One of the biggest challenges of PPC marketing is writing ad copy that sells. With most formats of PPC ads, you have just a few words to get your message across, and in that limited space you have to explain what you have to offer, and intrigue the viewer enough to make them want to click your ad. Finding the perfect formula can seem like an impossible task.
It’s not impossible to write an ad that will convert well, but it is tricky, and it requires a lot of trial and error. There is no magic formula for ad-creation which works well for every product in every industry. The following process, however, will help you figure out the right formula for your product as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Writing Awesome Headlines
In Google AdWords, the maximum title length is 25 characters. That doesn’t give you much room for creativity. Your headline should always contain your chosen keywords. Once you have included those, try to use whatever remaining space you have to give the viewer a reason to care about your advertisement.
For example, if you sell a supplement or a weight loss product, you could add “Fast Acting” or “Long Lasting” at the end of the headline so that the visitor can immediately see why your product is better than others. Do not make claims such as “best” or “longest lasting” in your ads unless you have proof to back those claims up. It’s OK to claim that your product is “fast”, but if you say it is “faster than others”, then you may be breaking the AdWords TOS.
Great Ad Copy
Your ad copy appears below the headline and your page URL. You have two lines of text to play with, and each line can be up to 35 characters long. If you are creative, you can convey a lot of information in 70 characters.
Use the first line to sell your service. Mention the features and benefits of your product as clearly and concisely as you can. It’s OK to take some liberties with grammar and abbreviations if you really need to, but try to avoid falling back to pure “txt spk” because that will alienate a lot of viewers. Our example supplement company might mention that their product is suitable for vegetarians, and that 180-serving tubs are available.
Use the second line to give your viewers a call to action, or at the very least a reason to act. For example, “Limited time offer” or “Act now for 10% off”.
Test, Test and Test Again
Create a few different ad variations, and test them alongside each other. Make sure that you change only one or two things per ad, so you can easily tell what is working and what is not getting results.
Don’t just focus on the CTR when testing your ads. Pay attention to how many of those clicks turn into conversions. You can set up goal pathways in Google Analytics to track this. Sometimes, ads with a low number of clicks end up getting a low Google AdWords quality score, even though those ads are actually doing a great job of attracting highly targeted customers. Keeping track of separate conversion rates makes it easier to spot the genuinely under-performing ads.
Never stop testing. Even once you have found the “perfect” ad, you should keep on tweaking your chosen keywords and trying new formats. Tastes and trends change, and it doesn’t take long for a successful, popular ad campaign to lose steam and stop generating sales.
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