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Progressive Headlines Guide Customers To Buy     
 
Advertising,Business,Writing
  
 
by Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.learn-copywriting.com
Headlines are, without a doubt, one of the most important elements in copywriting. As has been said countless times before, if you don’t get your readers’ attention with the headline, the chance of them reading your copy is virtually none. But headlines (and sub-headlines) play a vital part in the copywriting process for other reasons, too.

Whether we, as copywriters, like it or not, the fact is most people will not read all the copy word for word. Headlines can help fill in the blanks in several ways so “skimmers” still get the gist of the information included in the copy.

Headlines Outline the Benefits

Using headlines and sub-heads that state benefits about your product/service can be a powerful strategy. Using wireless home networking for example, you might create headlines and sub-heads that read:

–Work From Anywhere In Your Home –No More Jumbled Cables Strung Everywhere –Have Multiple Computers Online At The Same Time –Make All The Computer Users In Your Home Happy

Even if the customer didn’t read the copy included in between these heads and sub-heads, they would still be made aware of all the benefits of having a wireless home network.

Headlines Give An Overview

Depending on the type of copy you’re writing, headlines can help to urge your customers to read further. In fact, in long-form copy, headlines should create their own sub-set of copy. If you read just the headlines, they should make sense all by themselves. For example, copy about a new book on how to start your own business might use the following headlines.

New Book Takes You Step-by-Step Through Starting Your Own Business

An introduction would go here as well as copy designed to gain the attention of the reader.

Starting A Business Is Easier Than Ever

Continue with the copy here.

The Little Known Secrets In This Book Will Show You How

More copy here.

See? As you read through the headlines and sub-headlines they make sense even without any copy. This serves to give an overview of the information to those customers who may not read every word of the copy you’ve written. If they read just the headlines and sub-heads, they’ll still understand what you’re offering.

Headlines Can Raise Curiosity

Make a statement that’s so unusual it doesn’t make sense. Create “cliff-hangers” with your headlines and only give so much information before stopping. When you use these and other interest builders, you can encourage customers to read further into your copy just to satisfy their curiosity. Using natural gardening products as our example, the headlines and sub-heads often look like this:

–My Roses Are Bursting With Blossoms Since I Stopped Watering Them –My Prize-Winning Tulips Would Wither Up and Die If It Weren’t for… –Which Annual Blooms Twice As Big When You Give It A Beer/Shampoo Cocktail?

These statements make you think. They start the reader wondering so that he/she continues to read on to get the rest of the story.

When creating headlines in your copy, think about how they all work together. Instead of just plopping bolded words in between paragraphs, create a plan revolving around progressive headlines that can lead your readers to buy.

Tired of endlessly searching the ‘Net in hopes of finding the latest copywriting techniques? Need an up-to-date directory filled with the best ways to learn copywriting? Visit http://www.learn-copywriting.com today for the widest collection of the most popular copywriting resources available.

MiniSites Are The Power Of Marketing Income!     
 
Advertising,Business Opportunities,Marketing
  
 
MiniSites Are The Power Of Marketing Income!
Affiliate programs are still rolling strong on the internet, The problem with affiliate marketing is that 90% or more of the people that try their hand at it fail and give up leaving the company with what little money that you might have brought in from it.

There is a ANSWER!

Minisites are a huge income earner that you can start with the very first product you buy! Minisite are little web pages that have a main page that tells the client about the product, A “Order” page that people go to next to buy your product and a “Thank You Page” that holds the download link.

More and more new marketers that are into affiliate marketing are looking for tools to help them get the most out of the service that they are advertising. Most minisites are about Ebooks or Software that are in high demand! Why promote something that you have to share with a company when you can have your very OWN product and keep 100% of all profits that you make??

One of the most powerful minisites on the internet today is a product called “The Total Resale Package” You can see it here. http://www.haileyscometweekly.com/total-resale/

If you look at the page it tells you everything you need about the product and what it can do for your marketing and advertising needs. It has that extra plus in the way it is worded and helps people understand what it is they are buying. It also comes with complete ResaleRights and Minisite,Solo Ad, and of course the downloads which is 9 software packages in ONE.

This is just one of the many tools that you can use to start earning from your own product. When you purchase anything online that has to do with advertising or marketing be sure that you get the resalerights with it. Another good example of a marketing product that you can use is the one that was put out by Richard Quek. Richard is a MasterMind with it comes to marketing and all he did was contact other publishers and business owners and asked them to let him use the tools and information that they used for success in the form of a interview.

