The Art Of Writing Classified Ads

The writing of good classified ads truly is an art that needs to be learned and perfected. Depending on the type of business you run, the development of a good classified ad can boost your annual sales by an average of £5,000 to £20,000 or more.

You must first of all forget any notion of selling products from your classified advertisements. Instead you need to concentrate on offering free information to attract as many interested parties as possible for the products or services you have to offer. You need to understand that your ad has only one purpose. That is to target a specific group of customers who need what your company has to offer.

The purpose of your ad is to gather enquiries, whether they be in letter, notes, on postcards or through online enquiry forms. Or for that matter on anything through which the customer can say "Please send more information". Upon receipt of any enquiry you must respond quickly with professionally written and prepared sales material. This will at least consist of a sales letter, descriptive circular, a full product brochure and a return addressed envelope for convenience.

Unlike any display advertising, your classified ad will be placed under a specific heading according to product or service type. Then only readers interested in your subject will scan your heading in the same way they would scan the adverts and subjects placed in a phone directory. They are the ones looking for something; it's up to you to let them know you have it.

Never try to deceive prospective customers with the content of your ad. Remember you need the names of good quality buyers, not a massive amount of names to supply expensive marketing material to. It is best not to promise more than your product or service is able to offer in your classified ad. This will not only lose you a sale, but will upset the customer and alienate them from any future sales.

It is essential that you place your classified ad under the correct heading and sub heading. For example if your product targets other business's remember ther are sub headings like finance, technology, marketing etc. Some publications or online classified sites even allow you to create your own sub heading if there isn't one already.

When writing your ad it is best to disregard the size and cost of your ad. You need to tell it all, and stress the need for the product or service you have to offer, what it will do, and how the readers will benefit from the purchase of it. Concentrate on how what you have to offer will make their lives better and much easier.

When you have finished writing the best possible description you can, now is the time to start thinking about size and cost. Read through your ad to see if you can cut down on the wordage without detracting from the content, and be selective with your choice of words to be written in the final version of your ad.

Only when you are totally happy with the final content of your ad should you submit it for publication. Then if you have been honest and as descriptive as possible, any interested parties will request further information hopefully leading to a sale.

Thanks for reading.

Please feel free to rate my article at the bottom of this page.

Jason

**************************************************************************** *****
Jason Morris is co-author, search engine optimization and marketing consultant of Business Phone Systems Direct. An established communications company, offering advice and implementation of high quality business phone systems.
*********************************************************************************

---

Take The Test: Does Your Marketing Copy Sell?

Your marketing materials must grab your prospect's attention long enough... Read More

Fundamental Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

This is a pretty tough global economy and it is... Read More

Utilizing Your Best Hidden Asset To Increase Sales

You probably already have in your possession one of the... Read More

Print Marketing Campaign, Whats Important and Whats Not!

Every company searches to lure customers to their product. Unless... Read More

Marketing Lessons From Apples iPod

Apple Computer just announced that their earnings from the last... Read More

After The Mailing Is Done, What Happens Next?

If you're doing any sort of marketing effort, whether it's... Read More

Do You Know Where Your Marketing Dollars Are Going?

We all know the importance of marketing to increase sales... Read More

Attracting Clients With Incremental Marketing

Do you ask prospective clients to go too far?Must your... Read More

Getting Ideas for Your Postcards

If you're going to do postcard marketing on an ongoing... Read More

Make More Money with Marketing Metrics

Do you know how effective each of your individual marketing... Read More

Fundraising Renewal Letters: Four Goals to Strive For With Each One You Write

In the fundraising profession, appeal letters that you mail to... Read More

Data Map Charting for Mobile Businesses

As we study the demographic regional variations for small service... Read More

13 Lessons in Marketing, Super Bowl Style

Each year, the Super Bowl provides marketers opportunity to study... Read More

How to Tie a Tie and How To Kiss - What Do They Have In Common?

How to Tie a Tie and How To Kiss -... Read More

Direct Mail Still Works!

Direct Mail CampaignsDespite the proliferation of communication facilitators--mobile phones, faxes,... Read More

New Years Revolution

No, that's not a typo in the title. Resolutions are... Read More

What Does Your Business Card Say About You? - Making A Great First Impression!

Interesting article in USA Today that I read this week... Read More

Postcards: Awareness Tool or Selling Tool?

Are postcards better for building awareness or for selling?In my... Read More

Mark Twain?s Great Marketing Idea

To tell you the truth (and about 53% of this... Read More

Professional Marketing

Have you looked for marketing advice on the internet recently?... Read More

Tooting Your Own Horn

"If he who has a thing to sell Goes and... Read More

What You Need in Your Marketing Calendar

Marketing calendars are used by many businesses to help keep... Read More

Budget Marketing: Managing Your Marketing Money Wisely!

There's a saying that half of all marketing efforts are... Read More

Maximize Your Lead Generation Efforts by Recycling Your Leads

The basic lead generation process is pretty much the same... Read More

Good News Travels Fast

This newsletter is full of opportunities staring you in the... Read More

Help! What Happened?

Let's be honest, when you're writing sales material for a... Read More

Identify The Ideal Target Audience With These 5 Tips

Narrowing your focus to one primary group of people is... Read More

10 Tips For Packaging That Sells Products To Boomers

Boomers are a prime and growing target audience. Does your... Read More

Top 10 Tips To Market & Build Your Professional Practice

In building and running a professional practice (or any small... Read More

Packaging Trends You Cannot Overlook (Part #2)

Part #26) Food safety is becoming paramount.What this means to... Read More

Starting Small Business Promotional Campaigns

So you're starting a small business. You figured out what... Read More

Simplicity In Marketing

In a world that is spinning out of control; with... Read More

Is Your Marketing Working...

That is the question, you should be asking yourself. Many... Read More