By GARRETT FRENCH
Staff Writer, WebProNews.com

It’s time to create some leads for your company. You’ve gathered email addresses for your company newsletter (in which, of course, you publish practical, niche-specific information to double opt-in readers) and you’re ready to tell them how your product will help their company.
Before you start banging out copy, you need to analyze your advertising needs. There are two key methods for advertising with email, and both are effective. Read on for tips for creating stellar advertising and help deciding whether to use advertorials or direct mailings.

The Advertorial
The advertorial, introduced to the web in September of ’98 by iEntry Inc., is a reader-friendly review of your product in the form of an article. The article highlights how the reader will benefit from the use of your product.

Companies that best benefit from advertorials are those who are not yet well recognized. If you’re sending out a regular newsletter then I’d imagine you’re pretty well branded, and would be better off sending out a direct mailing, which contains less text, more pictures, and a product that doesn’t need much description.

If you’re crafting marketing material for a new product or another newsletter than your own, then the advertorial is your best choice, with it’s larger size and focus on presenting information in a format associated with news and learning.

Best Practices
As you begin writing about your product, be sure and use the same tone you use in your newsletter. Using your familiar, soothing voice makes your message more effective – your readers already know you (if not trust you…), and they’re more liable to read the whole advertorial.

Keep in mind that your advertorial should be friendlier than standard ad copy. Relax and let your personality show – you have more room in an advertorial, and there’s no reason to limit yourself to bulleted points. Have as much fun as your product allows.

Your advertorial must be, above all, clear about what you’re selling. I’ve been to well designed corporate websites with flash and great images but have been unable to determine what they sell. Make product-benefit clarity your highest priority.

As you begin writing, check your pulse. If you don’t feel anything then that’s a good sign that you lack a compelling way to begin the advertorial. If the writing does not come easily then you may need to back up and consider a new approach.

Consider writing in the problem/solution style. Introduce a problem, the very problem that costs your potential customers so much money. Now that you’ve gotten your readers worried and exhibited a knowledge of their business needs, present your elegant solution.

Once you’re done with your first draft, go back and read it to make sure it would make sense to someone who’s intelligent but not necessarily tech-savvy. Like the CEO of a non-tech company, for example. Don’t write from a position of superiority – that will only offend people and make you sound like an ass – but do write plainly for people who don’t understand or care deeply about tech.

Another key to a successful advertorial is the call to action. Tell people exactly what you’d like them to do. "Click Here For Your Free Security Software," tells people what action they need to take in order to benefit from your product. Remember, because "Click Here" is such an oft-repeated marketing slogan, people are largely immune. Make sure there are numerous and obvious places to click.

Here’s an example of an advertorial we recently created for a company called Rackspace. Analyze it while rereading the tips above and you’ll find that, by following our own rules for success, we’ve created an advertorial that both creates leads for a client and provides our readers with an opportunity for better service.

Advertorials convey the full story, the whole truth, but if your target audience already knows your name and trusts your product, you should consider the direct mailing.

Direct Mailing
What sets a direct mailing off from an advertorial is its reliance on brand recognition. This reliance on the readers understanding of the brand allows for less text and a graphic message, which the subscriber "reads" and absorbs more quickly. If the reader recognizes your brand you don’t need to reintroduce it – you only need to tell them about your latest flavor.

Here is a recent direct mailing we sent, sponsored by Adobe. The first thing the reader notices is the rich, crisp picture of art tools in a jar and the green-marbleized background. In the adjacent rectangle, a stark, contrasting white, the first thing the reader notices is the text, and the word "Photoshop."

Because this was a direct mailing to our DesignNewz readers, we assumed that most of them were aware, not only of Adobe itself, but Photoshop, a tool as widely used by graphic designers as the hammer is by carpenters.

We’re not sending garble here – our DesignNewz readers know just who we’re talking about, and what’s more, there’s a good chance that some of them could benefit from the product. Notice the call to action here, a less insistent, though still compelling "Download your free 30-day trial." People know what they’re getting, and the brand itself drives action.

If you’re marketing to an audience who knows you already, then the direct mailing should prevail over the advertorial, unless you have a whole new product. Then you might want to consider a mailadver-directorial. We’ll save that one for another issue.

Designer’s Corner:

• Slice your image to keep the file size low and reduce image load time.

• Keep the image quality low to keep the file size low and reduce image load time.

• Utilize a high contrast between text and background.

• Assume your end user has a low modem speed and a small screen.

• Use compelling images – a pleasing image creates a positive brand identity. It’s better to have no image than schlock.

• If you’d like a free tool for optimizing image load time, visit this page.