Although you can never tell ahead whether an ad will be a success or not, that’s something you find out after a lot of testing, there are certain facts to which if you pay proper attention, your add will have better chances to produce the desired effect! To tell the truth there are many such facts, but the most important ones are the following 7…
 
   
The very first step towards a successful ad campaign is choosing the media where it can be seen by the most people of the target audience.
 
For this you usually don’t need more than just plain logic – for example: what kind of newspaper do the real estate owners read, or what radio station do the most people between ages of 20 – 30 listen to.
 
If you want better results, you can also check, how the target audience consumes the media in question: when do they read it, at what time do they listen to it?  
 
Until you don’t know these facts, you’re most likely just wasting your marketing budget on ads posted blindly, which may never be seen by the target audience.
 
   
Have you seen lately ads that are advertising only one company at a time? Name of the company, maybe its object of activity. That’s what they call: THROWING MONEY OUT THE WINDOW!
 
The big companies cannot resist the temptation to post the logo and name of their companies, hoping that this will bring new clients or increase the loyalty of their old ones. The ego of the chief manager may grow this way, but it takes away valuable advertising surface from the message featuring what you MAY SELL.
 
The buyers don’t care the least bit about the logo; many times they don’t even care about the name of the company. There is only one thing they’re looking for in an ad: a good offer. A special offer, an exceptional opportunity to get a house of the style and size they’ve desired for a long time.
 
That’s why you should always have in your ad something that you’re offering. You don’t always have to convince the target audience immediately to buy: for example you can advertise a website where they can find information which may be useful for them. You could advertise a free essay which they would have to obtain personally from your company, starting the selling process this way. And of course you can advertise a great opportunity or service too.
 
The important thing is for the offer to have the main role in the ad!
 
Warning: sometimes an offer is so irrefutable that it seems to be too good to be true. If your ad offers an 80% discount many people will think that you’ve increased your prices with 50% just so you could display such a huge percent of discount.
 
In cases like this you should write the reason for which you can offer that huge discount, the thing that makes it possible: it makes your offer credible.
   
Why should they bring their money to you and not your competition? Especially to one that has lower prices. You have to give a very good reason; otherwise people will not find your ad any more interesting than the rest.  
 
What could work?
Maybe that your business is bigger or older having more experience?
Maybe they’ll find their dream house the fastest using your company’s services?
 
Find an aspect which:
Is important for your target audience
In which your company is indeed different from the others
 
Often this could be the greatest advantage that your company can offer your clients. This is worth including even into the headline.
 
But what if you don’t have such a unique advantage specific only to you? That’s a problem!
 
Find one, and do it quickly! Ask your clients which are the 3 most important aspects for them, and try to exceed your competition in one of those aspects, then include it in all of your communications.  
 
Attention! Having the price itself as a unique distinguishing feature is a dangerous game, which could destroy your business if it gets out of hand!  A greater opponent could beat you to it anytime, in which case the winner will be the one who can hold out the longest in matter of advertising budget and price race and this is not something you wish for. So, in order to produce profit in the long term you need an advantage that is not about the price.
  
This is so important that you can go ahead and read it again!
   
The headline is the most important part of your ad. Not the picture, not the colors, not the brand name, but: the headline.
 
How does an efficient headline look like?
Choose one, the one you like best and the one that applies to your company:
 
- Profit – oriented
 
As in being about what the client gains if they do business with You…
(“You can buy your new house in up to 50% less time with our help...”)
 
- News - oriented
 
As in being about an information that represents a great news
(“You can prevent the headaches of moving”)
 
- Appeals to curiosity
 
As in raising a question to which the target audience should immediately know the answer
(“What’s the opportunity you might be missing out on right now?”)
 
- The "how" type
 
As in a question that starts with the word “How”
(“How to write headlines that make buyers want you more as their real estate agent”)
 
 
Once you have the headline, think it through:
Does it have a big enough impact to make whoever reads or hears it curious about the rest of the ad?
The best way is to write 20 – 30 headlines and then choose the best one of them, with the help of your colleagues or a couple of your trusted clients.
 
So now you have the headline! Then we can move on to the subhead…
 
Every ad must have a subhead. The subhead written with a bit smaller letters than the headline, has an important role: it makes the connection between the headline and the rest of the ad. Its purpose is not to sell the product or service but to sell the ad!
 
For example:
“How quickly do you want to sell your house?”
With our help you can do it even in just 1-2 months, plus ….
   
If you want your target audience to stare, their pulse to start racing and their senses to be on the alert, then you have to use your advantage!
 
