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How
To Increase The Response You Get From Your Lead Generating Ads
by Bob Leduc
I received two postcards in the mail yesterday. One was cluttered with
so much small text I had difficulty trying to read it. I gave up and
trashed it.
The second postcard had a total of 48 words on it including a website
address listed on the bottom of the card. The card announced a new book
on one of my favorite business topics. Part of one chapter was available
to read free at the website listed on the card. I did... then ordered
the book.
The person who sent that second postcard was using the classic 2 step
selling process:
Step 1. Generate leads - in this case traffic to her website.
Step 2. Provide the requested information - in this case provided
online at the website.
This two step process is proving to be just as effective online
(Internet marketing) as it has been for many years in traditional
marketing.
Why Use 2 Steps?
It's easier to generate leads than to sell products or services. You
don't have to persuade anybody to spend money. Therefore you can use
simple and inexpensive methods of advertising to generate leads. You can
also build a list of prospects who don't buy now and use it for future
follow up.
Tip: Always try to get the contact information from your prospects so
you can communicate with them again in the future. Implement an
automatic follow up procedure to periodically contact previous prospects
who didn't buy. (This one procedure alone can increase your number of
new customers by 50% or more.)
Keep It Simple
The purpose of a lead generating ad or message is to generate a large
number of inquiries. You're not selling your product or service (yet).
You're selling the reader on the action of replying to your ad.
The most effective message I've found for generating the maximum number
of replies includes only 3 things.
1. State the biggest benefit offered by your product or service.
2. Include a
compelling reason for readers to request more information NOW. 3.
Provide a quick and easy way to respond.
Keep your message brief. Most short ads I develop produce more replies
than longer versions of the same ad. For example, one of the most
responsive ads I ever developed has only 14 words. The version used on
the Internet read:
Discover How To Build ANY Small Business FAST! Offer ends soon. Free
information. mailto:address@d...
The off-line version of this ad also included a phone number and postal
address so prospects had 3 ways to request more information. I used it
for classified ads in magazines and printed it on postcards and mailed
them to targeted lists. Every version of the ad produced a large number
of replies.
Many prospects responded out of curiosity. That was OK. I knew they were
part of my targeted market and had a compelling need for what I was
offering. I controlled that by circulating the ad where it would be seen
only by prospects in my targeted market.
Follow this model the next time you develop a lead generating ad or
message. Place your ad where lots of prospects in your targeted market
will see it. The number of leads it generates from seriously interested
prospects will surprise you.
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses just like yours find new
customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his
manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards and
several other publications to help small businesses grow and prosper.
For information: mailto:postcards@s...
or visit: http://BobLeduc.com
or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
How To Increase The Response You Get From Your Lead Generating Ads
Copyright 2003 Bob Leduc
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