The product is called Zoom To Super Success. It has over 50 of the internets top marketers and business owners and covers everything from marketing and advertising to search engine placement. You can see what Richard put together by going to http://www.haileyscometweekly.com/zoom.htm

This product also comes with the minisite that you will see at the site and the resalerights are also included but are pricey. The reason is because when you sell someone else secrets you have one of the most powerful tools online. This thing is FILLED with just about everything you need to know and it is worth its weight in gold!

If you will follow the minisite marketing game you will find you way to making a income that will surpass any affiliate program! Plus remember that you also get all the profit instead of having to just earn a commission or trying to fill a matrix that you need 500 or more people to join just for a few bucks in your paypal or stormpay accounts.

MINISITE WORKS! Get yours STARTED TODAY!

Good Luck in your Ventures!

How to Track Online Marketing ROI Using Cost-per-Action     
 
Advertising,Website Promotion,Writing
  
 
How to Track Online Marketing ROI Using Cost-per-Action
Forget clicks, page views, and impressions; the only way to effectively track your online marketing ROI is through Cost-per-Action (CPA) analysis.

By Rick Crosby *

As the online advertising market is poised to grow nearly $10 billion over the next six years, it’s essential that we remember the importance of measuring the effectiveness of that spending. There’s no point undertaking any marketing or advertising campaign unless you can measure its results. And results are best measured in terms of return on investment (ROI).

Unfortunately, in the world of marketing and advertising, many businesses seem to be losing touch with their general objectives. The tools may have changed, but the principles remain the same – Your advertising campaigns are only successful if they meet the objectives you set out to achieve. So if you’re after increased sales, you need to measure the cost of each sale generated to determine your return on investment.

Fortunately for advertisers, tracking ROI for online advertising is much easier than it is for traditional forms of advertising, such as TV, Radio, Newspaper, Magazine, and Billboard. When you market online, every advertising campaign can be tracked and measured all the way down to the penny. This is why more and more advertising dollars are being spent online every day.

Why Not Cost-Per-Click or Cost-Per-Impression?

When it comes to tracking campaign effectiveness, many businesses rely on Cost-per-Click (CPC) and Cost-per-Impression (CPM) statistics. But what many people forget is that for most businesses, clicks and impressions don’t earn you money. So by tracking clicks and impressions, you’re not really tracking return on investment. The same is true of page stats.

If you’re like most businesses, impressions, clicks, and page views are simply a means to an end. (In fact, without corresponding sales conversions, they’re nothing more than unjustifiable expenses.) If you only earn revenue from sales, you need statistics linking costs and sales. In other words, you need to measure cost-per-action (CPA).

Cost-Per-Action (CPA)

In a CPA campaign, you run an online ad on third party sites and they charge a commission when a lead is generated or converted. It’s performance-based pricing. This means the publisher wears most of the advertising risk, as their commissions are dependent on good conversion rates.

Perhaps the most widespread use of CPA is affiliate marketing. With affiliate marketing, you determine what actions you will reward and how much you’re willing to pay per action. For example, you might engage an affiliate site to promote your business. If they generate sales for your business, you can pay them a commission. Your cost-per-action would then be the cost per sale or lead generated.

Tips on Conversion

The following conversion tips will help you plan your CPA campaign and avoid some common pitfalls.

1) How are sales and leads recorded?

For many businesses, the obvious result which constitutes a conversion is a sale. If your sale is recorded or registered online (e.g. e-commerce), it can be considered a measurable action. This means you can choose a sale as the desired action in your CPA campaign.

Depending on the aim of your campaign, you may want to measure other outcomes in addition to, or instead of, sales. For instance, you might measure leads in the form of membership registrations, newsletter subscriptions, software downloads, or just about any other activity beyond simple page browsing. So when your customer clicks register, or subscribe, or download, etc., the conversion is automatically registered and the details are fed back you’re your CPA campaign.

In either case, at any time, you can log in and view your campaign results in real time.

2) Set up a landing page to capture lead contact details

If you’re paying for leads, you obviously need to know when a lead is actually generated. Generally a lead becomes a lead only when the customer supplies you with their details (name, contact numbers, email, etc.). This means you need to set up a landing page on your site capture these details. Your capture page can be collect contact information or it can be as simple as a signup for a monthly newsletter.

