How to write ads that sell

I can’t tell you how many times I have had someone tell me that advertising doesn’t work, when in reality their ad was terrible... Advertising is an art, and knowing this simple formula will get you off to a good start.
Now before I kick off with my killer 4 step process I want to make sure that you understand that unless you are a BIG name product that already has a huge market presence, you don’t even need your company name in the ad at all! Yep… I know that might be freaking you out right now, in fact, you’re used to having your name right at the top of the ad… and who does that excite… well, just you, and your mum!
So let’s get started. I am going to teach you a simple formula known as the AIDA principle. AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. You can use this for ANY type of advertising, whether it is a newspaper ad or a brochure, if you follow this principle you will get more responses from your advertising guaranteed!

Step 1.
A is for Attention, so what are you doing to get the readers attention? You need to have an attention grabbing headline. For example, if I were a wedding photographer, I could use my name as my headline (unfortunately very commonly seen). Ben Fewtrell Photography is not a very strong attention grabbing headline, sure, I am going to get the attention of some people looking for a photographer, but what if I was after wedding gigs… How about a headline like…
At last, a wedding photographer that personally guarantees you’ll be ecstatic with your wedding photos or you won’t pay a cent!Or it could be as simple as…
Don’t hire a wedding photographer until you have read this…
Now, if you were getting married and looking for a wedding photographer there is no way you could go past that ad without reading it. Your headline has to get the readers attention, and has to get the reader to continue reading the ad.

Step 2.
I is for Interest. Basically, your ad has to be interesting or your reader will move on pretty quickly. You can make it interesting with words, photos and layout. Before and after photos are great if it suits your business. One tip that I will give is that you must right your ad remembering that your reader is interested in WIIFM (What’s in it for me). Rather than the boring old we have been in business since 1978 and we have a new showroom and we pride ourselves on our work and we we we we all the way home! Make sure you write in a point of YOU. Use the word YOU rather than WE and you’ll be talking directly to your reader and they will be interested. (Just like you feel right now!)

Step 3.
D is for Desire. Desire is create through using a great offer. Remember, your job is to get the prospect to the next step, the easier it is for them to respond to your offer, the higher your conversion rate will be. For example, If I were the wedding photographer as mentioned above, I could offer a free guide called “7 things you need to know to guarantee you have the perfect wedding”. It would be easy for me to write this or get someone to write this for me, and I would instantly have something that my target market would want, after all, if you were getting married would you want to know these 7 things? Of course you would, so I now have a way to instantly get my target market talking to me (or doing whatever call to action I request)

Step 4.
A is for Action. Now all that is left to do is create a call to action. It can be as simple as CALL NOW on 999 999 999 or visit www.yourdomain.com/free-guide. Just make sure you make your call to action clear. Make it easy for your prospect to respond and you will have more leads than you know what to do with!