| |
| |
|
Advertising Information |
|
|
|
Improve Your Promotional Flyers And Improve Sales
Admittedly, I have not seen your advertising flyer. Then again, I probably don't have to. I have reviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of advertising flyers for small businesses. After 30 years I have found that nearly every small business ad flyer contains the same mistakes and missed opportunities. Avoid these seven common mistakes, and your advertising flyer - and your marketing in general - will be stronger for it. Advertising flyer mistake #1: A Blah Headline (Your Company's Name) Remember, your flyer is an ad. It needs to SELL. Your potential customers aren't interested in your name. They're not even interested in what you do. Sounds cruel? Well, it is but that's life. Get over it! Prospective customers are interested in their own needs and wants. So, hit them with a headline they can't ignore, because it addresses their needs. Instead of: Sheri's Pet Grooming Try: Smelly Pet Stinking Up The House? Or: We Treat Your Cat Like The Royalty They Are! Or: Man's Best Friend Deserves Something Special! You get the idea. Figure out what's important to your potential customers. Then, use your headline to immediately answer their question: "What's in it for me?" Advertising flyer mistake #2: Not Solving A Problem! Although your ad flyer copy should include your key features or services, each feature or service should be attached to a clear, customer-oriented, benefit that addresses a problem, or hassle, or pain. Also, tell - or, better, show - how those benefits prevent or solve problems for your potential customer. Think about all the problems, both real and potential, that could stem from not using your product or service. Put yourself in your customer's shoes. Talk to them. Listen to them. Learn what their problems are. Identify benefits about your product or service that make a difference to your potential customers. Emphasize in your flyer the problems and solutions that set you apart from your competition. Advertising flyer mistake #3: Be A Friend! People buy from people they like. One key thing your potential customer needs and wants is to feel good about you. Are you knowledgeable? Are you trustworthy? Do you understand my problems? Am I comfortable doing business with you? The more comfortable someone feels about buying from you, the more likely they are to do so. That's why I recommend that you have an "I" section - a section where you talk about yourself, your qualifications, your values, your personal commitment. Help them understand who you are and who they will be doing business with (hopefully). Advertising flyer mistake #4: Going Quietly Into The Night! This is the typical close to a flyer: "for more information, call 555-5555." Instead, create a "call to action". Here are three basic, proven closers: · Buy before (DATE), and receive $10 off. This closer is effective at getting immediate action, and works especially well for one-time purchases or regularly purchased items. · Act before (DATE), and get (VALUE-ADDED PRODUCT/SERVICE), FREE with your purchase! This closer offers an incentive for fast action. It also works "free" into your flyer. "Free" is a very powerful word. · Purchase before (DATE) to take advantage of our slow-season! This closer attaches a negative consequence to any delay or hesitation. Note the more believable the reason for the limit, the more powerful this closer becomes. Advertising flyer mistake #5: Forgetting There Are Two Sides! With an advertising flyer, the printing or photocopying is but a small part of the overall expense. The larger expense, in time or money or both, is distribution. So, distribute a two-sided flyer, for twice the opportunity to make a sale! Just make sure your second side doesn't compete with your main message side. The second side could be used for: · A comprehensive list of your services · A map with driving and parking directions · Customer testimonials · Relevant tips or advice · Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Use the second side to support, expand upon, or enhance the message on the main side. Advertising flyer mistake #6: One Good Shot! One-time advertising efforts are seldom effective. It is a rule of thumb among marketing professionals that you need to reach people at least eight times before they really notice you. Your prospective customers need to see the your ads over and over. So, plan a series of distributions as part of your strategy. I recommend that you plan to hit each household at least eight times with an ad flyer. Mix the message up a bit! Change the color of the paper you use. Change the headline. Keep track of which flyer drives the most business. If possible, combine your flyers with other localized advertising, so you reach those homes through a variety of media channels. At the very least, combine door-to-door distribution with posting in public areas where allowed. Community centers, schools, stores, and libraries often offer public bulletin boards. Advertising flyer mistake #7: Flyers Gone Astray! You should keep two objectives in mind when targeting neighborhoods for your flyer distribution. · It's much more cost-effective for you to have clients in convenient clusters instead of scattered all over town. Concentrate your ad distribution within and around your existing clusters of clients. · Reaching the right people within the target area is also critical. An advertising flyer for a landscaper is largely wasted if it's delivered to residents of an apartment building. The added advantage to walking your "territory" house-by-house will be giving you a better understanding for what services or mix of services you should offer. Promotional flyers are one tool in the small business' marketing arsenal. Learn to use them well and you will create customers while saving yourself time and money. Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a "Corporate Freedom Fighter" dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners. She has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to "Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time".
