5 Must Ask Questions to Create Effective Advertisements

Are you ready to kick off a marketing campaign that will send your sales to the moon? Whether you're ready to create a Web page, sales letter, or other sales copy, take a moment to ask yourself these important questions before you dive in. Think before you advertise.

1. Who Do You Want to Target?
Is your prospective customer an avid outdoorsman who likes to hike? Know exactly who you are talking to before you start. Once you know the characteristics of your ideal reader, it's much easier to create a dynamic sales message that will address their interests and needs. Talk directly to the reader, and watch them respond.

2. What Action Do You Want Your Reader to Take?
Not all advertisements are intended to spur immediate sales. Are you looking for a list of prospective buyers, first time inquiries, or direct sales? Word your sales copy to stimulate the action you want the reader to take.

3. What Do You Have That Your Competitors Don't?
Before you can expect your audience to head out for your place of business, you've got let them know why they need to do business with YOU. Do you provide faster results, a better guarantee, personalized service, easier to use products? What is it that makes your product better?

How important is it to identify your competitive edge? A good rule of thumb is that it should cover about one half of your advertising space. Pretty important, huh? Yeah, you'll want to keep a close eye on the competition and continuously update to KEEP the competitive edge.

4. How Can You Verify Your Claims?
You don't believe everything you hear...especially from someone wanting to sell you something, and neither will your prospective customers. You've got to make them believe that what you say is the gospel truth. Gather testimonials from current customers, dig up some reliable research that will back up your claims, and find someone well-respected to endorse your product or service. Just don't expect blind faith from people who don't know you.

5. How Do You Spur The Readers to Action
Let's face it...procrastination has a good foothold in the lives of many of the people we are marketing our products and services too. Yeah, they're a lot like us. They see the ad, think “Hey, I need to get one of those,” and go on about life without every getting around to making it to your place of business.

Deadlines can spur action. Hey, if you know you're going to pay 25 percent less if you buy it by Saturday, you're not likely to wait until Sunday to do your shopping. Put together a list of sales you want to introduce, specify the end dates, and your set to put a little motivation in your copy. Hint: You don't have to have new sales every time – recycle the ones you have every so often...especially those that bring good response.

Motivating sales copy doesn't have to be written by professional marketers. Implement these questions in your sales page and you'll have high-quality copy the produces top-notch results.

Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. Allyn works personally with clients to design and deliver off-line and on-line direct marketing strategies that focus on metrics and measurable results. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.