Every product, service has its own features. How fast, without any problems, Communicating these is a huge mistake (still many people do it!).
 
Nobody will by toothpaste because it contains twice the quantity of teeth whitening substance. They’ll by it because they are more likable if they smile on a new acquaintance with whiter teeth.
 
No matter how much this hurts your pride, a potential real estate buyer doesn’t care about:

• What the name of your company is
• What association are you part of
• That you’re “the leading company in the entire country” and
• How “reliable” do you present yourself in your ads,

...
They’re only interested in you as much as they’re going to profit from what you’re supplying.
 
So cut the rubbish about your company and sell your advantages!
 
Here’s a tip:
at the end of the day, people are interested in only two things: 
(1) obtaining some kind of joy, and
(2) avoiding some kind  of pain.
 
So write about how your offer will help them obtain one of those two things. If you find this difficult, then write down the features of your services, and next to them write what your clients might gain by them.
 
+ Another tip: according to the psychological surveys, the fear of losing something triggers a much stronger response in people than the joy of gaining something.
   
Real estate buyers are basically skeptical. After so many scams, cheats, disappointments it’s hard to believe anything. That’s why your ad has to inspire trust and your offer has to decrease the buyer’s risk. The good news is that it’s not that hard, you only have to use the followings:
 
1. Quotes

The testimonials, sentences of your old clients can be very effective. Nobody likes being a guinea pig, that’s why if someone sees that others have already tried it and they speak highly of you, then they’re more inclined to buy your products.
 
A tip: displaying the picture of the person writing the testimonial makes it twice as easy to gain the buyers trust!
 
2. Guarantee

This is shameful! Not only that the laws are bad, but the rivalry of who offers the stronger guarantee hasn’t even started yet. One thing is for sure: whoever starts it will be the winner!
 
Are you afraid that the buyers might take advantage of it? Do you fear that if you offer a refund guarantee, then everybody would be just “renting” your products?
 
It can be proven clearly that the increase in the number of sales produced by these kinds of offers is a lot bigger than the possible losses resulted from the abuses. That means that implementing a new and better guarantee decreases not only the risk of your clients, but yours as well.
 
3. Facts and statistics
 
Sustain the statements of your ads with data of reliable sources. People are soothed by proofs.
 
Use any of these tactics, to inspire more trust in your target audience regarding your offer, but do not forget: the best way to build trust in your relationship with your clients is for the statements of your ads to be always sincere and true.
   
Success: the buyers have read or listened to your ad! Now what should they do?

Don’t leave it in the hands of fate: tell them clearly! It’s not enough to just write “special offer”, or your opening hours, or “for sale” – nobody will do anything just based on these.
 
Don’t forget:

Newton’s law is applicable for your ad too: every object persists in its state of rest unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed on it! Impress that force!
 
Don’t believe that people don’t like being told what to do. In reality, most times people only move if someone or something orders them to do so.
 
The “call now”, “visit today”, “click here” lines produce more or less intense responses having this way bigger chances of succeeding.
 
In case you want to increase the efficiency of your ad even more, then don’t just tell your buyers what to do, but tell them to do it quickly. The best way to do so is to establish some kind of deadline that makes your offer urgent.
 
Why does this work?
 
Let’s admit it: most people like procrastinating, and eventually they don’t do what is important but what is urgent. How can you make your offer urgent: by implying that the supply is decreasing (“The first 100 clients get our special gift – service in order of arrival!”) or by limiting the term of the special offer, for example it lasts “only until the end of the month”.
 
Attention!

In case you choose this tactic, be careful to respect the quantity limit or the deadline! If you don’t, your credibility will be lost. If you write “we extended our special offer”, everybody will know that the business is not going so well.
   
If I’m doing my job right, then in the next few days you’ll inspect your old ads with criticism, and you’ll already start planning new ones with which you’ll exchange them as soon as possible, right? Don’t do that!
 
If the old ads of your company didn’t work at all, then yes, you can even do it TODAY!
 
But if the old ads are bringing you some buyers and business, then just test slowly! At first, just start running the old and new ads at the same time. Yes, that means additional expenses, but if you stop the old ones, you also stop the buyers they were bringing.  It’s better if you spend a bit more, and implement the new ones and lose the old ones slowly, in 2-3 months.
 
According to the statistics, a person has to meet a message about 7-8 times in order to get moving and start buying. So don’t expect too much from just one appearance: either for a short time intensively or for a long time in an extended manner, but be persistent in your ad campaign, cause it will only be effective if it reaches the target audience many times.
 
I wish you successful campaigning!