Now that we're into the new year, many business owners are looking to ramp up their advertising efforts. People are out and looking for YOUR services these days. After all, who wouldn't want to take advantage of the prime season for sales? If you are in a space where you are in charge of marketing your business, I understand the struggle of knowing where to begin. But before you start spending your hard-earned cash on ads, there are a few things you need to consider. Here are five vital components for advertising your business.

There are 5 major components to good advertising copy (The order of these are essential to success):

1. Command Attention
2. Showcase Benefits of Products/Services
3. Prove the Benefits
4. Persuade People to Embrace the Benefits
5. Call to Action

Advertising is an essential part of any business, whether that business is brick and mortar or online-only. It's how you reach out to potential customers and let them know what you have to offer. And, when done correctly, advertising can be a great way to drum up business. However, it's important to remember that advertising is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. What works for one business might not work for another. So, it's important to tailor your message to your audience.

Advertising is sales in print. So, you need to think about the unique benefits your products/services offer and showcase that persuasively. You need to emphasize results, not features.

Let’s take a minute to talk about each of these components:

1. Command Attention: This is usually accomplished with the headline. You need an attention-getter that makes people want to know more about your products/services. The best headlines give a vivid portrayal of the benefits or show how a problem can be avoided with your products/services. The headline is the advertisement for the advertisement.
2. Showcase Benefits: You have to showcase the benefits of your products and services and, more importantly, show how they will solve or prevent a problem. They need to know what’s in it for them. Include useful, factual, and clear information to show precisely what the benefits are and how they are going to help the customer. 
3. Offer Proof: This is where you prove what the advertisement is offering. You need to establish you have a method to deliver. Consider the information that establishes credibility and past performance.
4. Persuade: You need to add compelling reasons for your potential customers to purchase your products/services. Use a hard sell approach and create scarcity. This will enact your potential customers to feel like they have to act now. Which leads into the last component.
5. Call to Action: You need to compel your potential customers to DO something. They need to check out your site, sign up for your newsletter, purchase your products, contact you about services…something.  Offer a freebie, booklet, sample, product, bonus, demo, consult, limited-time price…the list goes on. There are lots of ways to get potential customers excited about ordering and help them feel like they are getting an amazing deal.

To summarize, if you can focus on these five areas, your advertising will be much more effective at bringing in new clients. You need to make sure that your ad stands out and grabs attention. Use strong, benefit-based statements to show how your products and services can improve people's lives. Prove the claims you make with solid statistics, case studies, and other evidence. And, most importantly, make sure to ask your readers to take action by buying your products or services. If you can do all these things, you'll be well on your way to writing successful advertising copy.

If you need assistance attracting new clients and growing your business, you should visit our coaching services. We offer group coaching and 1 on 1 coaching which includes marketing and accounting help so your business can grow profitably.