A good online advertisement encourages someone to click. So how does a marketer encourage one to leave that lovely webpage and follow a link? As you develop your ad, think to yourself, “what has gotten me to click?” To find out how to put these tips to work to benefit your company, contact your MyNorth account executive, listed at the end of this article.
Our team has put these tips together based on best practices and what we’ve seen work, so that you can know what makes an ad click:
Get Their Attention First
You want head-turning pretty pictures. Nothing complicated or detailed. If one wants to look at your ad, then you’ve won half the battle. Take photos of products, or a plate of food in a sunny spot. If you want to really put the attention on the product, unroll some gift-wrapping paper, tape the white side up on the wall as your background. Here in Northern Michigan, the view from your establishment might be the most stunning shot.
If your price is the lowest in the land, you can use it to get attention, but you’ll have to have more enticements to get people to click.
Other things that grab attention are headlines containing some of the following words: free, win, save, get, see. Once you get them to look at the ad, the rest of the work is geared toward getting them to click on that link.
The Offer
What’s on the other side of the click? Make it worth one’s while to click and that means give them something for free. Here are some ideas:
- Recipes – Everyone wants a timely recipe … BBQ for July 4th, morels in spring, venison in the fall, tomatoes in summer, appetizers for the holidays
- Videos – How do you get someone to watch your commercial? Tell them it’s a video.
- Coupons – One may not have immediate need for your item and still download the coupon just in case …
- New Menu – Reading the menu is the calorie free way to indulge and folks can’t help themselves
- Catalog – Offering a catalog is the soft sell way to surround your prospect with temptation. Offering a catalog has them thinking, “I’m not buying, I’m just looking at the catalog …”
- Lists – Six ways to …
- Discount Rates – Discount rates are good bait, but use with caution. Make sure that your customer doesn’t feel cheated after looking at what you consider a discount rate. You can turn prospects off if your discounts are only available during the full moon of a leap year or if the savings won’t buy a free cup of coffee.
Leave them wanting more.
Good online advertising is a tease. The ad gives them a sneak peek and they have to click to get the whole picture. Here are good lines to use to tease your prospect into clicking when you’re offering a video:
•   Tour our …
•   See a demonstration of …
•   See more photos of …
•   Check out a sunset video from our deck.
•   Our CEO shares tips for …
•   We show you how to …
Other teaser lines to inspire clicking on your advertising buttons:
- 5 ways to sabotage your …. (don’t you just want to find out if you’re doing one of these!)
- Discover our tasty and low cal recipe that’s guaranteed to ad zip to …
- There are 14 more gift ideas for Mom in our catalog under $100 …
- Check out our catalog of Northern Michigan jewelry, you won’t believe the variety …
- We have four new morel mushroom menu items to surprise you …
- Our fall rates will surprise you …
- Enter for your chance at a free vacation …
- Six asparagus recipes including a cocktail that will have your guests laughing …
- Our chef’s secret ingredient included in this special recipe …
- Insider packages for MyNorth readers only …
Now What? After the Click Strategies
Of course if you can get them to buy your product, that’s the home run. Your landing page needs to provide the info you promoted in the ad quickly and easily. If customers have to search to find the info, they may get frustrated and leave.
Once you’ve delivered on your promise, that’s the time to ask for the sale. If you don’t have an online store, MyNorth Media can build one for you, or you may be able to sell products online through ShopMyNorth.com. If you want to look into either of these options, contact MyNorth Media account executive Drew Warner.
Another landing page success would be to collect an email address, so that you can stay in touch with that prospect. You might offer an email newsletter, special offer alerts or ongoing special event notifications.
Contact Info—The Last Opportunity to Connect
On your landing pages, be sure to include a way for potential customers to contact you twenty four hours a day. You’d be surprised how many pages accidentally leave this off. Email addresses work, or phone numbers with an answering machine to capture their questions. And in our age of GPS and Google Maps, be sure that your address is easy to find, so folks can copy and paste it into whatever system they use to find your unique Northern Michigan Business.
Click an email link below to contact one of our advertising experts.
Deborah Fellows – Sales Director
sales@traversemagazine.com
Drew Warner – Account Executive: Website design & development, web solutions
drew@mynorth.com
Jeff Hale – Account Executive: High Definition Video and special print products such as Medical Insider and the Giving Guide
jhale@traversemagazine.com
Ann Gatrell – Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
anng@traversemagazine.com
Jill Hayes – Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
jhayes@traversemagazine.com
Amy Joslin – Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
amyj@traversemagazine.com
Candace Morse- Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
cmorse@traversemagazine.com
Lisa Gillespie – Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
lgillespie@traversemagazine.com
Cynthia Ludka – Account Executive: Print, online display & directories, e-newsletters
ludka@traversemagazine.com
Or call 231.941.8874 to be connected to an advertising account executive.