In this article I am going to give three points on what makes up a good Internet ad so you can use it in your marketing strategies.



Start with a hook. A hook, (just like in fishing) is the piece of the Internet ad that catches the readers attention. In the case of your Internet advertisement, it is the headline. A bad headline would be, "Look inside to learn how to make a million dollars in ten minutes". This headline suggests something so unrealistic, no one, and I mean not even the most desperate of people would investigate further. However, "Educational program teaches you how to increase your income", is a much better way of writing the hook. Everyone is looking to increase their income, everyone knows education is a good way of doing that, and it also suggests that it is teaching you how to do it.

Now that the person is "hooked", you need to keep their interest. If you are doing an Internet ad with mostly text, you can use a technique called "salting". Salting is a way to keep the readers interest by telling them of some information and then letting them know you will give the rest to them later. For example, "Our cleaning process uses three steps to ensure the job is done right. In a moment, we will describe what they are, but right now we want to...", you get the point. Now the reader of the Internet ad is curious as to what those three steps are and will continue to read the Internet ad until they read that information. Continually "salting" in your Internet ad, will keep the reader interested to the end.

If you are using pictures, keep in mind a picture is worth a thousand words, but a bad picture will ruin your Internet advertisement and possibly your business. If you are a hair stylist and you are promoting your business and you use a picture of someone for their hair style, yet the picture shows something you would see on a monster in horror flick, chances are, you won`t get too many responses. Choose your photo wisely.

Now that you have the reader`s interest until the very end, you have to close the deal. Closing the deal is the hardest of the three steps, in my opinion, to effective Internet advertising. Without a good close, all of the previous work mentioned is for naught. To "close" the deal, you need to give the reader something to do. For example, "Contact us today and receive 10% towards your next cleaning". This would obviously be followed with a phone number, email, web page, or whatever it is you are trying to get them to respond to. Your reader must be given a way to reach out and obtain the product or service you just advertised about.

If you want to increase your response rate of your Internet advertisement or promotion these 3 steps alone should do it.

By: Bruce A. Tucker