| In order to perform effective internet advertising, you first need to understand your target market. It doesn't matter what business you are in or what products/services you offer. If you are unable to learn what your potential customers are looking for, you might as well not even waste the money on advertising. So spend some time researching your target market until you have their wants and needs crystal clear in your mind.
Put yourself in your audience's shoes. They probably receive pages and pages of spam every day. If you are sending out email advertisements, you need to figure out a way to distinguish yourself from the rest of the hype. One easy way to do this is to not be "hypey" yourself. Create and ad that is informational and problem-solving, rather than one that is all about buy, buy, buy.
The headline of your ad, whether it's a banner, a PPC ad or an email ad, is extremely important. Your audience will make a decision on whether they want to continue or not based on your headline so it must be compelling. Ask a controversial question or provide some shocking information. Those work well. But it should all tie into the benefits your audience will receive from your products/services. Your headline should also be keyword optimized. Research what keywords you want to be targeting with any of the free keyword research tools.
Effective internet advertising is professionally written and designed. Make sure you don't have any grammatical or spelling errors, don't use too many colors or fonts and try to use some "proven effective" shades as well.
Remember that your ad must have a "call to action". Many advertisers forget this important step. After you've peaked your target audience's curiosity and sold them on your benefits, you need to tell them what to do. Show them where to click so that they will be directed back to your website or wherever it is that you want to lead them. Always have a way for the reader to get in contact with you. Don't make them search for it.
Incorporate an opt-in form to your advertisement. This is where your reader will fill in his/her details. Offering a free trial or free informational guide are some ways to get your reader to fill out the opt-in contact information. Don't make him/her fill in too much information. The more they are required to put in, the more they are likely to just not enter in their information.
The response you get is also enhanced with your personal touch. If you can follow up by making a phone call to each of the new members on your customer lead list, you are miles ahead of the game in terms of establishing your trust-worthiness and credibility.
Finally, keep yourself in tune with what the market is offering in terms of effective internet advertising--new and innovative technologies are constantly being developed. |