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Trade magazine advertisements are not cutting edge, but when used properly they can still be highly effective. A well-written advertisement will allow you to collect leads quickly with little effort, this is particularly nice if you are testing a new niche market. The primary drawback is the associated cost, but if you know the value each new lead holds for your company you can run some test ads and quickly get a relatively solid feedback on the ad's effectiveness. The first thing you need to determine is what trade magazines you want to consider advertising in. To find some good candidates you need to find out what your prospective clients are currently reading. Since you are in the same industry you may know some people you can just ask, but you should also do a little more formal research by going on industry specific newsgroups and asking. For further insight as to what trade publications get results you can also look to see where your competitors are consistently showing up. Odds are if the bulk of your top competitors are there, then there's probably a good reason for it. Next, you must decide what the purpose of your advertisements will be. Are you going to promote a specific product in an effort to make sales or are you trying to collect leads? Do not use a "brochure style" advertisement for branding purposes, you will have no way to track weather or not your efforts are paying off or not.
I like to use trade publications for lead generating advertisements. A simple display ad with a good headline and a great offer can drive traffic to your landing page. In order for this to work you need to be willing to give away something of value. That may be a downloadable information product or a physical one. If it's going to cost you money to deliver the product make sure that you are offering a give away that not only appeals to your target market, but is also relatively unappealing to people outside of it. The last thing you want to do is pay for leads that are not going to be interested in the benefits that you want to sell them down the road. Once you have selected the right give away let your readers know that it has value. Express the many benefits that the product will provide, and explain why you are willing to offer it for free despite the value. Only present the offer for a limited time or provide a limited quantity, and stick to your promises. Then tell you reader exactly what to do to get their free product. You definitely want to send them to a landing page with an opt-in box so the process of providing additional information and collecting their request is automated. This also gives you the opportunity to immediately follow up with an Autoresponder message thanking them and providing more valuable material. If you have chosen to offer an electronic product it can also be delivered immediately without any human involvement. If it's feasible for you, you may also choose to provide other options to respond to your lead generating advertisement. Providing a phone number, e-mail and/or fax will make it easier for more people to participate in your promotion, but if you take advantage of this strategy make sure that you have a system in place to manage the requests. You don't want a lack of organization to lead to needless busy work. Once you have received a request make sure that it is added to your lead list (if it isn't an online submission) and check to ensure that it is not a duplicate order. If someone is particularly excited about the free product you are offering they may make multiple requests using the same or different order methods in an effort to ensure that they receive the free gift.
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