Free Classifieds: 4 Useful tips

Marketers are well aware of the surprising effectiveness of classified ads. They're far less expensive than display ads, and often achieve an excellent response. In fact, they can be extremely successful for all types of service businesses.

They are absolutely brilliant for lead generation.

Almost all newspapers, trade journals and magazines have a classified ad section. Have a look at the magazines you receive. People use classified ads because they work. Build them into your marketing and advertising strategy and watch what happens.

Here are the four basic secrets for writing lead generating classified ads:

1. Start with a short POWERFUL headline

Like any form of advertising you should always (and I mean always) start your classified ad with a strong headline. Never, ever start with your company name. Classified ads lend themselves to shorter headlines due to the restrictions in space, but test longer headlines.

Use capitals, large fonts and bold to make the headline stand out from the crowd.

2. Give people a reason to call now

Offer something FREE. It could be a FREE consultation, free no obligation meeting, free estimate or free Special Report (my favourite).

3. Include your contact information

Telephone numbers work best. But whatever method(s) of contact you use tell the reader what to do. For example: "Call now." "Write to me at…" "Ring now for our free guide…" etc. This is known as your 'call to action.'

4. Use short sentences that make sense

Get to the point quickly. Keep your sentences short, and don't use unusual words, abbreviations, acronyms, and punctuation marks.

Some free classified sites charge fees for most ad categories except Freemarketsite.com (also Freeads.gb.com) where all ad categories are absolutely free to post.

I guarantee you'll be surprised at the response you get when you apply these four simple basics to your classified ads.

Courtesy of www.fmclassifieds.com