Classified Ads - The Art of Selling

Classified ads have been used in newspapers to sell billions of dollars with of items, and online classified ads are increasingly becoming the main venue for businesses and individuals to reach targeted audiences.

Advertising space is generally inexpensive, if not outright free, with categorized sections for reviewers to quickly search and locate everything from cars and land to guitars and comic books. In fact, the Kelsey Research Group estimated online classified ads were worth $13.3 billion. That's a lot of advertisement.

With so many companies advertising so many ads, it can be daunting to write the right ad. Regardless if the ad is placed in the free California classifieds in a local paper or it is geared for a nationwide campaign with a professional classifieds site, there are certain guidelines that promote successful responses. Here are a few suggestions for improving your advertisement campaign.

Grab their attention Short ads Content Sales pitch Call to action

Grab their attention

First and foremost is catching the attention of the prospective buyer. Some people like to use CAPITAL letters and character marks to draw the attention of the reader. This can be an effective campaign, if the product you are selling is mostly an impulse buy. However, this can be detrimental to selling products that are not engineered for impulse buyers. More and more people are becoming numb to the effects of online advertising and it may cause readers to gloss over this technique. Instead, use creative titles that are pertinent and fresh, and always place your ad in the right category of the classified ads.

Short ads

We live in an "on-demand" world, and our advertisement campaigns should reflect how people prefer to interact online. Lengthy ads can contain too much information that the buyer may or may not be interested in reading.

Keep ads short for people to peruse quickly. Many readers are looking for specific items and they only skim through the ads. Keeping your ad short and relevant can grab the interest you want without slowing down the reader.

Content

Once you have a reader's attention, it is important to direct the sales information with content that isn't boring and bland. Write all of your content with an audience in mind. Use colorful adjectives without burying the reader in an empty sales pitch. Make sure they know what they are reading. Do not use industry specific jargon - unless your specific audience is expected to know the industry terminology. Content is always the heart of the matter and it is your best opportunity to display your wares.

Sales pitch

Understand how your sales pitch works. Some products and services can't be sold with a single classified ad - no matter how well written it is. As an example, finding a house to buy in a free California classified may be a great way to locate potential homes, but it typically requires more than the actual ad to sell the home.

This can be true in many circumstances and should always be considered when making your sales pitch.Creating a sales pitch also helps qualify the type of customers you are trying to reach. Impulse buying should be approached directly to seal the sale before they have even finished reading the ad. Sustained sales through repeat service or selling items that require more informed buyers should use classified ads that direct the reader to a location with more detailed information related to the product or service. The ad is only used to generate a lead instead of a sale.

Call to action

Every sales pitch includes a call to action. It is the methodology used to get readers to act as the wording suggests. Studies have shown that a strong call to action will increase sales. "Call now!" and "Contact us for more information." are two prime examples of call to action. They provide a suggestive action for the reader to follow.

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Classified Ads - The Art of Selling

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