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As online entrepreneurs and digital marketers, we know the importance of leveraging paid advertising to generate leads, customers, and loyal fans. When done right it’s one of the fastest ways to start and scale your online business.

The good news? Paid advertising has been proven to work extremely well whether you sell online courses, coaching, digital products, access to membership sites, or just about anything else you can think of. It’s the holy grail for turning your unique ideas into an informational product empire.

The bad news? Ad costs have and will continue to rise. It’s how works. And while that does actually sound like “bad news” to many, for those of us who know how to optimize our ads in the right way, it’ll force many of your competitors out and leave more room for people like you.

Building Your Ads On A Solid Foundation

With so many different gurus in the online marketing space, it can be confusing listening to their competing advice and trying to decipher which is the right one for you to follow. One says this, the other says that, then they both change their tune a week later.

Luckily, for the most part, the foundations of what works in paid advertising stays the same month after month, year after year, independent of who’s teaching what. In our article today we’ll share the top 4 steps you can take to give yourself the best chance of success.

Step #1: Know Your Market

By now you’ve probably heard this a million times right? How the importance of knowing your market is the foundation of all your advertising success. Well, there’s a reason you keep hearing it from those who’ve reached the mountaintop and seek to help those still climbing... because it works!

And as ad costs continue to rise and more business continues to flood these same mediums with paid messages targeted at your exact audience, it’s never been more important. Never.

Everything starts with you identifying a specific target profile and knowing them inside and out. The remaining 3 steps all hinge on you nailing this first step.

Luckily with a little bit of guidance and a little extra effort, you can quickly dial this in and produce homerun converting ads. One of the greatest copywriters alive right now, Dan Kennedy, has provided a list of ten questions you can use to get into the mind of your ideal prospect:

1. What keeps them awake at night?
2. What are they afraid of?
3. What are they angry about? Who are they angry at?
4. What are their top three daily frustrations?
5. What trends are occurring and will occur in their business or lives?
6. What do they secretly, ardently desire most?
7. Is there a built-in bias to the way they make decisions?
8. Do they have their own language?
9. Who else is selling something similar to them, and how?
10. Who else has tried selling them something similar, and how has that effort failed?

If you take the time and put in the extra effort to articulate the answers to these questions for your ideal prospect, your ads will have a much higher chance of succeeding.

This means you’ll make more sales, have lower ad costs, and be able to outspend your competition. Amazing what a little market research can do for you, right?

Step #2: The Image Gets The Stop

This step is one that often goes overlooked but is a “quick fix” which can yield incredible results. Remember, the image for your ad is what “stops” your prospect.

Put yourself in their shoes as you create your ad. They’re distracted. They’ve heard it all. They’re scrolling through Facebook while being bombarded with a hundred other ads. Can you see it? Of course, you can... you experience this every day as well.

This is why the phrase “the image gets the stop” is so often repeated. It works.

Pay attention to the ads that stop you. Is the image something weird or different? Maybe something that stands out amongst all the other cookie-cutter clutter in your newsfeed? That’s what you want.

When it comes to an effective image, it really is all about testing as different markets respond differently. But here are a few image types to consider:

• Weird: we’ve seen everything from kaleidoscope patterns, green tinted overlays, upside down photos, and just weird or out of place images. All of these are used to get attention and stand out.
• Personal: these are typically taken from a camera phone and are meant to look personal, non-professional, and to appear as though it’s not an ad.
• Emotional: images like this focus on the pain or pleasure of your ideal prospect. Maybe it’s someone hating cold calling, a ball and chain, or a smiling businessman.

Will this image make the reader stop? Will it get their attention in the midst of the rest of the online clutter they’re currently drowning in? If you keep this in mind you’ll have more people giving your ad a moment of your time, and that’s where our next step comes in.

Step #3: The Copy Gets The Click

If your image gets the prospect to stop, it’s your copy which gets them to click. Which is also why it’s so important to know really dive into the market research in step 1. That information will help you to have an idea of the image and copy which might best resonate for that one type of person.

When it comes to creating compelling copy which leads your prospect to want to click and take you up on your offer, here are a few things we’re seeing that are working well across a variety of platforms:

1. Long Form Stories: It’s probably no surprise that stories typically do well as we’re all naturally drawn to them. But using them in your paid advertising is proving to be incredibly effective. Whether it’s a before/after, how you discovered XYZ, or a success story of one of your customers...these types of stories are working.
2. Emotion-Driven: One of the biggest mistakes many advertisers are making with paid ads is not infusing their copy with enough emotion. The reason you want to do this is that you have to get your reader to pay attention and ultimately take action. Nothing quite packs that sort of punch like an emotionally driven ad. Highlight problems, pains, and frustrations while showing what’s possible with your product or service.
3. Fun To Read: In a digital landscape with no shortage of posts and paid ads for your reader to look at, they really have the power to choose what they will or won’t read. One of the best ways to get and keep them reading is by making your copy fun to read. This doesn’t mean “slapstick” type humor, but more just not being afraid to include your own personality in what you write.

Your advertising copy ultimately will be what tells your reader whether what you’re offering is for them or not. Remember you don’t need “everyone” in order to have a successful ad, just enough of the right people. Write your ad for them.

Step #4: Crystal Clear Call To Action

You’ve spent all this time identifying your perfect prospect, choosing the right image, and creating compelling copy to get your reader excited in the product or solution you provide. Now it’s time to ask them to do something, which is the whole purpose of why you’re running this ad in the first place.

Here are a few suggestions to ensure you optimize these critically important step:

• Is it crystal clear what you’re asking your prospect to do next?
• Have you included the link multiple times in your copy?
• Have you made your CTA as “no-brainer” as possible?
• Does your copy logically lead to this call to action?
• Does your call to action visually stand out from the rest of the text?

The last thing you’d want to do is to create this incredible ad but either completely forget or bury the call to action where the majority of your readers miss it. You want it to be clear, to stand out, and to be an easy enough click that the level of resistance to clicking is as low as possible.

The Foundation For Winning Ads

These four steps are truly the foundation for most winning ads. Are they everything you need in order to convert prospects into leads, customers, and loyal fans? Obviously not. That requires constant testing, optimizing, and experimenting with new ways that resonate with your ideal avatar.

But by following these four simple steps, you’ll step up to the paid advertising plate giving yourself the absolute best chance of hitting your next home run. So remember:

1. Know Your Market
2. The Image Gets The Stop
3. The Copy Gets The Click
4. Crystal Clear Call To Action

Unsure Of What To Sell?

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