Official Google Partner
Official Google Partner
People have built whole businesses on pay-per-click advertising – if you get it right, it can be extremely profitable. If you don’t, then it will just be a waste of time and money, especially if it’s the only time you ever try it.
What makes the difference? Often, it’s the use of a good copywriter. If you aren’t putting out the best, most effective text ads possible, then your efforts will likely fail. If you don’t have the budget to hire a professional, don’t fear, here are our top 8 tips on writing effective PPC text ads.
You need to know your target market from the inside out. You should know who they are, their age, their income, how they want the world to see them, how they see themselves, what they do for work, their deepest pain points and what makes them feel good. When you have a very specific idea about who you’re targeting (and don’t be afraid to make up a profile and give them a specific name) you will tailor everything in the ad to cater to their specific situation and it will connect with them on a level they can’t ignore.
This ties in with our first point, but it isn’t the same. A lot of businesses (and some copywriters) forget that the ad isn’t about them it’s about the customer. Yes, you read that right. What you don’t want to do is start your ad by telling your customers how great you are. You’ve got to remember that at the core of us all, we are incredibly selfish, especially when we’re on the Internet. When you write an ad put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about the problem they have that your company or product solves. Poke those pain points before you offer them your solution. Remember to use the pronouns “you” and “your” instead of “we” and “our”, at least until the end of the ad.
Well, no, not literally, but if you know your customer’s biggest pain point you absolutely should be doing all you can to poke it and show them how sore it is so when you offer your solution it will be all the more enticing. Use emotive language – that doesn’t mean lists of adjectives and adverbs, but strong-hitting punchy language that cuts to the quick. And if you’re saying, “but I’m selling shoes, not a remedy!” uh, yeah, you are. You’re selling a remedy for their fear of having dirty, grubby shoes at the gym, or preventing a knee injury, or the solution to making them feel sexy on a night out.
People love numbers and figures. It boils things down so people understand very quickly what you’re offering. It also breaks up the text and can make your ads more eye-catching. Experiment with displaying a price or percentage off for a sale or a statistic about what your product or service does for its customers.
Google Ads provides you with up to 15 30-character headlines plus up to 4 90-character descriptions – so you might as well make the most of the space unless you know (through intensive testing) that you have a headline that delivers quickly. Use words that do the most for your messaging, don’t just use filler words to fluff your word count. Remember that this may be the difference between a successful ad campaign (e.g. conversions) and one that fails.
Also, don’t forget that your display URLs and ad extensions also do some work. Your display URL and actual URL don’t have to be one and the same. What it should do is tell the person clicking on the ad what kind of page they’ll be taken to, so any keywords you can use within the URL will help. Ad extensions can be another great way to give people who are interested in your link a couple of options if they still have some questions they need answering before going ahead with a purchase, such as features or pricing.
For example, if you know your customer is an environmentally-conscious shopper and you sell clothes with a sustainably-resourced fabric, emphasize everything your company does to be environmentally friendly. If you are an independent local business, emphasise that point.
Calls-to-action are always effective – especially when done well. US markets respond well to demanding CTAs, but if you are making a campaign exclusively for UK customers then remember that they like something with a bit more tact. When you write your ad copy don’t go for “BUY NOW” or “CALL NOW”, but instead try to think of something more effective, or at least something that your customer won’t have seen so many times that it no longer holds meaning for them. You know them well, you know what they want, so target that in the copy.
Once you’ve got some campaigns running and giving you data, it’s time to start testing different elements of your ads so you can get them to convert at the highest possible rate. A/B testing is a great way to test each element of an ad to discover what’s working and what’s not. When you find an element that works keep it, move on, and come back around again to it later. Try different headlines, different CTAs and the placement of those CTAs, use of ad extensions, using numbers, and what benefits about your product or service that you are highlighting.
Finally, it’s important to remember that writing effective ad copy is not something you’re going to perfect on the first shot. Even large businesses that use in-house copywriters constantly test and tweak their ads, so don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t make you millions on the first try. Instead, look at what you’ve achieved and build on that success. If you follow all the tips above, you’ll be well on your way to finding PPC text ad success!
Struggling with your Google Ads campaigns? Does trying to compete with your competitors on your budget and keywords feel like hitting your head against a brick wall? Before you throw your hands up in the air, book a free Google Ads Audit with Krisz and discover actionable steps that can be implemented to improve campaign performance.
