Killer PPC Ads: The Fundamentals
PROFITABLE PPC By David Szetela, Search Engine Watch, Aug 25, 2008
Columns | Contact David | Biography
In previous Profitable PPC installments, I've described the process of creating great PPC keyword lists, and partitioning those lists into small, tight ad groups. This week we'll turn to the next step in constructing a killer PPC campaign: writing PPC search ad copy. Follow these guidelines, and you'll soon be lifting your click-through-rates from the sub-par .1.0- to 1.5-percent range into the truly atmospheric 10- to 25-percent range. Where they can and should be. Really.
Over the years, my agency has had the opportunity to take over and improve hundreds of pay-per-click campaigns. Most of them failed in one way or another to follow the guidelines I'll outline here; none of them adhered to all the guidelines. To avoid embarrassing them, I won't use any of their ads as examples in this article. But typically the ads looked something like this:
Outdoor Furniture
Tables, chairs, lounges.
Wood and plastic.
www.outdoorfurniture.com
If you think there's room for improvement in this ad, you'll be happy to know you're right – read on. And if you think this ad is just fine – read on, very carefully.
But first: let's agree on one thing: the objective of your ad. Is it to sell your product? Get a sales lead? Nope. Your ad's objective is this, and only this:
Get the click.
A resume won't land you the job, but it will get you to the next step in the process: the interview. A direct mail envelope's copy won't sell anything, but it will persuade the recipient to take the next step: open the envelope.
Likewise, don't expect your PPC ad to sell anything, or persuade the reader to do anything but take the next step: click to find out more.
It's the job of the PPC landing page to continue the process and lead the "clicker" to the desired conversion action. So the PPC ad and the landing page should work tightly together to guide the visitor smoothly and quickly through the conversion process.
I'll devote future columns to the relationship between ads and landing pages, and how to make sure your landing page is doing its job. For now, I'll focus on these guidelines for writing ad copy that gets the clicks.
Guideline 1: Benefits Sell Better than Features
Your ad should emphasize the benefits of your offering, not just the features. Features describe the product/service you're selling, while benefits describe the positive emotions your customers will experience.
Some examples:
Automobile features:
- Made by the best European car designers.
- Includes hand-made Italian leather seats and expensive coverings.
- Lifetime guarantee on all parts.
Automobile benefits:
- You'll feel that, after many years of hard work, you've finally "arrived."
- You'll be recognized as someone with style, flair and real class.
- You'll be envied by your peers.
Here's a feature-oriented ad:
Refinance Your Mortgage
Easy application and low
rates. Lock in yours.
www.yetanothermortgagebank.com
and here's a version that motivates using benefits:
Refinance Your Mortgage
Apply now - lower rates and a
fatter wallet every month!
www.yetanothermortgagebank.com
Guideline 2: Speak Directly to Your Audience
Advertising copy works best when the reader truly believes you understand them, care about them, understand their needs, and are dedicated to serving those needs. It's tough to convey all that in the space of a tiny PPC ad. But you can get close by using magic words like "you" and "yours."
Here's a "before and after" example:
Custom Built Cabinets
Strong materials. Professional
installers. Low prices.
www.wehangem.com
And a more "you-oriented" version:
Custom Built Cabinets
Your kitchen, your style, our
cabinets installed by pros.
www.wehangem.com
Guideline 3: Call Them to Action
Testing has shown that people will more often take an action if it's explicitly spelled out for them. And try to be more creative than "visit our site" or "click to see." Here's an ad with no call to action:
Get Government Grants
Many are eligible for money
from the feds. Up to $15,000.
www.washingtondough.com
and this time, with an explicit call to action:
Get Government Grants
See if you can get up to $15,000.
Take our 5-minute test!
www.washingtondough.com
Guideline 4: If You've Got It, Flaunt It
Especially if you're in a crowded field of competitors, it really pays to underscore your competitive advantages. Like this:
Hotel Software
Maximize your profits. Top-
rated by experts 2007-2008.
www.hotelsoft.com
Note that any claims of top ratings, best-quality products, etc. must be backed up by evidence that's included on your landing page.
Guideline 5: Create a Sense of Urgency
People love to procrastinate, and will go through incredible mental contortions to rationalize why they shouldn't take action immediately. Your ad copy and landing page should work hard to overcome inertia, and whenever possible create a sense that the reader will suffer, or fail to benefit, if they don't act right away.
I ran across this description in Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero's excellent free copywriting newsletter:
"Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value." Why? Because procrastination is the biggest killer of sales -- particularly online where the chances of a prospect staying on or returning to a website (in order to think about buying), in today's click-happy world, are scarce."
Here's an example:
Buy Gold Now
Gold prices rising faster.
Buy before it hits ceiling!
www.goldfingers.com
Guideline 6: Free is Good
Our testing has shown that offering something for free boosts clicks and conversions. Some clients worry that too many clicks will come from tire-kickers who don't intend to buy, but we've found that the increased ROI usually more than covers any additional cost. Use free offers when your product or service is high-priced or technically complex, and/or the sales cycle is long.
Almost any advertiser can create something of value that can be given away. Examples:
- Downloadable free-trial software
- Downloadable or physical white papers
- E-Newsletter subscriptions
- Downloadable audio or video info or entertainment
Guideline 7: Stand Out
Especially in a crowded competitive market, like financial services or travel, ads that are markedly different than competitors' get more clicks.
One of my favorite resources, Marketing Experiments Journal, recently published a great study comparing paid search ad performance. They found that in some cases, "over-the-top" ads performed better than mediocre, straight-forward versions – simply because they were more noticeable. Like this one for a travel agency:
Have a Bad Trip
Unless you see our low fares
and great customer service.
www.goawaywithus.com
Guideline 8: The Headline's the Most Important Thing
The aforementioned Marketing Experiments article underscores the fact that the ad headline is the most important determinant of an ad's success. Even ads with poorly-written body copy perform better when the headline is well-written.
And what distinguishes well-written headlines from poorly-written ones? All the guidelines above apply. Try to make it action-oriented, personalized, etc. Above all, headlines work best when the search term is included in the headline.
Next Monday I'll continue discussion of creating killer ads with some little-known tips you won't want to miss. As always, let me know your comments and questions via the feedback form below.
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Biography
PPC Advertising expert David Szetela founded Clix Marketing in 2003, following a 25-year career in technology sales and marketing. He is active in the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and was the author of two lessons in SEMPO's Advanced Search Advertising course. He is a regular speaker at PPC Summit, MarketingSherpa and SES events, and his weekly radio show, PPC Rockstars, is broadcast every Monday at 4 PM EDT on Webmasterradio.fm.
Article Archives by David Szetela:
» Killer PPC Ads: The Fundamentals - August 25, 2008
» Tightly-Themed Ad Groups: The PPC Pro Advantage - August 18, 2008
» Dynamic Keyword Insertion: Friend or Foe? - August 11, 2008
» Awesome Ad Groups: Small is Good - August 4, 2008
» More Killer Keyword Techniques: Personas and Buckets - July 28, 2008
» PPC Keyword Sets: Words to the Wise - July 21, 2008
» More Articles by David Szetela
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