As any digital marketer knows, Google is an extremely competitive place, where you have to stand out from other businesses in your industry using a fraction of real estate space. Google shows somewhere in the region of 6 billion ads per day, making it a tough job for PPC copywriters to achieve great results. But, it’s far from impossible. There are tricks you can use to help your ads stand out and to encourage a better response from your target audience, resulting in higher click-through rates and increased conversions.
Reflect the visitor’s end goal
It can be difficult to stand out amongst your competitors when companies are bidding on similar keywords, causing a lot of ads to show the same thing. What many businesses lose sight of is what the customer is really looking for – what is their end goal? Understanding what your customers are hoping to achieve through the use of your product or service means you can tailor your ads to mirror their needs.
By taking a different stance on your ads and skipping over the problem, which both you and your customer are already aware of, you can jump straight to the solution and grab the visitor’s attention straight away. The goal of the searcher is to have their needs met. The way in which this is achieved isn’t a concern to them necessarily and they’re already aware of what their pain points are, as that’s why they’re searching, so all they’re interested in is finding a solution to their problem. A simple headline tweak that gets straight to the point on what you’re offering can have a positive impact on conversions. Take a look at this example from when you search ‘sell my car quick’.
Make your ads as informative as possible
Advertising moguls have been using this technique for decades because it works. Having useful information on your customers is the key to creating successful ads that persuade and convert. These days, it’s easy to find out what audiences are looking for by looking at search queries. From this information, you can craft ads that really resonate with customers at different stages of the buying journey.
Sites such as Answer the Public are great for this type of research, as they enable us to gain context around searches and an insight into the mind of potential customers. It also provides suggestions around other questions and comparisons searchers may be making. While not every comparison will be relevant, there’s a strong probability that similar thoughts are running through the mind of your customers, making it easier to persuade them to click.
Don’t neglect the importance of scarcity
The notion of losing out on something is more powerful than the concept of gaining something. This psychological effect is known as loss aversion and it’s one way of encouraging users to click through on your ads by highlighting the scarcity of what you’re offering. The fear of missing out makes people want whatever it is you’re selling, particularly if they feel as though time is running out to get it.
There are two ways to implement this in your ads – through limited time or limited quantity. Another trick that is easy to implement but effective is to add a simple countdown timer to your text ads to highlight the limited time factor. Of course, this only works as an advertising tactic if there truly is scarcity involved, such as a one-off sale or a deadline to apply for a service. If you run a sale every month, don’t be surprised if your ads start to lose their impact.
Remember your audience is selfish
As buyers and customers, we are selfish. That is to say, we don’t care about the interests or profits of a business, but rather what that company can offer us. Advertising is most effective when it plays up to the fact that customers want their specific needs met – a principle that’s simple but often forgotten by marketers.
Often those needs are incredibly modest. For example, visitors may not want to waste time booking appointments with a company. If you can save a customer time by offering a service or product without the need for an appointment, you should highlight this unique selling point in your ads to appeal to a segment of your audience that will be looking for a hassle-free solution to their problem.
Make your ads personal
Companies can easily fall into the trap of making their ads too egocentric and ignoring the customer. Using words like ‘we’, ‘I’ or ‘us’ can ostracise your audience and fails to focus on the customer’s needs. Since ads aren’t geared towards adding the customer’s name to ads just yet, the second-best word to use is ‘you’. Including this simple word, combined with the benefits your business can offer, makes customers more inspired to click. Dale Carnegie wrote, in his renowned book How to Win Friends and Influence People, that advertising messages should always be about your customer and never about you – advice that will serve you well when it comes to writing ads.
While these tips and techniques are great for improving the performance of your ads, at the heart of any digital marketing campaign is thorough and regular testing. Testing will ensure that your ads continue to improve by playing up to what works well for your business and learning from what doesn’t, to help you run better campaigns every time.
The Pay-Per-Click process keyword research, #ad creation, landing page development… #PPC #Advertising. #DigitalMarketing pic.twitter.com/kln1Eq2nZB
— Growth Hackers 🚀 (@StartGrowthHack) April 13, 2018