Marketing Information

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.
*********************************************************************************


MORE RESOURCES:

7 Marketing Lessons From RIM's Failures
Mashable
And, mostly, really bad marketing. On this, RIM is in good company in the consumer electronics industry, where so many manufacturers market poorly. But few have made so many marketing mistakes so quickly. Here are seven marketing lessons from RIM's ...

and more »


TSN

IndyCar returning to Milwaukee Mile
ESPN
AP A marketing company led by former Indy driver and current team owner Michael Andretti announced Friday it will promote a race weekend at the one-mile oval June 15-16. The race will be held Saturday afternoon, and the two-day event is expected to ...
IndyCar returns to Milwaukee for June 16 raceSan Francisco Chronicle
Andretti group bringing Indy cars back to Milwaukee MileMilwaukee Journal Sentinel

all 126 news articles »


BILMBA Marketing & Associates Launches 1SwingThought.com to Aid Golfers in ...
Sacramento Bee
By BILMBA Marketing & Associates LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- BILMBA Marketing & Associates has launched a new website http://www.1SwingThought.com with a simple yet revolutionary product for golf equipment designed to help the 20+ ...

and more »


SEO Services Alert: Internet Marketing Blueprint Unveiled at 2012 AAJ Winter ...
Sacramento Bee
10, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- When you design your house you need an architect; when you design your lawyer Internet marketing campaign, you need an SEO architect who understands the online legal marketing industry. Cepac lawyer marketing consultants ...

and more »


Nan Richardson Named Director of Marketing & Business Development for JG ...
MarketWatch (press release)
based commercial/retail contracting firm JG Construction as director of marketing and business development. In her new position, Ms. Richardson will be responsible for all marketing activities both internal and external, including client relations, ...

and more »


5 Ways to Market Your Brand on LinkedIn
Mashable
Linda Coles is the author of the book Learn Marketing with Social Media in 7 Days (Wiley) and is a social media speaker and consultant at Blue Banana. LinkedIn provides plenty of marketing opportunities, but lets take a look at some of the lesser-known ...

and more »


BancorpSouth Insurance Hires Texas Region Marketing Manager
Sacramento Bee
10, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- BancorpSouth Insurance Services, Inc. hired Larry D. Batie II as marketing manager for the Texas region. He previously served as account executive and assistant vice president at Marsh & McLennan Companies.

and more »


Deadline.com

NBC Layoffs Hit Marketing and Publicity Departments
Hollywood Reporter
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 marketing employees were let go Friday, with publicity layoffs expected next week. The pink slips are being doled out across NBC's marketing and publicity ranks. The news of structural changes comes as entertainment ...
NBC cuts 10 jobs in marketing unit: 26-year veteran ousted; more layoffs expectedChicago Tribune
EVP Jim Vescera Departs In NBC Marketing Department DownsizingDeadline.com
NBC entertainment chief spending big bucks as pink slips loom for marketing ...New York Post
Variety -mediabistro.com -O'Dwyer's PR News
all 7 news articles »


Republic Bancorp founder Bernard Trager dies at 83
BusinessWeek
Trager died Friday afternoon in Louisville after suffering from an extended illness, said Michael Sadofsky, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of marketing. "The entire Republic Bank family is saddened by the loss of our founder, ...

and more »


Daily Gossip

PepsiCo to Cut 8700 Jobs, Spend More on Marketing Brands
BusinessWeek
9 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc. plans to cut 8700 jobs and boost marketing spending for its brands by as much as $600 million as Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi works to speed up profit growth at the world's largest snack-food maker.
PepsiCo To Cut Jobs, Boost Marketing; Lowers 2012 ViewWall Street Journal
PepsiCo Cuts Jobs To Boost Marketing ExpensesDaily Gossip
PepsiCo to boost marketing spend, consolidate agenciesDM News
Patch.com
all 590 news articles »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006