If you are a small business owner, you know everything you need to know about your product or service. But you have to also be an expert in sales and marketing if you want to be successful. And one of the basics that you should know is how to create a solid classified ad to post online. There is no doubt that classified advertising in print media is dying, but it is growing by leaps and bounds online on websites such as Craigslist.org. Craigslist is an online classified ad site that lists everything from workout equipment to massages, and there are plenty of companies generating huge amounts of business everyday with tiny little ads.
The best part is placing classified ads on Craigslist couldn t get any simpler or cheaper. Depending on your topic, placing ads in most of the categories are free. Problem is most small business owners don t take the time to get their ads online every day. Part of the reason is because Craigslist won t let you place the same ad in two different places within a 24 hour period, which is fine because you should be posting multiple ads and testing your results anyway. Then make sure you are always running tests on each ad so you can get the best results.
So here are a few tips on how to write a fantastic classified ad online:
The headline: you should absolutely, without question, spend most of your time developing a solid headline. The only job the headline has is to sell the reader on reading the rest of your ad. Sounds simple right? Millions have been spent on headline creation. You should use the obvious attention getters such as Free , No Obligation , Limited Time Offer and While Supplies Last to create a sense of urgency. Whatever you decide, remember the headline is going to be what sells the rest of the ad, with a weak headline you are going to struggle to get any results.
Once you have got your reader s attention you need to make sure that your body copy is just as good. Tell them why they should act now and what they will lose out on if they don t pick up the phone and call you right now for more information. Remember, people don t want to be excluded; it s natural to want to be a part of something that everybody else is a part of, so make them feel like they are the last people in the world to already have your product or service.
Now that you have one great ad, it s time to make another one. You do this so that you can test each ad against the other, then take the lower performing ad, change it, and run the test all over again. You continue to do this until you find the perfect classified ad that you can run day in and day out and know you re going to get results you need to succeed at advertising your small business online.
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