5 Tips for Creating a Classified Ad that Pulls Like Crazy
Creating a classified ad is not difficult, but unless you do it properly, your results will be dismal at best. This is a real shame, because the humble classified ad is still the most economical and highly effective world wide advertising there is. But your ad must be crafted properly.
Join us for 5 tips for creating a classified ad that will bring you real results.
1. Headline
Your headline is the most important part of your classified ad. When your ad is sitting among possibly numerous others, it needs to stand out. Simply typing as much information into a form as possible in an effort to say everything you can is just plain wrong.
Consider the following. Which ad gets your attention best?
a.) Room for rent for end of month – or –
b.) Room With a View of the Lake!
Notice that rent is not even mentioned in the second headline, but I bet that’s the one that would catch your attention first, if you were looking for a room.
You see, it’s not necessary to waste valuable headline space with words like “rent” or when it is available. Someone scanning the classifieds for a room to rent is already assuming anything listed in that category is for rent!
2. Body
When you’re creating a classified ad, you are often limited on how many words are included, so they need to be chosen wisely. They need to be compelling and create an emotional connection with the prospect.
Again, what connects best with you?
a.) Nice clean room in a good area. Everything included. Must be nonsmoker. No pets. Available at the end of the month. – or –
b.) Enjoy spectacular views over the lake from this beautiful heritage home. Nonsmoker, no pets. Move in March 1st!
Where would you rather live? Who would you contact first? Of course, this is only a quick example, and if I was to spend more time on it, I could almost certainly make it even more compelling. But I’m sure you can see the difference.
3. Contact Information
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you would be amazed at how many people miss potential business by not making sure they are easy to reach.
For example, if you give only an email address, how often do you check your email? How reliably does it deliver? Were you aware that more and more email providers have blacklisted certain IP addresses and other email providers because of spam? If someone was to send you a query from one of those by email, you might never see it.
The best and most commonly used contacts are still your phone, both for text messages or phone calls, and social media, such as Facebook Messenger. In fact, that last one is probably one of the most used apps, today, at least in the English-speaking world.
4. Photos
Use photos any time you can! Photos make an ad stand out far above all text competitors. I guarantee that if you put a photo with your ad while everyone else is using text only, yours will be the first one everyone goes to!
5. Answer Back Quickly!
Again, this might seem a little silly to mention, but it is a problem. For some reason, many people place classified ads, then take forever to reply when they get a reply.
Don’t do that! That’s a terrible practice and in many cases, if you take to long, your prospect will have already moved on to someone else. People love a fast reply. The faster you answer a reply to your classified ad, the more likely you are to close the deal.
The Wrap-up
I hope these five easy tips will help you to create a classified ad that pulls like crazy. With practice and following these tips, you will get you the results you are looking for.
As with anything, the more you put in, the more you will get out. Don’t quit if it doesn’t meet your expectations the first time! Just keep trying and honing your skills. You will succeed.
Remember, classified ads are sill highly effective advertising!
What are you doing to advertise? Let us know in the comment section and remember to leave a link!