Ads are a huge part of any pay per click (PPC) program, and writing ad copy for PPC can be tricky. You have to get people’s attention, get your brand’s message out clearly, and motivate people to click on your link. Your ad is also quite often the first impression you make on a person, so it’s important to make it count. Use this guide to write killer ad copy for PPC.
Find Out What the Competition is Up To
First, you’ll need to find out who your competitors are. Don’t assume your competition are companies similar to yours, and that are in your industry. A good way to research who you’re up against is to do some Google searches on your five most popular keywords. Since these keywords are the ones getting the most impressions, their search results will give you a good idea of who you’re actually competing with.
What Does the Client Want?
“People aren’t clicking on your ad for the heck of it, they click on it because they have a problem they think you can solve for them. When you are writing your ad copy, think about what your user’s goals are, and then mirror your ads so they appeal to those needs and wants,” advises Gina Willis, writer at EliteAssignmentHelp. For example, you could phrase your ad “We will buy your car,” and directly appeal to people looking to sell their vehicle, and then include details such as same-day payment, and the fact that they don’t need to trade in, they can just sell. This kind of copy appeals directly to what the customer is looking for, and even anticipates a common question. Using the word “your” also helps make a stronger connection.
Identify Your Differentiator
Once you’ve done some solid research on your competition you should be able to better write an ad separating yourself from the pack. Give the reader a reason to come to you rather than a competitor. What is it that you do better than anyone else? Sell yourself, and your product. Maybe yours is the original, and the others are just knockoffs or pale imitations of your authentic product. Whatever it is, identify it and use it in your copy.
Your First Description Line
End the first line in your description with some punctuation. The purpose of this is not to follow proper copyediting practice, but to give some extra drawing power to your ad, believe it or not. If you end your first sentence with punctuation, there is a chance you could receive a lengthened headline if it appears in the top three spots; because part of the description can be added to the headline.
Appeal to Emotions
Emotional triggers are a powerful marketing technique. Positive and negative emotions like, anger, fear, affirmation, and humour, can all be used for varying perspectives on a certain topic. However, you should be mindful when using this tactic — using emotions can be tricky, since so many triggers are subjective and will not necessarily affect everyone the same way. A negative emotion can be a powerful motivator, but you also risk that negative feeling becoming associated with your brand.
A good example of appealing to negative emotions is: “Were you publicly humiliated by your husband? Divorce that moron!” The emotional triggers you employ should be dependent on who your ad is targeting, so you will want to decide on what kind of role you’re taking on in relation to the reader. Are you a caring friend? The bearer of bad news? A comedian? Sometimes a subtle approach can be quite effective, such as an ad for liposuction that has undertones of negativity associated with poor body image, but that ultimately has an uplifting message of overcoming that challenge.
Focus on the Benefits
The only reason people will inquire about what your company does is how it can benefit them and make their lives easier and better. If you’re offering a discount for people who sign up, put that front and centre. It’s best to use specifics, rather than vague promises of saving. Talk about what makes your product or service unique, and make sure they are relevant to the demographics your ad is actually targeting. Don’t talk about specs or details, but instead how the product will affect the customer’s life; put yourself in their shoes.
Use Power Words
Power words are words that have been shown to be most effective at engaging audiences. The most useful power words include: click, free, increase, try, opportunity, ends, learn, easiest, find, grow, love, compare, time, don’t, exclusive, fast, unique, start, and be. One of the most impactful power words is “you,” so every time you are about to use the words “I” or “we,” use the word “you” instead. Some examples of using power words in ad copy are “click to start browsing now,” “the easiest way to manage your money online,” and “don’t miss out!"
Your URL Matters
Your website’s display URL is an easy detail to overlook, but it can definitely have an effect on the success of an ad. A display URL and destination URL are not necessarily the same. A display URL can be useful because it can be relevant and intriguing, contain some major keywords, and be relevant to your ad copy. Put some thought into your display URL and how it can help your objectives.
