Reasoning behind web ad (cont.)

Stating the problem

We've long ago identified one of the main frustrations of business who have web sites developed is the fact that the web sites don't do what they are supposed to do.

(Here's an example. We were asked to take a look at a client's web site for the resort he manages. The web site had generated just 1 or 2 sales in the previous year.

We redeveloped the site and within a month the resort had taken in $63,000 worth of booking requests via the web site (that's not counting the number of telephone enquiries it generated).)

So what we do in our efforts to attract our target market - people who want a web site but have heard the horror stories, and people with underperforming web site - is we state the problem:

"Too often web sites are developed for companies by web designers with little or no understanding of the commercial needs of business..."

Then we move on to suggest to the person reading the ad what they need - which is "a web site that actually works."

All people want is a solution

All people want is a solution. The vast majority of our clients don't have the technical expertise to develop and market web sites successfully. Web sites can be an enormously valuable tool for business - but only if the site is developed properly.

This is the bit in the ad where we offer our solution and we spell out exactly what the web site can do - "...generating leads, making sales, positioning your business....."

A testimonial would have been effective here from one of our high profile clients (CareFlight Queensland - a local high profile community organisation, the Gold Coast Marathon - a major event in our state, Xanadu Resort - a major resort).

But space constraints here meant we couldn't fit the testimonial in.

One of the biggest barriers to selling someone something is the perception of risk. The person might look at us and say "There's a risk they don't know what they are talking about."

We need to reassure our clients that we are trustworthy and we do what we agree to do. And that's best done with a testimonial from either a high profile organisation as mentioned above, or a personal friend/colleague of the person (that's better than the testimonial from the high profile client).

Although we didn't use a testimonial, we tried to provide some reassurance by mentioning the term "award-winning" a little later. Awards are seen as independent third party positive assessment of a business. And that's as effective as a testimonial.

Why we specialise

The next part of the ad states we specialise in:

• award-winning web site development
• redeveloping under-performing web site
• web site marketing

We have specifically mentioned the redevelopment expertise because we see this as a major market niche (it already comprises a large part of our client base) and want to reassure the reader that we are expert at reinvigorating poorly performing web sites.

And the web site marketing is mentioned because it is a part of the success of the newly developed sites that we do.

And these aspects are mentioned in bullet points for three- (3) main reasons):

• bullet points break up the text
• bullet points make the ad easy to scan
• bullet points make the ad easier to read

(They are the very same reasons I use bullet point and plenty of sub-headings in the articles I write on this site.)

Read on for...

FREE REPORT...the call to action!

Brendon Sinclair