Your advertising budget does not include a subsidy to Proctor Gamble ad agency. They are going to have to figure a way to maintain their posh quarters on Park Avenue without you. Your advertising budget is to help you maintain your quarters, posh or not. But you do need to know some of what they know to put together an effective advertising campaign.

There are two very important bits of information you must define in an effective advertisement. In defining your business, include the specifics like your company name and address, and some general information about the products or services you offer. When defining your products or services tell them how they actually help your clients. Check out the ads other successful businesses have in order to see how to apply that knowledge to your advertisement.

Once you have the attention of a potential customer, you want to maintain it, so here are a few tips that will do just that:

1. Are you rambling and your ad is too long, or have you not given enough information? You can shorten or lengthen your ad, depending on how you think you can improve upon it, or how much space available you have.

2. If you have headlines everywhere, add some sub headlines. They act like headlines, but give variation to maintain interest and keep them reading.

3. Asking questions is a good way to keep a reader interested. As long as it is not a Mensa quiz they’ll answer them quietly in their mind as they read. This can be used as gentle persuasion toward a purchase.

4. Highlighting keywords with color, italics or underlines is a good way to attract their attention. The words should be enticing to your target audience.

5. Especially if you have a number of products or services, bullet or indented lists of the benefits offered by the product or service sought by the reader is helpful. If they are required to read the entire copy to discover what they are looking for, or if they came by just to skim, those bullets or indents can result in a sale.

6. Is your text optimal? Is it large enough to attract attention, or does the reader have to squint even to read your headlines? It is important that the text in your banner or headline be large enough to stand out.

7. Raising or lowering prices is a standard way to attract a targeted audience. Higher prices can create a better perceived value in your product. Lower prices could have the opposite effect or could produce a sale.

8. Testimonials are great selling tools. Proof of your claim is important for a first time buyer so include endorsements or factual statistics to prove what you claimed in your advertisement.

9. Selling a good offer is sometimes easier than selling a good product. Include special offers in your advertisement. Offer them free bonuses or discounts or, if you can, volume discounts.

10. Unless your product or service requires special jargon or technical information, leave out the big words. Your ad should be easy reading without the need to reach for the Funk Wagnall.

11. Solving people’s real or perceived problems is a large part of advertising. Your ad needs to explain how your product or service will solve their problems and remind them their problem remains unsolved if they do not own your product, or use your service.

12. In your question asking, the answer should always be in the affirmative so that by the time they get to the end of your ad and you ask them to purchase they will be used to saying yes.

13. Also, end your ad with a deadline for that special offer. Or reiterate the earlier offer and include a deadline at the end of your advertisement.

These tips, if utilized properly, can improve the effectiveness of your ads dramatically. Good luck and good selling!

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