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3 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE TEXT ADS
By
Debbie Weil
Publisher, WordBiz Report
TIP
1: You need a useful, tangible offer
Online text ads are a form of direct response marketing. Your
goal is an instant click. NOT a sale; nor even a lead. That's the job of your
landing page. You're not looking to get married. Nor to go out on a date that
requires preparation and decision-making.
The most effective offer is one that screams,"You get... "
Not: "Let us tell you about our fantastic company and our products and
services." Instead, "Here's what you get right away when you
click through." In B2B (business-to-business) it means something useful
and educational.
Does this sound like a micro way of looking at text ads? It is. You're looking
for a baby step. Or a "shy yes," as marketing mentor Alex Mandossian
puts it.
Your offer should be something tangible as well as relevant to the interests
of the newsletter audience. A downloadable PDF almost always inspires a click.
(It's proven particularly successful with WordBiz subscribers.) You can't lose
with a white paper or tip sheet titled: How to... Top 10 Tips...
Checklist for...
TIP
2: Make it oh so easy and quick
This applies both
to the logistics of fulfulling your offer AND to the mental image you create
in your copy.
Streamline the number
of steps it takes for a visitor to click through to your landing page, give
you their contact information (don't ask for too much) and then click to a second
page where you provide a link and clear instructions on how to download your
PDF white paper or tip sheet.
Does the copy in your ad conjure up an "offer" that's quick and easy
to get? Offering a free trial for 30 days of your service may sound valuable.
But it requires time and effort. The reader must go through multiple steps to
learn more, to get signed up, and perhaps even speak with a sales rep. Too much
work. Make it clear that your reader can obtain your "offer" in less
than a minute.
TIP 3:
Finish the conversation
on your landing page
Remember,
the click-through
is not your end goal. If you can customize your landing page for each campaign,
do so. Reiterate your offer. Emphasize its value. Make it crystal clear what
your visitor needs to do next - and why it's worth the effort. The landing page
is where you convert a click to an initial "conversion."
If you're asking for an email address in return for giving them access to your
PDF tip sheet, be sure to state your privacy policy. Or make it clear that you
have one.
Follow these three
simple tips and watch your click-throughs and conversions markedly improve.
It takes attention to detail and sound WIIFM ("what's in it for me")
thinking to make text ads effective.
EXAMPLE
OF AN EFFECTIVE WORDBIZ TEXT AD
The ad below ran recently in the top position
in WordBiz Report. It had a click-through rate of nearly 2 percent (over
222 unique clicks). Of those, 154 completed the sign up process on the landing
page. That's an initial conversion rate of about 70 percent.
Get
a free copy of Debbie's award-winning e-book Best of WordBiz Report:
Turning Clicks Into Customers.You’ll
get this incredibly useful book (value $49) by award-winning author
Debbie Weil and learn how you can use ExpressWeb to create customized
landing pages and microsites in no time.
GET
YOUR FREE COPY NOW
Limited to first 50 respondents
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CLICK
HERE to see a critique of ExpressWeb's effective landing page.
Advertiser Joel
Bines, president of Crossover Solutions and its ExpressWeb microsites,
told me he expects a "10X ROI" on the text ad above. That's
ad jargon for a return on investment that's 10 times the cost of the campaign
(in this case, the price of one ad insertion plus licensing my e-book).
He's expecting to
close two sales with total revenues of $13,000 to $15,000. Not bad for a 50-word
text ad.
Download
these three tips as a PDF
How
to advertise in WordBiz Report
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