Grabbing attention of people is the basic characteristic a good business advertisement. People skim through magazines and newspapers but not necessarily go through product or service related ads unless they find something attractive, nicely presented.
Many ads merely create awareness about products or services, but hardly produce results needed by the small businesses.
To power these ads use words that attract people’s attention – YOU and FREE are two most powerful words which lend punch to an ad. Other equally attention grabbing words are – New – How to – The Secrets of – Breakthrough – Amazing – Discover – Protect – At last – Facts you….
A powerful headline is what is needed to differentiate you from competitors. You might have seen names of plumbing businesses at the top of many ads – ‘Mike Smith Plumbers’, ‘John Plumbing Works’, but an ad ‘DYNAMIC PLUMBERS’ prompts people to read what is dynamic about this plumbing service. In fact one plumber is not different from another, but this ad grabs everybody’s attention.
In order to attract customers, offer something free – information, an hour of your time, a drink, place for children to play, a video or audio tape, a small book. What you offer should be low cost but for customer it should have high perceived value. Your objective should be that people respond to your ad and not to your competitors.
Make use of simple language – let your ad get your point across customer much fast – people spend only seconds looking at ad, so your ad should be short but must communicate your message instantly.
Avoid jargons – abbreviations, technical information and buzz words. It is your customer who needs to understand language of your ad and not you.
Keep your ad free from boring words, like ‘Established in 1905’ (no body cares for this), ‘We provide personal service’ (Who doesn’t?). Do something different from competitors. Let it be more appealing and unique.
Add human touch in your ad – create an emotional chord. Be warm and friendly.
Put testimonials on your ad – what do some important people say about your product or service – of course with due permission from them.
Call people to act – your ad must prompt them to do something. Ask them to come and meet, or call you up or ask them to give their address and time for a meeting. Make all this as easy as possible by giving free phone number, freepost letter or a tear-off coupon, for them to act NOW!