3) Get your CPA provider to set up your landing page

If you don’t have the time, inclination, or resources to set up the necessary forms and database on your own site, the CPA provider can do it on their hosted server. They collect the leads and calculate the statistics. For many businesses, this is the ideal option because it saves them time and money, and there are no tracking discrepancies.

4) Find a CPA provider you can trust

If your CPA provider will be collecting leads and calculating statistics, you need to know you can trust them. There are plenty of trustworthy providers out there; you just need to find them. A trustworthy provider will find out what your exact needs are and spend time researching your niche market online. By performing this marketing analysis, your provider will be able to tell you exactly how much business they can bring you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. If they can’t provide you with this important information, then this is a good indication that you are not speaking with a professional internet marketer.

Just as importantly, with a trustworthy provider you’ll be able to personally speak with the internet marketer who will be working on your project. This person will be an expert in the field of internet marketing, not just a sales rep.

5) Avoiding excess fees

WARNING: Some CPA providers charge a setup fee ($2,500 to $10,000) and/or a network fee (20% to 30%) for each sale or lead that is generated. Before committing to a provider demanding high fees, make sure you are getting more for your money. Most of the time high fees simply mean the sales rep is getting a higher commission!

6) Measuring your conversion rate

The Formula for measuring CPA is by dividing the total cost per advertising campaign by the total number of actions (conversions) that were received from each ad campaign. For example, if your online ad campaign costs $1,000 and generates 50 sales or leads, your cost per action (CPA) is $20.00 each.

7) Improving your conversion rate

A high conversion rate depends on several factors:

·Visitor Interest Level – The interest level of the visitor is maximized by matching the right visitor, the right place, and the right time. ·Offer Attractiveness – The attractiveness of the offer includes the value proposition and how well it is presented. TIP: Small, impulse items typically have a higher conversion rate than large shopping items. ·Ease of Process – The ease with which the visitor can complete the desired action is dependent on site usability. Important considerations here include intuitive navigation, contact info capture page, “Buy Now” or “Apply Now” buttons and fast loading pages.

In summary…

Because CPA allows you to identify exactly how much it will cost to acquire a customer, there’s no guesswork involved. You have the ability to precisely calculate your ROI. And because online tools and ad serving technologies allow you to monitor effectiveness in real time, you can even tweak campaigns while they’re still running. If you can master effective online advertising, you’ll not only save thousands in implementation costs, you’ll also reap the rewards of a far higher return on investment.

Cooking Up a Winning Benefit Statement     
 
Marketing,Business,Advertising
  
 
In marketing it’s about WHAT you say, HOW OFTEN you say it, and WHO you say it to. You need three ingredients to cook up the all-important WHAT – a benefit statement that sells:
1) Knowing the customer. Who buys your product? Who influences the decision? What matters to these folks?

How to get the information: Talk to your customers. Read trade publications.

2) Understanding the competition. Who or what are you up against? What benefits do they tout? What are their strengths and weaknesses?

How to get the information: Analyze competitive literature, ads, web sites. Talk to your customers. Read trade publications.

3) Assessing your contribution. How do you meet your customers’ needs? Address their concerns? How are you different from and better than the competition?

How to get the information: Talk to your customers. THINK.

Gather the information and chart it. What you’re looking for is a hole where there’s a customer need that you address and hopefully, the competition doesn’t.

Found it? That’s the core of your message. Found several holes? You’ll need to prioritize.

Now, write alternative introductory sentences using words that create an emotional connection with your audience. Test your alternatives with prospects and see what gets the best reaction. A marketing consultant can help craft alternative benefit statements and provide an objective viewpoint.

Engage Your Customer - Write About Benefits     
 
Advertising,Website Promotion,Writing
  
 
Engage Your Customer – Write About Benefits By Glenn Murray *
Think quick. In 10 seconds, can you list the 5 key benefits you offer your customers?

I bet you said “Yes”. But are you sure you listed benefits? If you’ll bear with me for another 10 seconds, I’d like to test out a theory on you.

Recap your answers – maybe even write them down. Now list the 5 main things your business does. In other words, what are your 5 core services? What are the 5 core features of your product?

If your first list looks anything like your second, chances are you’re mistaking features for benefits. As a result, it’s likely that your marketing materials aren’t engaging your customer. Customers don’t want to know what you can do. They want to know what you can do FOR THEM.

