By Natalie Medaglia
One of the most important aspects of pay per click advertising is the ad copy. Although consumers are searching for relative keywords, it is your ad copy that truly grabs their attention and will lead to a conversion. If you do not have eye-grabbing ad copy, they might pass you up for whatever ad is above (or hopefully below) you.
Without effective ad copy, the results of your campaign will be sub-par. Writing and updating ad copy can be tough as there are so many parts that need to come into play. Headlines, keywords, descriptions, extensions – where do you begin?
Below is a list of useful tips to help write the most effective and attention-grabbing ad copy.
Keep It About the Customer
When formulating ad copy, one of the most common mistakes is making the entire ad about the company itself, although that is not the true purpose of the ad. The paid search ad is there to show the customer that you have a solution for whatever problem they’ve come to their search engine to solve.
Focus on The Benefits
Let’s face it, customers only care about how you can make their lives easier. That means your ad copy must clearly show them how your product or services are going to benefit them. They need to believe that you will be able to assist them in whatever they need.
Keep It Simple
In a “skim-reading” society, many customers make the decision to click on your ad in a matter of milliseconds. Without overcrowding the ad copy, it is very important to get your message across.
Sometimes, simple headlines with campaign-specific keywords perform the best. The simplest formula is to include a keyword, the benefits, and the call to action of the ad.
Create A Sense of Urgency
A common attribute of PPC ads is the sense of urgency. It always helps to put a call to action in the headline.
Headlines that create that sense of urgency:
“Book your appointment now.”
“Shop and save today.”
“See what we can do for you.”
Also, consider adding time-oriented words like “now” or “today” to the end of the headline as it can accentuate that urgency and potentially increase clicks and conversions.
Refresh Ad Copy
It is vital that ad copy is changed a couple of times a year. Testing different headlines and descriptions against each other is also a wonderful way of seeing what is working and what is not. Ad copy should be refreshed when the same ad copy has been running for a long time when your ads are not distinguishable against competitors, and with product changes/seasonality.
Trial and error is very common when it comes to crafting compelling PPC ads. There are so many working parts to a successful PPC campaign and finding the formula that works best for your partner and their industry takes time and practice.
About the Author
Natalie Medaglia is a PPC Specialist at ChoiceLocal. When she’s not in the office, she enjoys practicing yoga, reading, and trying out all the Thai food restaurants in Cleveland.
