7 Factors that Boost Advertising Response

Copywriter Peter Fogel reports in DM News that many advertisers fail to take simple but vital steps that turn readers into buyers. Astute marketers, he says:

Make prospects feel safe about ordering

Internet scams, epidemic cyberspace identity theft, phishing expeditions, and other modern-day flim-flams have made advertising recipients super-sensitive about preserving their privacy. Assure them, Fogel advises, that you will keep the information they supply to you strictly private.

Offer a comprehensive, easy-to-grasp guarantee

Cut out all cutesy conditions from your guarantees. Make your prospect feel that he will get all his money back — including shipping and other delivery charges — if he is unhappy with his purchase for any reason.

Your profit from increased orders likely will more than cover the cost of redeeming a strong guarantee promise.

Set up ongoing relationships

One-shot advertising may land a sale. If that is all it does, however, it will not make money in the long run. An order signals that your customer is interested in a certain product or service area. Offer him a free newsletter covering that topic. And tailor your future offers to suit his interests.

Provide all possible ordering paths

Let your prospect buy by credit card, check, or money order ... on the phone, by fax or e-mail ... or by carrier pigeon, or a boy carrying an order in a cleft stick, for that matter. The more purchasing paths you provide, the more orders you stand to generate.

Constantly test and hone copy and graphics

The only thing more expensive than testing is to miss the opportunity to sharpen your advertising that testing can reveal.

Select prospects accurately

You don’t sell meat to vegetarians, Fogel stresses. “A poor ad will get you more sales from a targeted audience than great copy to the wrong audience.”

Hammer in “Buy NOW!”

Assume that your sales prospects are inherently lazy, besides being distracted by the demands of their jobs, friends, spouses and kids.

Unless you burn in the need to take you up on your offer right away, or by a looming deadline, they will postpone taking action on it. Which is to say, they never will order.