Don’t talk features – talk benefits.

Don’t be alarmed. You’re not alone. Most business owners and marketing managers are so close to their product or service that they have a lot of trouble distinguishing benefits from the features of their offering. Ask a web host “what are the benefits of your service?”, and you’ll likely hear something along the lines of, “we offer load-balanced server clusters.” But that’s not a benefit… that’s what they do. The benefit is superior uptime and performance.

In fact, so many people think features instead of benefits that it can work in your favour – to dramatic effect. If you can accurately identify your benefits, and convey those benefits to your market, you’ll be light-years ahead of most of your competition. You’ll be converting leads into sales while they’re still bogged down trying to promote features.

So if you’ve ever sat down to write a sales letter and wondered how you’re going to grab your reader’s attention, or you’ve ever gone ‘round in circles writing draft after draft of web copy without ever hitting the mark, now you know where you were going wrong.

The only question remaining is, how do you do it right? Advertising copywriters and website copywriters do it all the time – and most of the time, they do it with benefits. Benefits are the copywriter’s holy grail. But if you’re not a seasoned copywriter, how do you identify the benefits you offer your customers?

There are any number of ways to identify the benefits you offer. This article discusses just three: 1) Customer Research 2) Speak to Your Sales Team 3) Make it Easy for Your Customer to Get Buy-In

The method you choose depends on your time constraints, budget, and level of customer interaction.

1) Customer Research The most obvious way to identify benefits is to ask your existing customers. They’re spending a lot of money on your offering, so you can be sure they know what benefit they’re getting from it. (In many cases, it can be handy to ask them what benefits they’d like to be getting from you too!) Unfortunately, like everyone else, your customers are busy people. In most cases, you won’t get useful feedback by simply sending an email enquiry. You have to make it easy for them to respond, and you have to make it worth their while. Think about questionnaires and surveys for quantitative data, and interviews and focus groups for qualitative data. These are the simplest techniques, but you still have to make sure you interpret the results appropriately. And always remember that they’re self-report methods. People will sometimes tell you what they think you want to hear. (That’s also why you have to word your questions very carefully – try not to ask leading questions.) Of course, there are plenty of other research techniques around. Do a bit of homework and find the methods which best suit your business requirements. But don’t get carried away by the possibilities. All the research data in the world is pointless if you’re not talking the language of your customer.

2) Speak to Your Sales Team Sadly, not every business can afford to invest in market research. If your budget doesn’t stretch far enough, try talking to your sales people. They’re out in the field every day, talking to customers. And because their livelihood depends on their success in engaging customers, chances are they’ll be able to tell you what your customers want to know. (A word of warning, though… Be careful not to make lofty promises. Unlike your sales team, written collateral doesn’t generate a rapport with your customers. Customers won’t make as many allowances, so you can only stretch the truth so far in writing before your credibility suffers. What’s more, if you do push the boundaries, you’re more likely to be held to your word!)

3) Make it Easy for Your Customer to Get Buy-In If you don’t have the budget for in-depth customer research, and you don’t have a sales team, a good tip is to imagine how your customer gets buy-in from their boss. Quite often, the decision maker is someone higher up the food chain than your direct audience. Your audience will probably be the key stakeholder – they’ll be the user of your product, or the recipient of your service. But when they find an offering they like, there’s a good chance they’ll have to sell it to someone further up the line. If you can make this sale easier, you’ll have a foot in the door. Don’t just appeal to the sensibilities of the direct audience. You also need to ask yourself what they need to know to convince the decision maker. If the decision maker is a CFO, think Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). If the decision maker is a CIO or MIS, think performance, technological sustainability, availability, manageability, and ease of integration. If the decision maker is a CEO, think liability, risk management, and ROI. And only use jargon to prove you know your stuff. Remember… jargon will probably have the ultimate decision maker scratching their head, not reaching for their cheque book.

There are many many more ways to identify benefits. This is just a very superficial snapshot of some techniques you might like to try. At the very least they’ll get you thinking benefits.

In the end, the message is simple. Forget all the fancy talk about complicated revolutionary marketing principles. Forget new-age hard-sell advertising quick-fixes. Forget looking to so-called “experts” for solutions. Just think benefits. And if you can accurately do that, the rest is just mechanics. Once you know what you want to write about, you just need to put pen to paper. And that’s a whole ‘nother story!

Happy writing!