MORE RESOURCES:
Dunkin' Donuts' New Advertising Offers Rallying Cry for 2009: 'You ... - PR Newswire (press release)
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Does Post Card Advertising Really Work? You've decided to try advertising your business with post cards. The idea came to you from the post cards you receive from other businesses. The SKINNY on Radio Advertising From meager beginnings in 1920, radio has grown with us to be a major player in advertising. The radio industry says they get about 8 percent of all advertising bucks. Advertising on a Budget -- Part 3: Frequency, Frequency, Frequency This is the third article of a three-part series. I'm illustrating the marketing challenges of PrescottWeddings. Testing Headlines A correspondent to AdBriefing, my monthly newsletter, has posed a very sticky question. How, she asks, can you tell whether a headline you have written is a good one?or not? What she means by this, I imagine, is whether the headline will actually help to make sales, rather than just act as a passing amusement to its readers. Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks The big news on Wall Street last year was the initial public offering of Internet search engine Google. If you were a visitor from another planet, you might be asking yourself, What big, sophisticated, high-technology company is behind the success of Google? Could it be IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Dell, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Philips or Siemens? Of course not. What Makes Advertising Successful? MANY INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS COME INTO PLAY MAKING A SUCCESSFUL AD: 1. PERSUASIVE SELLING COPY. Power Headlines for Promotion Success Do you send email to your Online audience to let them know about an upcoming teleclass, your service or your book? Do you have a seminar "flyer" on your web site? The biggest mistake professionals and entrepreneurs make is to announce, rather than promote themselves. Each piece you send or put on your web site should begin with the #1 copywriting winner--the headline. The Shrinking Ad Dollar CPR CPA CTR.. Direct Mail Catalogs & Brochures: Write Captions That Sell Many prospects skim through catalogs and brochures, glancing at the photos and reading the accompanying captions only when a particular image arouses their interest. That's when you have their attention. Localized Advertising - Door-to-Door Ad Distribution on the Fly! Have you ever had to distribute door-hanger advertisements for your business? Have you ever employed door-to-door sales techniques to increase your brand awareness? Have you ever had to walk mile-after-mile repeating the sales pitch, over and over? Have you ever had to stand outside of an arena event and pass out flyers to exiting patrons? If you stop to think of the cold calling technique of door-to door advertising, you would discover how sometimes humiliating it is to have a disinterested and irritated individual slam the door in your face, yell insulting things toward you, or be escorted off of their property. To combat this instantaneous humiliation, the idea of door-hanging advertisements gives the sales person a means of getting the word out to more people faster than before but more importantly, it saves the person the anguish of the advertised becoming irate over the interruption. What Colors Make Your Services Most Attractive? This information is based on the principles of Laws of Attraction, Law of Allowing and Law of Deliberate Creation. And the Universal Laws of Energy (like attract likes) proven by Quantum Physics. Create Your Own Business Cards, Part 1 In this lesson, we will create a business card, using Microsoft Word. I created a new template for my business card. Custom T-shirts -- Put Your Company Logo on Cotton! An effective way to gain company recognition is to order custom t-shirts with your company name, logo, phone number, and other important information on them. You can use customized apparel to outfit your employees as well as to contribute a sense of professionalism and reliability to your company. 10 Tips to Use Giveaways Effectively Walk around any trade or consumer show and you will be able to collect a bag full of advertising specialties, or giveaway items all designed to promote. But look a little more closely. Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising Dollars If you advertise in any way, the following information could show you how to find and utilize untold advertising dollars you may not be aware of.In the mid 80's I was an account executive for a radio station located in Santa Rosa, California. How To Make Your Advertising Work! Many believe that when it comes to advertising, it's a necessary evil.At least that's how some businesses approach it. Information Gathering & Delivery May Never Be The Same! Give Us The Bottom Line!If you are like most people, you may have skipped down to the bottom to see how much we charge. Well we don't! That's right, the free customized information product we give away is totally free. Radio Interview 101 Different Types of Station ContactReaching radio hosts (for the purpose of trying to get booked for an interview) can take on various forms, depending on the type of station the show is done at. What's best? All of them at the same time, of course. Cinema Advertising is Big Business, So Mergers are a Natural Cinema advertising has always been an effective marketing tool for some advertisers, while for others they have yet to see the benefit of this unique form of media. When an advertiser hears the term "Cinema Advertising" automatically they think the slide that is shown on the big screen with the soothing music played in the background. The Inside Secrets Of Free Publicity For Your Business Product publicity is the "secret pathway" to business success everyone wants. In simple terms, product publicity is a kind of advertising that costs you nothing, yet brings in the orders for you.
|
| home | index |site map |
| © 2006 |
