What are Solo Ads and How Do They Work?

In the 21st-century, the way to market is not through a print advertisement. It’s online. There are many ways to market goods and services online. One of the ways to do that is with solo ads. What are solo ads and how do they work?

What are solo ads?

Ads are advertisements, and that was this kind of ad is. However, it is unique in that the ad is sent out to a portion of an email subscriber list. In essence, the person who has the solo ad is “renting” a part of an email subscriber list.

How do they work?

Anyone who does solo ads correctly will direct the list to a webpage or an affiliate link. The goal is to take a person from the list and turn them into a customer. For example, a person who “rents” a portion of an email subscriber list can send people to a landing page with the hopes that the people will click a link, that appears on the landing page, and sign up for the person’s newsletter. Then, when the person sends out the newsletter, they can talk about their products or services and hope to get some sales.

What are effective solo ads?

When a person “rents” a portion of an email subscriber list, they don’t just rent any old list. The list must contain people who would be interested in the person’s niche of products or services. Otherwise, the person who “rents” the list will be wasting money.

What are solo ads rules?

1. Your audience must be targeted.

We’ve already touched on this critical rule, but it is the most important rule of solo ads. If the list you’ve “rented” is not targeted to your niche, you’ve wasted time. So ensure you know your niche inside and out, and that means knowing who your targeted market is inside and out. What are you selling? Who is your product or service intended for? Who would not be interested in your product or service?

Let’s look at an example. Let’s say you are selling baby blankets. You’re targeted audience would be pregnant mothers, fathers who are expecting a baby to arrive, mothers with babies, fathers with babies, grandparents of babies, and people who are attending baby showers, for examples. Now, keep in mind, that the groups’ listed targeted audience as a whole is wide. You can choose to either target all of these for baby blankets, or, you can narrow your target audience down to just one or two of the above. For example – pregnant mothers and mothers with babies. Therefore, the list that you “rent” must contain people who fit your target audience. If you are targeting young married couples with no children, for example, this group may be interested in baby blankets, or, they may not. Therefore, you risk wasting money and time because you’re taking a chance that a group of young married couples with no children would be interested in baby blankets. Perhaps 25 percent of this group are interested. But what about the other 75 percent. A targeted list means that there’s a strong potential for 100 percent of the list to be interested. In reality, when you “rent” a portion of an email list, not everyone will be interested in your product or service. But you want to go with a list that will give you the most potential for sales.

3. Look for large lists

The most effective solo ads come not only from a list that matches your target market, but that are also extensive lists. This allows you to “rent” a portion of the list with a decent number of people.

4. You must have a subject line that attracts potential customers

You’ve got your email list, but that’s just the beginning. Now you must construct a subject line that will make get potential customers to open your email. That means that the subject line must be catchy enough. This step is essential and requires some planning. There are sites online that will help you come up with useful subject lines or enlist the help of a professional SEO person.

5. Your content must keep them engaged.

If you can get people to open your email, you’ve accomplished the first hurdle. Now for the second. Your content must be provocative enough to keep people reading. If they turn away the moment they open it, you’ve done something wrong. Use creative language that addresses your potential customer’s needs. Keep it simple and don’t get long-winded. Use at least one image and always include a prominent link of where a potential customer can go to buy your product or service. The sole purpose of your content is to make a sale. That is your number one priority. Anything you do that distracts from that distracts from making a sale.

6. Track your ad

Be sure you track the results of your ad and do not “rent” a list from someone who won’t let you do that. To monitor the results of the ad, use a tracking system, typically built into a link. That way, you can tell how many people from the ad went on to learn about your product or services.

What are solo ads prices?

Solo ads are priced in various ways. Typically, if they don’t run for free, they run for pay per click, pay per open, or pay per sale. For example, you could be charged something like $3 per thousand impressions. Otherwise, you could be charged a set fee for a block of email addresses.

What are solo ads particularly good for?

If you are a company or organization that already has a vibrant and engaged email list, solo ads may not be something you’ll be interested in. However, if you have no prospects to market to, solo ads are a great way to get started. It allows you to get your message across to a large number of potential customers and you can do it at a relatively low cost.