Advertising and Marketing Ideas to Create Phenomenal Profits In YOUR Small Business

“You’ve Been At Your Retail Location 20 Years….In A Small Town...And The Local Customer Says ‘I had no idea you were here’. What’s Wrong With This Picture? What Can You Do About It?” PDF Print E-mail
“You’ve Been At Your Retail Location 20 Years….In A Small Town...And The Local Customer Says ‘I had no idea you were here’. What’s Wrong With This Picture? What Can You Do About It?”

Have you ever heard “I didn’t know you were here””?
We have. We have two lighted signs by the road, good signage on the front of the store, and we advertise regularly, but we still get it.

It hasn’t happened much lately, but the first few years we were here, it happened all the time. What changed?

Our advertising headlines.

The headline grabs the readers attention, and either causes them to read the rest of the ad, or skim until they find a headline worth reading.

I was channel surfing yesterday and I saw the opening for the Keith Oberman show. Here is the opening statement; “Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?”.

I thought it was brilliant.

Think of what happens in that short question.;
The word “Which” draws you in, because it forces you to read the rest of the story or listen to the telecast to answer the question of “Which?”.
“These” also forces you to listen to the rest of the show. Why? Because you don’t hear the list of stories...you have to stay tuned to get the list.
“Will” assumes that at least one of the stories will be worth talking about.
“Talking about” makes it sound like something juicy is going to be revealed.

Think of all the ways that headline could be used in your business. Let’s see what template comes out of that headline.

“Which of these_____ will you be _____tomorrow?”    or
“Which of these___ will you be talking about tomorrow?”     or
“Which of these ___ will ___ be talking about tomorrow?”

For example;

“Which of these meals will you family be complimenting you about tomorrow?”

“Which of these video games will your children be talking about tomorrow?”

“Which of these pet snacks will your puppy be begging for tomorrow?”

“Which of these sales techniques will you be profiting from tomorrow?”

“Which of these cars will you be comfortably touring in  tomorrow?”

“Which of these Specials will be 50% OFF tomorrow only?”
(I really like the last one. Try not reading the ad after seeing that)

Ad headlines are 80% of the responsible for whether an ad works or not.

Here’s the template I used to come up with the ad I’m using in my ads to sell my high end vacuum cleaners;

Headline template; “ (Problem)?  (Problem)? Have we got a (Solution/product) for you!”

Our headline is
“Dust Allergies? Pet Hair Problems? Have We Got A Vacuum Cleaner For You!”

It could have been;
“Leaking faucets? Clogged drains? Have we got a plumber for you!”

“Sounds like people are mumbling? You have to turn the TV too loud just so you can hear it? Have we got a hearing aid for you!”

“Suffer from backaches? Can’t get comfortable at night? Have we got a mattress for you!”

See?

It’s all in the headline.