Tweet

Advertising: the nuts and bolts of making it work: Step Four: Be clear about your offer, and what you want your prospects to do, and give them a reason to take immediate action.

Guest post by: David Flannery

Article Overview: It would to help to understand what exactly an offer is. Your offer is the proposition you make to your marketplace, it is what you are willing to give in exchange for a response from your marketplace. Your offer is an entire package of elements, not just your product or service.

Advertising: the nuts and bolts of making it work: Step Four: Be clear about your offer, and what you want your prospects to do, and give them a reason to take immediate action.

Most of the advertising I see businesses use is ineffectual, image advertising. Over the next couple of articles I will show you strategies and tactics which will make your advertising work for you...and by that I mean get you more customers.

Step Four: Be clear about your offer, and what you want your prospects to do, and give them a reason to take immediate action.

It would to help to understand what exactly an offer is. Your offer is the proposition you make to your marketplace, it is what you are willing to give in exchange for a response from your marketplace. Your offer is an entire package of elements, not just your product or service.

Once you have a grasp of what your offer is you must state it, in your advertising, in the clearest manner possible. Everything hinges on clarity.

Clarity is essential in all your advertising. The lack of it results in confusion, which destroys any response you may be hoping for. Use words, images, illustrations, and ideas that are easily understood by your marketplace. Write in terms that they can relate to. Get your message across with concepts that will make them nod in agreement with you. Be clear about everything mentioned in your ad. Most importantly, explain with utmost clarity how you want your marketplace to respond to your offer.

People can be reluctant, stubborn, distracted, and even to lazy to respond to your offer. The only way to move them to immediate action is to make them an offer that grabs their attention.

There are many ways to do this, you can use a special price, offer a free gift if they respond by a certain date. Offer a special discount to people who respond early, or to the first 100 people who call...Today, etc.

Besides telling what they will get if they respond immediately, tell them what they will miss out on if they don't respond. Outline all the benefits they will lose if they delay or don't respond.

Whatever your offer is to your marketplace, make it clear in your ad that they will only receive it if they "Act now". Create a sense of urgency in your advertising.

Related Articles
  Do Your Marketing Materials Include an
  Creating the Success Mindset
  Crafting Copy That Compels Your Customers to Act
  PREPARE TO ADVERTISE!
  Seven Rules to Whip Your Direct Marketing into Shape!
  Advertising: The Nuts And Bolts Of Making It Work: Step Three: Make sure your advertising is specific, has substance and is credible
  Feeling Frustrated? You Have A Choice
  Five Characteristics of Highly Flawed Small Business Advertising
  Increase Sales and Marketing Response with an Irresistible Call to Action
  Business Challenges: A Secret Tip or Two
  Ten Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
  Effective Advertising - The Basics
  When Strategies Are Not Strategic......
  Creating a Long Term Marketing Action Plan
  Advertising: The Nuts And Bolts Of Making It Work: Step One: Make your Headlines Command Attention
  How Your Online Business World Works
  What are you really good at?
  Do You Do The Two-Step?
  Top Online Business Ideas to Start An Online Business
  Creating an Article Resource Box That Works

Article Tags: marketplace, profit growth, prospects, small business



Related Forum Posts
Re: Help for Inventors - Thanks Mary I am not an inventor but imagine that many people who are gifted inventors tend to be less savvy when it comes to the practical nuts and bolts of marketing their inventions and earning what they should. MichelleJ
Step by step approach - Here's what I would do; Step 1 - Observe Wal-Mart’s target customers, what does Wal-Mart offer them? How long do they stay? Discover what it is that they might want or need that Wal-Mart doesn't offer, and then write those ideas down. Some ideas to get you started are - A cafe or fast food venue, something for the kids to do while the parents shop, etc Step 2 - Take that list, and weigh up the pros and cons of each idea, and then select the best one for you. Don't worry about not using all the space. Step 3 - Start the best business for you, and then release the other ideas to the general market and sublet the rest of the space to those who could fill some of the niches you've come up with, plus any they can come up with. If money isn't a factor then developing the building to suit multiple small leases may be a better option, as it's a diversified income, which is potentially more stable than one big income stream.
Landing Page Confusion - Which will perform better, a landing page that has one clear objective or one that has multiple objectives? As marketers, we are continually faced with the dilemma of determining what to show customer prospects when they arrive at our sites. Should we present them with just one offer or option, or give them several and let them choose? I feel the landing page should present the customers with a couple of options and let them choose.
Re: Best Pen - maybe - [quote:34puc30b] You know Andy, maybe you could improve on the idea and make it work with any paper or surface. Shri[/quote:34puc30b] Shri, I don't I have the mental ability to carry that out but I'll send in some feedback to the company and i'm sure they'll add it to their list of "it'd be great if it worked on any writing surface" the reason I thought it did work on any surface is beacause of the Advertising where they have a high school guy writing on a clear glass surface - I believe this is a flash video on the link I provided above and the animation that shows up right away. Misleading - huh!
Re: Your choice between... - I will take the $100,000 and double it on it becomes millions before I spend it. Though I am crazy about information, yet I would rather take the money and turn it into a million before I spend a dime out of it. I will do it in 4 steps. Step 1 turn $100,000 to $200,000 Step 2 turn $200,000 to $400,000 Step 3 turn $400,000 to $800,000 Step 4 turn $800,000 to $1600,000. After getting the goal of step 4, I will spend the $600,000 on myself then continue to double the millions again. I could then by the book for $1,000,000


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.

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

Do You Have An Entrepreneurial Vision?

Email Marketing Made Easy #11 - Avoiding Spam

ROSI Return on SUNK Investment

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.