Nothing is simpler, or so it seems, than writing a five-line sponsorship ad for an e-mail newsletter. Still, judging from the dozens of e-mail newsletters we see every week, nothing is easier to screw up. Having only forty words or so to work with may make the writing task less onerous, but it also leaves precious little room for error. Because many newsletters reach tens of thousands of subscribers, a slight misstep copy-wise can have a disproportionate impact on the success of your campaign.

Here a couple of important tips, and a real-life "before and after" example:

1. Sell the offer, not the product

In a large percentage of the ads we write for our clients, the name of that client or their product doesn't appear anywhere in the ad. That's because with so few words at our disposal, given the choice, we'd rather increase response by communicating the benefits of a compelling offer. (True, newsletter ads can generate awareness for your company and product, but if your ad is little more than a forty-word company description, you'll likely generate that awareness at the price of dramatically lower response.)

2. Be prepared to "close the deal" at the response page

It's an astounding fact that many companies still use their home page as the landing site for newsletter ads. Nothing could be more effective at making sure your advertising dollars are wasted. Fact is, with only forty words to work with, even if you get the prospect to click through, you've still got a selling job to do. Design a custom landing page, and make sure it reinforces the decision to respond, underlines the compelling benefits inherent in receiving the offer, and isn't littered with links (ex: "company", "about us") that can cause the reader to go astray. (For a good example of an effective landing page, see: http://www.connectdirect.com/casestudies/eloquent/response.html .)

The following ad appeared in a recent technology newsletter. (Names and URLs have been changed to protect the innocent). The ad linked to the "products" section of the company's Web site.

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