Anticipate and Answer Common Questions
“The two most common questions that are asked when a customer is trying to decide between different brands are how much does it cost, and how much trouble it will be. With a bit of forethought you can preempt both these questions by answering them in your ad copy,” recommends Michael Bruce, PPC manager at PaperFellows. You can insert the word “affordable” into your ad’s headline to give the reader a good idea of what your selling point is. Take for example a home insurance ad whose headline is “Affordable home insurance,” which then also includes “online quote in 10 minutes.” This ad has preempted the two most common questions and made itself much more clickable.
Prioritize Clever Writing Over Clarity
It’s tempting to focus on clearly describing and detailing what your product does. Instead, take the opportunity to show off a bit of your brand’s personality with some clever copywriting. You can get a positive emotional response through humour, or you might appeal to their emotions in another way. Whatever you do, avoid being clever for the sake of being clever; ensure that you communicate what your product does and how it can help them with a problem.
Use Online Tools for Help
Writing doesn’t come easily to everyone, so don’t be afraid to get some help from the professionals. Here are some helpful resources to get you started:
- State Of Writing and Simplegrad: Check out these useful writing guides for ideas and suggestions on how to write better ad copy. Even good writers can benefit from some extra guidance every now and then.
- Academized and Write My Essay: These are online proofreading tools, suggested by Revieweal, you can use you make sure your ad copy is polished and error-free.
- Via Writing and Academadvisor: These are grammar resources you can use to make sure your copy is grammatically correct. Don’t take any chances with your ad copy, get some help from the experts.
- UKWritings and Essayroo: These are editing tools, recommended by Assignment Writing Service, you can use to go over your copy for mistakes and typos.
- My Writing Way and Studydemic: Check out these writing blogs for tips and suggestions on how to improve the quality of your writing. You will find posts by people who have successfully written ad copy for PPC.
You can also use online tools like:
- Read-able: To analyze the reading level of ad copy
- Wordcounter: to know the maximum words limit of Google ads
- Unsuck-it: jargon buster for creating a good ad copy
- Thesaurus: synonyms finder for creating a powerful copy text
Your Call to Action
Make sure your ad includes a call to action (CTA) that gives people an incentive to click on your link. A good CTA has two main purposes: to tell someone what to do and to give them the motivation to do it. CTA's should be short and concise. Usually, that means just a few words, but they can be a sentence or two. Your CTA should focus on one goal, and they can be positive or negative in nature. Take these example CTA's for camomile tea supplements: “Not getting the sleep you need? Try our new chamomile tea supplements,” and “Enjoy the best sleep of your life with our chamomile tea supplements.”
Write a CTA that is strong and clear, using action verbs and time constraints to create a sense of urgency. Some good CTA’s include “Buy now,” “Learn more,” or “Shop today! Deal ends Friday!” Take advantage of people’s fear of missing out, use numbers and specifics when possible, and get creative.
Test Your Ads
To be successful writing ad copy for PPC you need to find out which of your methods is getting the best results, and a great way to do that is with A/B testing. Group A is your control, while group B is the variation. You are testing to measure results such as sales, profit, leads, and clickthrough. To run effective tests, keep several questions in mind as you go. What do you want to improve? How will you measure your results? What element of your ad are you testing? What are your variations? What result are you trying to achieve, and what will you do with those results? There are quite a few ways to test out ad copy variables. You can test an ad with numerical abbreviations vs. full numerical values; an example would be testing out 15, 000, 000 vs 15M. Another way to test is to add, modify, and remove the pricing. An example would be testing between “Homes for Sale - Starting from $330, 650,” and “Homes for Sale - Starting from Low 300’s.”
Writing effective ad copy for PPC takes some time and effort. There’s a lot to consider when you’re writing your ad copy, so think of it as a process of experimentation. Make sure to measure your metrics, you’ll find that some things work and some don’t. There’s no reason to get discouraged, trial and error just go with the territory; just keep experimenting and measuring for success. Follow this guide to write killer ad copy for PPC, and you'll find your way to conversions in no time.
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Well-written and comprehensive guide on writing a great ad copy. I believe one is bound for success if the instructions in this guide is followed judiciously.
Thanks for sharing…I really appreciate it.