer questions "what's in it for me?"

What do you do if the publication you are using does not allow headlines? Use the first few words as a make shift headline or indent the ad so it stands out.

The body:

The purpose of the body is to set up the call to action. It must clearly layout the benefits of owning the product or the service, or point out what the prospect is missing out by not owning or using it. In other words, it should answer the "what's in it for me" question.

Write down all the functions of your product or service and then write down the list of benefits for those features. If you can not think of a benefit for that feature then do not use that feature.

As a customer, I don't want a list of what the product or service will do. I want to know what it will do for me. Once again "what's in it for me?"

The call to action:

The call to action is what you want the reader to do. Do you want them to visit your site? Subscribe to your ezine? Make a purchase? Whatever it is it should be clearly stated.

If you want them to visit your site create a sense of urgency. Why? Because your offer has to be more important than whatever they are doing now.

Your marketing with classified ad is written then you're done right? Wrong! For starters you should proofread your ad for spelling errors and read it out loud to see how it will sound to the reader.

Next, you need to test your ad. Test your classified ad multiple times to figure out what works. It's a surefire way to spend less so you can make more.

If you take your time make sure you include all the parts necessary for an ad, and test to make sure each part is doing its job you will create a classified ad that truly works.

Related Articles
  Free Classified Ads are a Great Way to Drive Website Traffic
  Post free classified ads in India with 89classifieds
  Classified Ads That Get Results
  Email Marketing Made Easy #07 - Newsletters/Opt-in Lists and Classified Ads
  How to Write Order-Pulling Classified Ads

Article Tags: business to customer, classified ad marketing, closing the deal, curiosity, ezines, formatting, job, lack luster, minuets, mistake, myth, passive activity, professional ad writers, relationship, relevance, sensational headlines, slime, variations, web business, wiz



Related Forum Posts
Re: How to promote my site - All I can suggest to you is.. if you don't have knowledge in SEO and or in Internet Marketing, you better understand what is SEO first and what it's dos and don'ts.. After you learn in.. Start with the basic SEO techniques: - Web Directories Submission - Classified Ads - Social Bookmarking - Forum Posting - Blogging - Article Submission Then the rest follows..
Re: Why Some Websites Sell and Others Don’t? - There is myth that if you build websites people will come. It is never through, you need to do a lot of things to make your website to work. You have many models of attracting traffics to your site. PPC Article Marketing SEO Press Release Banner Ads Forum Posting Classified Advertising Media Buying Solo Ads and a lot of more. If you are not doing any of the above your websites will just be one of the millions of the unknown sites in cyber space
Do what i did - I had the same dilemma. My solution? I started my own marketing firm! No, in all reality, even if you have a degree in Marketing, you will have to take crappy entry-level jobs to get your foot in the door. Make the most of them by taking on extra tasks that will give you skills that will improve your resume. It's a slow process, but if you can get just one job in Marketing, you're on your way!
Re: Traffic! How do you get it? - Traffic is the lifeblood of your internet business and it is one of the most popular questions asked all the time how do I get more traffic. The following are some good strategies that are proven to work to help ou gain traffic to your website A) Forum Marketing b) Article Marketing - (Where you distribute your content is the key to success with Article marketing) c) Video Marketing d) Blogging e) Social Media ( sharing content amoungst a targeted network of friends or creating Fan Pages and updating) f) Ezine advertising ( send solo mailings to email lists of people within your niche) Go to google and type in your niche name followed by ezine or newsletter g) Pay per Click H) Joint ventures and ad swaps ( generally will need a list of email subscribers of your own) I) Classified adverts online J) Banner and Image ads - go to google and type in google image ads - full tutorial their I would reccomend you pick one strategy and learn it until you can generate some great traffic and then you should look to move on and implement other strategies.
Re: Search Engine Optimization - simply trying your hand at doing it yourself :- Directory Submissions - targeted links at high PR directories Blog and Forum Postings - to high PR and frequently crawled sites Social Bookmarking Classified Ads Article Marketing - submit to high PR directories, could also serve as link baits Link Exchange - with relevant sites authority sites Link Baits - for organic linking


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

You Have A Website What Now

Multilevel Marketing: 4 Tips To MLM Success

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.