Effective Advertising On Trade Bulletin Boards |
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The goal of this article is
to share with you my experience in writing what is considered
effective advertisement on the on-line "Offer/Demand" Trade
Bulletin Boards. Most of these BBS are free and so attract
hundreds of advertisements from all over the world everyday.
How to make your advertisement stand out among so many Demands
and Offers ? Here are a few tips: |
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Let us keep in mind that our on-line audience
are trigger happy busy people. They love to hit the delete
button. They are intelligent and bright so we are not going
to insult their intelligence. They hate words associated with
spam like: Get-Rich-Quick, Earn Easy Money, The Best Product
On The Net, Let Me Show You etc.. However, that doesn't mean
that you shouldn't be creative in writing your ads. |
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Short and sweet:
Your ad has only few seconds to live on those people monitors
or die for ever. So we are not going to write a long love
story. Our ad should just serve to trigger action (response).
No more no less. We wish people to visit our websites looking
for more detailed information or better contact us for the
same.
Let us start by writing the Ad: In my opinion, the ingredients
of any good ad shall cover: |
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Subject:
30-40 characters (not words) that indicates
the content of the ad without using spam related attention-grabbers
similar to those in get-rich-quick ads. Write as much key
benefits of your product/service in few words. Some of the
words that work well in the subject are: Quality, Reliable,
Serious, Competitive, Effective, Free, Your, How, Secrets,
Improve and Discover. Remember that the SUBJECT is the most
important aspect of your ad. |
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Body (copy):
To be short. 5-10 lines of 55 characters
each. Offer/Sell: The body shall cover the most important
benefits related to your product/Service. So think Benefits
! Ask yourself: What do my prospects get out of purchasing
my product? Mention the benefits not only the description
and details of your product. |
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Demand/Buy:
The body shall cover the exact specifications
(if possible) of the required product. It should also contain
quantity, packing, delivery period, payment terms and target
price (if possible). If you prefer products of particular
origin/ brand etc, please mention that to avoid irrelevant
responses. |
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Misc (miscellaneous):
The body could be any of the two above cases
or just a clear written announcement.
In all above three cases, it is recommended that the ad
ends with a Call For Action like: "Visit our web site
for more details" or "Write us for more information and prices"
etc.. You must tell the readers what you want them to do.
Remember to provide your complete contact details.
In general an ad should contain the 4 elements AIDA: Attention,
Interest, Desire and Action. |
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A few more ground rules:
- Prefer BBS that re-posts to ETO/Newsgroups
- Always write down your complete contact details (company,
contact person, mailing address, tel, fax, e-mail, web-site
URL). Absence of contact details may be perceived as lack
of seriousness by readers.
- Do not write history of your company. Leave that to a
page in your web-site for history lovers
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- Be careful about spellings and grammatical mistakes.
It communicates a negative image about the company.
- Reply to all responses within 2-3 days.
Lastly, never write advertisements on-line, you are likely to
make mistakes. We should keep in mind that ethical on-line FREE
advertising takes lots of time. Please prepare your ad material
with care, examine them critically taking as much time as required
and save these in a word-processor file. Simply Cut and paste
the ad at the BBS. |
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