Quick Secrets To Successfully Advertising Your Business How To Grab Their Attention
Quick Secrets To Successfully Advertising Your Business How To Grab Their Attention
Advertising your business is the one expense you cannot avoid; even online...but if you are smart about it you can cut down on your expenses while still successfully helping the world beat a path to your virtual doorstep.
Tabula Rasa. That's Latin for blank slate, and that's exactly what you need to start out with when advertising your business online. Why? Because most of your preconceived notions about how to successfully advertise your business in the brick and mortar world are not worth the price of a hill of beans online.
So to begin anew.... What exactly is online advertising?
Is it something to be regarded as a work of beauty or art? Is it clever slogans or amusing prose? Is it workmanship to be judged for an award or recognition?
It’s none of the above.
Simply stated, "Advertising online is successful copywriting."
Nothing more.
And advertising online is copywriting for an audience with the following things in common:
1. They have grown used to instant gratification online and therefore have a short tolerance for taking time to get to the point....
2. They probably did not go to any real trouble to find you, and leaving you is as simple as a click of the back button....
3. They can Google you in an instant and find out exactly what your competitor offers and at what price....
There is a world of difference in advertising in the Virtual World and the Brick and Mortar World, but the rules are simple once you learn them.
1. Virtual World advertising offers numerous avenues for promotion that are far cheaper than advertising in the Brick and Mortar World....
2. Virtual World advertising is generally a more long-term affair since your ads are not going to end up lining the bird cage at the end of one day....
3. Virtual World advertising offers far more competition than you have ever faced before....
The purpose of a copywriter’s job is to sell. Period. The purpose of an online copywriter's job is to grab your attention so that you
A: Are convinced in 25 words or less to click on a link to a website...
B: Do not quickly hit the back button once you arrive....
True, audio ads and flashy videos are prevalent online, but the fact of the matter is, the search engines can't yet read them, so if you do not have powerfully provocative text popping up in your Pay Per Click ads, or in your on-page Search Engine Optimization chances are good that no one is going to come visit you anyway, and even more certain that they will not stay long enough to buy.
So the First Winning Secret To Successfully Advertising Online Is Grab Their Attention...and to do that you...Focus on Them, Not You
Once you have caught your online prospect's eye you have 5 to 10 seconds or less to convince them to click on your ad or link. In other words you have to quickly show them... "What's in it for me?"
And if your copy doesn’t tell them, they will be off to another website before you say Saskatchewan.
A lot of advertisers make this mistake. They focus on them as a company. How long they’ve been in business, who their biggest customers are, how they’ve spent ten years of research and millions of dollars on developing this product, blah, blah. Take it from me your average prospect could not care less.
The only time a prospective client cares about that stuff, is if you have already at least half-way convinced them to buy what you are selling.
Remember, once they've hit that back button, they are gone forever. It's like fishing if you don't set the hook the fish will just swim away.
Now let me stop right there for a second and say that one of the best ways to avoid losing them forever is to give away something for free, and make sure it is branded with your name and a handy-dandy, easy-breezy link back to your website. Both software and ebooks serve this purpose admirably, and I know that because I've been giving away branded items for years and it has saved me from losing more than one customer who went away to think it over or check out their other options.
Now back to focusing on them....
When writing your "focused on them" copy, it helps to think of it writing to an old friend. What would I say to convince a friend--who already knows me--to try my product? How would I target my friend’s objections and beliefs to help my cause?
Begin by using the pronouns “I” and “you.” For example. "I know you’ve wasted time and tried every widget out there. But, trust me, I have the last one you will ever need to try…. And I guarantee it!”
Emphasize Benefits, Not Features
What are features? They are descriptions of what qualities a product possesses.
This flashy sportscar delivers 55 miles per gallon in the city.
This database has a built-in data-mining system.
And what are benefits? They are what those features mean to your prospects.
You’ll save money on gas and cut down on environmental pollutants when you use our sporty-looking, energy saving high-performance hybrid car. Plus, you’ll feel the extra oomph when you’re passing cars, courtesy of the efficient electric motor, which they don’t have!
You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data, and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.
I just made up those examples, but I think you understand my point.
If you were selling an expensive watch, you wouldn’t say that the face is 2 inches in diameter and the band is made of leather. Whoopdie Do!
You show him how the extra-large face will tell him the time at a glance. No sir! He won’t have to squint and look foolish to everyone around him trying to read this magnificent timepiece. And how about the way he’ll project success and charisma when he wears the beautiful gold watch with its handcrafted custom leather band? How his lover will find him irresistible when he’s all dressed up to go out, wearing the watch. Or how the watch’s status and beauty will attract the ladies.
Incidentally, did you notice how I brought up not squinting as a benefit? Does that sound like a silly benefit? Not if you are selling to affluent baby boomers suffering from degrading vision. They probably hate it when someone they’re trying to impress sees them squint in order to read something. It’s all part of their inner desire, which you need to discover. And which even they may not know about. That is, until you show them a better way.
The point is to address the benefits of the product, not its features. And when you do that, you’re focusing on your reader and his interests, his desires.
And that will grab his attention and hold it!
****
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to
be generous, frank and independent.
– W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915
Quick Secrets To Successfully Advertising Your Business How To Grab Their Attention - To learn more about this author, visit Teresa Bohannon's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Winning Secrets To Successfully Advertising Your Business...A Quick Guide
Advertising your business is the one expense you cannot avoid; even online...but if you are smart about it you can cut down on your expenses while still successfully helping the world beat a path to your virtual doorstep.
