Classified ads are a simple but effective method of announcing your products or services in cyberspace, and they should be a part of your online marketing plan. But when you post a classified ad, you're competing with dozens of other ads.

1. Plan the entire sales process

Don't go into the advertising battle half-cocked. Think through the entire process that will begin with a response to your ad, and make sure you're ready for the results. If the ad offers a free information kit, for example, make sure you have the information kit ready to go before you ever place the ad. If you're filling orders or sending out information by snail mail, prepare an order confirmation notice in advance and send it out as quickly as you can so your customers know you got the order and are following up right away.

2. Check your competition

Before posting an ad anywhere, spend a week or two reading the ad areas you plan to target. Look for ads offering similar products or services, and think about how you can present your case in a more compelling way.

3. Use a strong title

Your classified ad is nothing more than a title in a list of titles until someone opens it and reads it. It's the title's job to get people interested enough to see what you have to say, so....
Tell what the ad is about in 40 characters or less. Ad titles longer than this may not be completely displayed on the screen.

I see lots of ads whose titles are too vague, like "More Income Now!" or "Free Information Kit." Titles like "Make $500/week Reading" or "Free Guide To Thinner Thighs" are better.
Use power words. Every professional advertiser knows that words like "free," "secret," "money," "guarantee," "earn," and "save" push people's buttons and make them want to hear more. Become a student of print advertising headlines and learn how to use power words in your own ad titles.

Don't shout. Ad titles that are printed with all capital letters or which contain lots of asterisks, exclamation points, dollar signs, or other keyboard symbols are the online equivalent of shouting. They say to your audience that you're not smart enough to write an effective ad title, so you're trying to get their attention by shouting instead.

4. Make your message complete but concise

Your reader's patience is severely limited, so craft your advertising message carefully to explain:

A) what you're offering
B) why the reader might want it, and
C) what they should do to get it.

The trick is to include enough information in A and B so the reader is motivated to take step C. Make sure the reader clearly understands what you're selling and what's good about it (including comparisons or proof of your product's advantages), but avoid lengthy case studies or anecdotes.

For example....
If you're selling something based on lower prices, list some of the prices so customers can easily compare them with your competition.

If you're selling a service, explain it in terms of real benefits people get from using it. Instead of "We offer health insurance services for small businesses," say, "We can slash your company's health insurance costs by 30 percent or more."

5. Use people talk

Write your ad in a conversational tone, as if you're talking directly to the individual reading it. Avoid passive language such as "our services are designed for...." Instead, use active language such as "we've designed our service for...." In the second sentence, you're talking to an individual.

6. Use power words

The same power words that work in classified ad titles also work wonders in the ad's message. Words like "free," "guarantee," and "save" subconsciously make readers want to know more.

7. Offer something free

In most cases, your ad is only the fuse that ignites a productive business relationship. Often, the next step in the relationship is where the customer asks for and receives more details about your company or offer. Guerrillas make taking that next step as attractive as possible. In an ad for business financing services, for example, which of the following would make you more likely to take that next step?

"Reply now for more information."
or...
"Reply now for our free guide, "Six Steps To Business Funding."

8. Make it easy to respond

Offer your readers as many ways to respond as possible. If you have a phone and fax number, include it in your reply statement. Some customers may even be more comfortable sending you a letter via snail mail, so include a postal address, too. Don't cut yourself off from potential business by failing to offer a communications option.

9. Check your ad's position regularly

Classified ad areas on the Net and on online services change quickly. The ad you posted yesterday and which appeared on the first screen of ad titles could easily have been pushed down two or three screens by an influx of ads posted since then. Ads located on the first two or three screens are far more likely to be read than ones buried farther down than that. Most people won't bother to read through more than the first dozen or two ad titles.

Check the ad's position each day to make sure your ad hasn't slipped down into purgatory. If it has, re-post the ad with a similar title to move it back up in the list again.

10. Use multiple postings and coded responses

Your ad may fit into more than one classification on an online service, or you may be able to tailor it so that it does. For example, your diet and fitness program could be tailored to appeal to participants in specific sports, or to different groups of people (mothers, seniors, teens, and so on). A customized ad for each area would magnify your visibility.

On the other hand, don't post the same ad to several different areas just for the sake of visibility--such "cross-postings" identify you as someone too lazy to make sure their ads are appropriate for each area, and such ads may be rejected by the ad area or newsgroup's moderator anyway.

When you post a series of tailored ads in different places, use different response keywords so you'll be able to tell which ad is pulling the best. For example, if you're offering a catalog of audio equipment and you post to a business products area as well as to a consumer electronics area, you might tell readers of the business products ad to reply and ask for your "Business Audio Catalog." In the ad posted to the consumer electronics area, you could tell people to reply and ask for your Home Audio Catalog. That way, you'll know by the words people use in their replies which ad is doing better.

Classified ads are popular because they work. But like any marketing weapon, guerrillas learn to make the most of them in battle. Follow these strategies when creating and placing your ads, and you'll be well ahead of the competition.