There's no magical formula for an ad that makes any product or service a guaranteed hit.  But there are a few do's and don'ts I learned that will improve sales on whatever you're selling.

 

1.) I like to always include a coupon code.  10% off is standard.  It's a small incentive for buyers and it helps you track the results of the ad. 

 

2.) Unless it's a name branding ad and you don't really care about results, NEVER place an ad unless you can track your results.  This can be done by coupon code, by pay per click tracking code, by a traffic referral tracking program with sales results (like hitslink.com), by a unique phone number, by a unique web address, or having the person who answers the phone ask where they heard about you.  The problem with the last method is almost all callers will say "a magazine."  If you're in multiple magazines, you'll never know which one.  And many people say, "I don't know."  That won't help you at all.

 

3.) Using people (models) in your ads, if possible, gives your company more credibility.  Look through the ads in a magazine and 80% of them have people in them.  Readers are used to seeing models in the major company ads.  You have a better chance of being considered a major company if you have models in your ads too.

 

Getting models for your ads is a lot easier than you may thing.  We got ours from One Model Place.  The going rate is $100 an hour but this is negotiable.  Also in an hour you can take several photos for many ads.

 

4.) If you plan on doing a lot of advertising, have a nice company logo created.  You want people to recognize your company name and remember it.

 

5.) If you have several great products, I suggest you show them all in your ad.  When I started placing print ads for my fashion accessories, my company was unknown to all.  Many major jewelry companies, like Tiffany, would show a model wearing one jewelry item and have the name "Tiffany" real big in their ads.  I guess that's fine if you're just name branding and the one item cost $800.  But for my business, it was more effective when I showed several items in the ad in hopes that a reader likes at least one of them and comes to the website.  One real big pair of sunglasses with a company name on a full page ad was a waste of money for my business.

 

6.)  If you don't know how you want your ad to look, go through magazines and look at other ads.  Tear out the pages and decide what you like and don't like about the ads, then when you design your ad (or have a designer make it) incorporate all the likes and dislikes you've found. 

 

7.) Don't get too wordy with your ads, you'll probably notice this when you pick out ads you like best.  With anything, the less you say, the more powerful (impacting) they are. Mention a few main points and keep it simple.  People don't want to read a story about your company and products, at least not in a print ad.