How to write a great classified ad
For years, Madison Avenue types have followed a simple rule to writing great classified
advertisements. The simple rule is abbreviated as AIDA and stands for:
ATTENTION - INTEREST - DESIRE - ACTION (AIDA)
Follow the AIDA rule and your classified ad will draw the attention you want and
more importantly get the results you're looking to achieve.
ATTENTION: First, you must get the buyer’s attention. This all starts with a
great headline. Don’t worry though – you don’t need to be a seasoned advertising
executive to write a great headline. You see, simply writing out the details for
what you’re selling is a great headline. When selling a classic car, include the
manufacturer, model, year, color and body style in the title head. The title head
is SEO friendly and the title description will help with search engine results. (Example
title: 1965 Red Ford Mustang convertible.)
INTEREST: The ad must have appeal. The description space is a great spot to increase
the potential buyer’s interest. Use the space to state benefits or some attractive
features of your classic vehicle. Highlight the features of your vehicle focusing
on the items most likely to appeal to a potential buyer. Think about the features
that appealed to you when you bought your classic car originally. Start there and
be sure to list any updates, changes, restorations etc. Write about the main features
and specs of your classic car and you’ll be off to a great start to writing a great
classified ad.
DESIRE: Now that you got some nice appealing description to raise interest, really
drive it home with some desire. Adding in a dash of good old desire helps your
classified ad to further stimulate the potential buyers. While interest can generally
achieved by focusing on the practical features your classic car, desire hits the
more emotional side of the buyer. In other words, is there something about your
classic car that makes a potential buyer feel good, excited, successful, powerful
etc etc? Now this sounds tricky to achieve in an online classified car ad, but
think about desire in the sense of what we really desire when buying a classic car.
Adding images helps build on desire. Think about it, the potential buyers need
to see, hear, and feel your classic car. If possible use high resolution images
and max out the quantity of images available in your classified ad. You can also
add a link in your add to your website to show more images and embed video (YouTube,
Yahoo video, etc).
ACTION: If your classic car classified does great on getting Attention, adding
Interest and building Desire, but leaves out key Action words, then your classic
car classified could fail to achieve the results you want. How do you get a potential
classic car buyer to act? Just make sure you add some key action words or steps
to your classic car classified. In your classic car classified ad be sure to include
action words like: "call this number now", "email me for details", "go to our website"
etc. If the first three ingredients (attention, interest, and desire) have been
well done, and the reader is a qualified customer.... they will most likely take
the action you direct them to take.
