Sell the benefits, not features, of your product or service.
Effective advertising requires more than just a catchy slogan or eye-catching design. Whether you are advertising in print publications, on billboards, with banner ads or over radio or TV stations, there are a number of basic strategies to consider. Your ads should catch potential customers' attention, show that your product or service fulfills a need they have, and get them to act.
Sell the Benefits
People buy product or services to fulfill needs they have, not necessarily because you've created a "great" product. When you write ad copy, follow a simple, three-step process: show potential customers a need or problem they have, give them a generic solution, show them how your product or service offers that solution. For example, if you sell car tires, remind consumers that they want a tire that provides safety on slick roads. Next, might tell them that a certain type of tread or other manufacturing technique improves tire safety. Finally, tell them that your tire has that tread or safety feature.
Create a Unique Selling Proposition
If you have competitors, you'll want to convince consumers your product or service is different and more desirable than the competition's. In our tire example, you may have several competitors with the same tread or steel belt that you have. Emphasize your lower cost, longer warranty or customer satisfaction rating to get consumers to choose you over the competition.
Repetition
Even if consumers are interested in your product or service, they may not buy in after seeing your ad only once. They may see your billboard when driving, your banner ad on their work computer or your magazine ad while they're in a waiting room, and may not think to act later. If you have a limited advertising budget, you may want to target fewer customers a greater number of times. You can do this by buying ads in different issues of the same magazine, buying radio spots on only one station, or placing banner ads on different pages of the same website.
The Inverted Six
When laying out print ads, make your layout flow in the direction of readers' eyes. Many graphic designers create marketing materials using the "Inverted Six" design method, which places the most important element of the ad toward the top, left-hand side of the ad, the second most important element to the right of that, the third most important element to the bottom, right-hand side, and the least important element to the bottom left. This direction follows the path of a backward "6."
Call to Action
Finish your message with a call to action, such as, "Call today!," or "Order before December 15th," or "Visit our showroom this weekend." Your message sends an implicit message to potential customers to act, finishing with a clear directive that completes and strengthens your message.
