talkmagic.co.uk

Not having a pop at either gentleman involved. But, in a banner ad you have VERY little real estate, especially for copy.

So when I see two banner ads, both of which use the same pointless words, I just HAD to post this.



Assuming the idea of your banners are to get people to click on them, what do you think ON SALE NOW adds?

Surely, it's obvious it's onsale, or there would be no ad. It's a really weak call to action.

No point criticising without suggesting improvements.

So here you go:

"I know what you are going to do next. You are not going to click this banner, are not going to my site and will not buy The Subtle Art of Mindreading. If I'm wrong, I will give you the book for free. Click here to make your claim"

"You really can't be thinking about that here. This is a magic forum. How do I know what you are thinking? Simple, I wrote "The Subtle Art of Mind-reading". Click here for a discount"

"Let me teach you how to read minds. Click here for free chapter of my new book"

"Men never read manuals when plugging in new bits of electronics. This man WROTE the manual. Electronics for Magicians. Buy it now."

"Fancy yourself with a soldering iron? Check out Electronics for Magicians now"

"I can LITERALLY fry you. Check out my book, Electronics for Magicians"

"Wanna know what the real buzz is? Electronics for Magicians. All the bright sparks already have it."

The point of the banner is to take them to a landing page where you then sell more to them. The banner is JUST to get the click.

Just a thought, no offense meant to anyone involved.

I can see where you're going with this, but all of those examples seem too wordy to me. But then again I've always been a fan of using 1 word rather than 3 or 4 when writing copy

And I think the two examples of "on sale now" you gave is because there was quite a bit of talk about at least Tomo's book both in the secrets area and other places (real life, twitter, etc) before it become available for purchase, so it makes sense to use "on sale now"

Although you're right about call to actions. "Buy now" might be slightly better wording, but to be honest both banners do the trick because I wouldn't otherwise know the books in question were on sale

PS. still waiting for Naked Mentalism 3, Tomo

kolm wrote:I can see where you're going with this, but all of those examples seem too wordy to me. But then again I've always been a fan of using 1 word rather than 3 or 4 when writing copy

And I think the two examples of "on sale now" you gave is because there was quite a bit of talk about at least Tomo's book both in the secrets area and other places (real life, twitter, etc) before it become available for purchase, so it makes sense to use "on sale now"

Although you're right about call to actions. "Buy now" might be slightly better wording, but to be honest both banners do the trick because I wouldn't otherwise know the books in question were on sale

PS. still waiting for Naked Mentalism 3, Tomo

There are several wordy, and several less so. I actually made a VERY VERY wordy banner ad for a client that got 1.3% CTR, whereas the average banner they ran got 0.05%.

So lots of words CAN work.

Well, maybe that would have been OK for TOMO's book when it just came out. But I am assuming that's been a while now?

It's great you know they are on sale. But, if you haven't bought one, the ad has failed.*

So, would it be better if you had - say - clicked on the banner to get a free chapter from the book? Or to sign up for a mailing list where you get a free trick and then a monthly newsletter with ideas in? Or to register for a discount on another product?

Etc etc.

Thing is, with this book in question, I'm sure there was chatter on some forums beforehand from his pals and him. Sure people that like him from forums bought it.

But, there are a whole bunch of people out there who don't know him, have never heard of him and have no desire to be sold to. So they don't click and don't buy.

Rather than go for a direct sale, if you go for PERMISSION to TALK to them in the future, you are a clever man.

The free chapter, or newsletter gets you permission to start chatting with them. And in that communication, after a while, you could pop in some ads for your products. No one would mind that.

Hope I am making a point. Turn strangers into friends and friends into customers.





*Yes brand awareness, blah blah wooly marketing nonsense. Ads should sell something, even if that is the idea of giving up your email addy.

damianjennings wrote:Just a thought, no offense meant to anyone involved.

No offence taken. Tell you what, design me some new banners for Electronics for Magicians and let's see what they're like.

damianjennings wrote:Well, maybe that would have been OK for TOMO's book when it just came out. But I am assuming that's been a while now?

No, it's a very new book

It's great you know they are on sale. But, if you haven't bought one, the ad has failed.*

The reason I don't have one is because I'm not the target audience (yet). The minute I am, I'll be buying one off him. So, it worked

kolm wrote:

damianjennings wrote:Well, maybe that would have been OK for TOMO's book when it just came out. But I am assuming that's been a while now?

No, it's a very new book

It's great you know they are on sale. But, if you haven't bought one, the ad has failed.*

The reason I don't have one is because I'm not the target audience (yet). The minute I am, I'll be buying one off him. So, it worked

OK, bloody brilliant then.

Ignore everything I've said. I really can't know what I'm talking about.

Sorry for wasting your time.

Oooooo how about a promotional pic for EFM... Imagine a flashdance-esque scene with a soldering Iron lol

In fact go the whole hog and make it naked too ! Two ads in one lol

F x

mmmm. Naked hogs.