7/29/2019 How to Write Ads That Get Results

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WRITING AN AD THAT GETS RESULTSByTedJanusz

ffioyorneed to write a promotional piece for your parking facility or another serice orffi $Vroduct you might sell? Begin this process by taking a look at an advertisement fromW yot;r favorite publication. Really look at it. I k o*, your brain usually spots an ad andimmediately thinks, "oh, an ad!" and tells you to quickly flip the page so you can continuereadingthe articles, but slow down this time.

TED JANUSZ is aprofessional speakeron the topic of"Social Media for

Baby Boomers,"authoL and marketing

consultant. He is theauthor of the Socral

Media MarketingGuide for ParkingProfessionals, which

is a free publicationfor lPl members andcan be downloaded

from parking.org/socialmediaguide.

He can bereached at t;d:

jar: Lrspresei:ie lini:s. c*mor 61 4 .440 .7 487 .

Sources tell us thatthe average consumer is inundatedwith between 1,500 and 5,000 advertising impressionsper day. To help you understand how you can breakthrough ail ofthis clutter and get some attention for yourmessagg please consider the following story:I was riding along in the car with my teenage sonand started to say something I vowed I would neversay:'nVhen I was your age..."

Stephen's eyes rolled to the back ofhis head. you segStephen doesn't particularly care to hear his old man,sreminiscences ofthe good o1d days, yet again, so soon.

Now, count the number of times a sales letter inyour mailbox begins, "Our companywas started by mygreat-grandfather back in 1905. We now have 10,000installations and 25,000 satisfied clients...,,For a potential prospect, such a lead-in fails to grab

and sustain attention. Potential prospects are arrested by,"What's in it for me (WII-FMX"I was recently asked by ar-r accounting firm to reviewtl-reir new marketing materials. They handed me a profes-sionally-designed, glossy folder that profiled each oftheirpartners-where theywent to school, degrees earned, andawards won. The accounting firm was very proud ofthesenew (expensive) materials.

Guess what?Aprospective client doesn t reallycare aboutthe number of degrees conferred or awards won. Rather,it's al1 about, 'aVhat can you do for me? How well do youunderstand my pains and rny issues? What steps can you taketo solve them?" In an increasingly competitive rnarketplace,companies able to demonstrate \A{I-FM win business.My favorite four-step formula for writing result-pro-ducing marketing materials is:3, Identifirthe Problem. Whatwere the circumstancesthat caused the customer to initiate contact with you?E. Implement the Solution. What was the remedy youproposed and implemented for the customer?G.Document the Results. What were the quantifiable

benefits the customer received as a result?S.Recordthe Testimonial. Have the customer explainin his own words the ways you helped.

RethinkYourAdsAdvertisingguru David Ogilr,y once said, "There is no 1awwhich says that advertisements have to look like advertise-ments. Roughl1, six times as many peopie read the averagearticle as the average advertisement.,,

Consider usingyour ad as a regular column in whichyou give advice to readers. You don't need to be al author.Simply include a qpical question that.vou hear, and an-swer it as you normally do. After you write each piece askyoursel{ "Will my readers, who are my potential prospects,see somethingin this piece that directly relates to them?,,(Always remember WII-FM.)

Better yet, approach your community newspaper andtell them that you would like to write a regular column.Readers can submit their questions on parking and youwill respond. In that way, you can look like an expert inthe community, free of charge.Let's get back to that adveftisement you originallylooked at whenwe began this arlicle. you may askyoursell"I{, in order to be successful, an advertisement needs tocontain a \ArII-FM, why did this company write this ad?After all, it doesn't even mention their customer. Instead.the ad is all about them."

But nowyou know the secret!12 INTERNATTONAL pARKtNG tNST|TUTE ] VnnCt zor: