Boost You Advertising Responses                                      Home

We are all overloaded with advertising and selling messages. Only a small percentage of people who see advertisements and receive direct mail will respond. Following some basic rules of successful advertising will greatly increase your response rates no matter what markets you are targeting.

Multiply Your Odds by Targeting the Right People
People don't read ads. They read what interests them. This sounds obvious, but expensive advertising material is regularly blasted out indiscriminately.

Do not advertise to the world at large. Advertise to an identifiable person. Can you picture that person? Male or Female? Is that person a wine connoisseur or a tax consultant? What newspapers or magazines do they read?

Although it is difficult, time spent on this process will build an understanding of what your target audience wants. It will tell you the media to use to reach them and help you to write words to impact upon that person's life.

Look for lists that are relevant to your products, rather than mailing everyone in your postcode. Buy lists from relevant clubs or journals or look for attendance lists at suitable exhibitions. Make sure lists are frequently checked and updated, especially for emails and you will get more leads for less effort.               


Work Out Your USP and Blow Your Competition Away
Whatever your business, you must establish your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Used effectively in your campaigns, it will make you stand out from the competition.

In the shampoo market, for example, some products are formulated for babies and children, others are suitable users with dandruff, while still others are positioned at the luxury market and are only sold in salons.

Similarly in the drinks market, a new entrant has recently successfully challenged long established vodka brands, using the fact that it is made in Russia as a USP. In the same way, the stronger your USP is, the more likely it is to draw customers away from the competition.


It's the Words that Sell
Unless you are Coke or Pepsi, you should not be investing heavily in brand building advertising with great looking photos.

You should be using strong words and phrases to make claims about your product that will make customers sit up and take notice.

Use your words draw vivid pictures in the minds of your targeted customers; spelling out how your product will help them do something more easily, or make them richer. If you can make them feel younger or more attractive, you will whet their appetite and draw them in. Tell them how to achieve a desirable, but previously unobtainable, goal, and you will surely create buying interest.

Don’t get too carried away though. You must be able to deliver everything that you promise your customers.



Features Bore - Benefits Entice
Bland announcements like "We Stock a Large Range of Stationery", or "We've Been Established for 15 Years", will soon switch off your customer. "Our management is highly experienced in all matters" sounds like self congratulation. There's nothing there for the customer. Turn these boasts into customer benefits. Get their pulse rates up and you have potential sales. Look at your copy and count 'I' and 'we' versus 'you' and 'your'. This count will tell you whether you are talking more about your business than about what you can do for your customers.


No matter what line of trade or profession you are in, whether it's selling cars, manufacturing or accountancy. If your advertising follows these basic rules, you will be more successful.

Back Home