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How to Write Effective, Sales-Generating Email Advertisements
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Jim Moore
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Dec 22, 2002 21:31 PST
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How to Write Effective, Sales-Generating Email Advertisements
From www.GetResponse.com
It seems that many Internet marketers fray away from writing email and
ezine advertisements becauseof their limited writing ability. "But I'm
not a copywriter", you might say when we recommend you use email
marketing to boost your sales.
Well, writing an effective email advertisement, whether it's a 6-line
ad, or a full-length solo ad, which creates results, is NOT as hard as
it may first seem.
Here is an example of an ezine ad I have used to successfully promote my
autoresponder service:
"UNLOCK THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET TO DOUBLING YOUR SALES!"
That secret is "follow up" -- but the trick is to be fast,
repetitive, personalized and consistent. New, sophisticated
autoresponder does all that for you ... And more! SAVE time
and money. GRAB YOUR FREE VERSION NOW! Marketers grab a
FREE report: "How to Double Your Sales With a Proper Email
Strategy"! Don't wait, go now: http://GetResponse.com/
What Makes This Ad Work So Well?
For starters, it has a headline that sucks you in to the ad and makes
you want to read more. Let's face it, what business owner wouldn't want
to know how to double his or her sales? The headline entices you with a
powerful benefit and makes you curious:
"UNLOCK THE MOST POWERFUL SECRET TO DOUBLING YOUR SALES!"
You may be already aware of this, but it's an amazing fact that an
advertisement with an attention-grabbing headline can result in as much
as a 1700% boost in response rate, as opposed to the same ad without a
headline.
Advertising guru, John Caples, could usually write the body of an ad
copy in a short time, but would spend hours on a headline, or even days,
if necessary.
The body of the ad then gets straight to the point and tells you what
the secret is straight away. But, it doesn't leave it there. Instead, it
states a problem:
That secret is "follow up" -- but the trick is to be fast,
repetitive, personalized and consistent.
This is a very common copywriting tactic that is used by all the big
guys. You state a problem, and then you add a drop of irony by offering
a solution:
New, sophisticated autoresponder does all that for you ... And more!
Now, the problem no longer exists, but only if the prospect takes your
solution. The trick here is to whet his or her desire by conveying more
benefits of your product, as I do very simply by saying:
SAVE time and money.
There's nothing complex here. No need for big words, I just tell the
reader what benefits he or she gets by using our service. Then, I use
what's called "command copy" to tell them what to do:
GRAB YOUR FREE VERSION NOW!
Of course, the fact that there is a free version of our service is an
added benefit, but it's important you tell them what to do.
Now, if you offer a free report or a free ebook to prospects (and you
should, if you're set on growing your online sales), tell them this too.
Again, to them it's a benefit of visiting your web site, and finding out
more about your product. Here's how I do it:
Marketers grab a FREE report: "How to Double Your Sales With a Proper
Email Strategy"!
The secret to offering free reports and ebooks is to convince them to
hand over their email address by filling in a short form on your web
site before they can receive it. By doing so, you get their contact
information, which you can then use to follow up with them continuously
to improve your sales conversions.
The final step of every ad is one of the most vital of them all... you
MUST "call to action" using command copy. This can be as simple as
telling the reader to visit your web site right now, as I do:
Don't wait, go now: http://GetResponse.com/
Easily Convert This Into A Solo Ad...
Let's say you've purchased space for a solo ad in an ezine and wanted to
expand this ad to improve your response. The easiest way to do this
would be to simply add more benefits. For example, I might expand my
benefits to state:
You'll save tons of time and loads of money while jumping your sales
through the roof and exploding your profits.
Imagine, adding brand identity, developing unlimited trust and
energizing your sales conversions... without lifting a finger!
You'll also get unlimited customer support any time of the day, even if
it's a Saturday or a Sunday!
The most important advantage of using long ads is that you can use
"white space" effectively. By this, I mean you can break up your copy
with short sentences and paragraphs, making it far easier to read.
Another tactic would be to add a testimonial to your solo ad. This would
add instantly credibility and believability to your ad. You could also
include scarcity in your ad to give the reader a reason to respond NOW.
For example, you might add the following note to your advertisement:
Note: This special price is only available until [put a future date
here]. After that date, we will be raising it to the ordinary price and
may never repeat this offer again.
Of course, this will only work if you are honestly raising your prices,
and is useful if you are testing your price. You may be offering the
product, or the bonuses, for a limited time, or perhaps there are only a
17 seats left at your seminar, or maybe there are only 200 copies of
your book printed? I'm sure you get the point.
A final addition to your solo ad should definitely be a P.S. Any
copywriter can tell you that a P.S. is usually the second most read part
of your letter after the headline.
You can use a P.S. to highlight the main benefits of your product,
remind readers of a deadline, reinforce a guarantee or even introduce an
added special bonus. Here's how you could use a P.S. if you were selling
an ebook with a 30-day money-back guarantee:
P.S. As an added incentive, you get 30 full days to review this
information. If it's not everything you've hoped for and more, I urge
you to contact us right away and we'll refund you on the spot and let
you keep the free gifts!
Follow this simple template, adding whatever steps necessary, and you'll
be able to create a powerful email advertisement that generates hordes
of visitors and a stream of sales every time.
Hundreds of time-saving, money-generating tips and stories from
AMerica's largest online newspaper - TennTimes-the News.
<p align="center"><a
href="http://westviewnews.virtualave.net/sitemap.html">TennTimes - the
News</a>
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