Tabula Rasa. That's Latin for blank slate, and that's exactly what you need to start out with when advertising your business online. Why? Because most of your preconceived notions about how to successfully advertise your business in the brick and mortar world are not worth the price of a hill of beans online.
So to begin anew.... What exactly is online advertising?
Is it something to be regarded as a work of beauty or art? Is it clever slogans or amusing prose? Is it workmanship to be judged for an award or recognition?
It’s none of the above.
Simply stated, "Advertising online is successful copywriting."
Nothing more.
And advertising online is copywriting for an audience with the following things in common:
1. They have grown used to instant gratification online and therefore have a short tolerance for taking time to get to the point....
2. They probably did not go to any real trouble to find you, and leaving you is as simple as a click of the back button....
3. They can Google you in an instant and find out exactly what your competitor offers and at what price....
There is a world of difference in advertising in the Virtual World and the Brick and Mortar World, but the rules are simple once you learn them.
1. Virtual World advertising offers numerous avenues for promotion that are far cheaper than advertising in the Brick and Mortar World....
2. Virtual World advertising is generally a more long-term affair since your ads are not going to end up lining the bird cage at the end of one day....
3. Virtual World advertising offers far more competition than you have ever faced before....
The purpose of a copywriter’s job is to sell. Period. The purpose of an online copywriter's job is to grab your attention so that you
A: Are convinced in 25 words or less to click on a link to a website...
B: Do not quickly hit the back button once you arrive....
True, audio ads and flashy videos are prevalent online, but the fact of the matter is, the search engines can't yet read them, so if you do not have powerfully provocative text popping up in your Pay Per Click ads, or in your on-page Search Engine Optimization chances are good that no one is going to come visit you anyway, and even more certain that they will not stay long enough to buy.
So the First Winning Secret To Successfully Advertising Online Is Grab Their Attention...and to do that you...Focus on Them, Not You
Once you have caught your online prospect's eye you have 5 to 10 seconds or less to convince them to click on your ad or link. In other words you have to quickly show them... "What's in it for me?"
And if your copy doesn’t tell them, they will be off to another website before you say Saskatchewan.
A lot of advertisers make this mistake. They focus on them as a company. How long they’ve been in business, who their biggest customers are, how they’ve spent ten years of research and millions of dollars on developing this product, blah, blah. Take it from me your average prospect could not care less.
The only time a prospective client cares about that stuff, is if you have already at least half-way convinced them to buy what you are selling.
Remember, once they've hit that back button, they are gone forever. It's like fishing if you don't set the hook the fish will just swim away.
Now let me stop right there for a second and say that one of the best ways to avoid losing them forever is to give away something for free, and make sure it is branded with your name and a handy-dandy, easy-breezy link back to your website. Both software and ebooks serve this purpose admirably, and I know that because I've been giving away branded items for years and it has saved me from losing more than one customer who went away to think it over or check out their other options.
Now back to focusing on them....
When writing your "focused on them" copy, it helps to think of it writing to an old friend. What would I say to convince a friend--who already knows me--to try my product? How would I target my friend’s objections and beliefs to help my cause?
Begin by using the pronouns “I” and “you.” For example. "I know you’ve wasted time and tried every widget out there. But, trust me, I have the last one you will ever need to try…. And I guarantee it!”
Emphasize Benefits, Not Features
What are features? They are descriptions of what qualities a product possesses.
This flashy sportscar delivers 55 miles per gallon in the city.
This database has a built-in data-mining system.
And what are benefits? They are what those features mean to your prospects.
You’ll save money on gas and cut down on environmental pollutants when you use our sporty-looking, energy saving high-performance hybrid car. Plus, you’ll feel the extra oomph when you’re passing cars, courtesy of the efficient electric motor, which they don’t have!
You can instantly see the “big picture” hidden in your data, and pull the most arcane statistics on demand. Watch your business do a “180” in no time flat, when you instantly know why it’s failing in the first place! It’s all done with our built-in data-mining system that’s so easy to use, my twelve year-old son used it successfully right out of the box.
I just made up those examples, but I think you understand my point.
If you were selling an expensive watch, you wouldn’t say that the face is 2 inches in diameter and the band is made of leather. Whoopdie Do!
You show him how the extra-large face will tell him the time at a glance. No sir! He won’t have to squint and look foolish to everyone around him trying to read this magnificent timepiece. And how about the way he’ll project success and charisma when he wears the beautiful gold watch with its handcrafted custom leather band? How his lover will find him irresistible when he’s all dressed up to go out, wearing the watch. Or how the watch’s status and beauty will attract the ladies.
Incidentally, did you notice how I brought up not squinting as a benefit? Does that sound like a silly benefit? Not if you are selling to affluent baby boomers suffering from degrading vision. They probably hate it when someone they’re trying to impress sees them squint in order to read something. It’s all part of their inner desire, which you need to discover. And which even they may not know about. That is, until you show them a better way.
The point is to address the benefits of the product, not its features. And when you do that, you’re focusing on your reader and his interests, his desires.
And that will grab his attention and hold it!
****
It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one’s dignity, to work unhampered, to
be generous, frank and independent.
– W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965) Of Human Bondage, 1915
Quick Secrets To Successfully Advertising Your Business How To Grab Their Attention - To learn more about this author, visit Teresa Bohannon's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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