PPC 101: 3 Musts of Catchy Paid Search Ad Copy

You have been handed a new paid search account to manage. Congratulations! Freaking out? Don’t! No need to start pulling out your hair. In this post, we will cover a few 101-level PPC tips to get you writing ads that draw eyeballs and clicks. Note that these methods are applicable for new accounts and accounts with historical data alike.

Writing creative ad copy is an important skill for the small business managing their own paid advertising as well as a company who hires an agency to manage their account(s) for them. The skill of writing ad copy that gets clicks is one that is honed through repetition, testing and seeing what works with practice. But to give you a boost I’ve distilled the vital qualities into three key points that when kept in mind can help you obtain the results you want from your ad copy.

But First, Research

Going back to our scenario presented in the beginning, you have just been handed a new account to manage. Yet, before creating any content for your ad copy, you need to do your research first. Research includes:

• Identifying the target audience
• Identifying existing competitors
  • Are they running any paid advertising?
• Keyword research to identify potential search volume and estimated cost relatable to your client’s product or service
• Identifying the conversions
  • Conversions are anything from form submissions, e-commerce transactions, or any other goal identified by the client

Once you know the information mentioned above, you are ready to get started with ad creation!

3 Qualities of Effective Ad Copy

1. Calls to Action
2. Following Editorial Guidelines
3. Presenting Features and Benefits

Calls to Action

• “Sign-Up for your Free Trial”
• “Big Savings – Call Us Today!”
• “Subscribe for Weekly Auction Updates”

Straight-forward, right? Yet, it’s interesting to see a handful of advertisers forget this key feature of an ad. Without a calls to action, your potential consumer or lead might not click on your ad. Why? Well for starters, the viewer doesn’t know what will possibly follow after the click. Yikes! You just lost a possible customer, where it gets recorded as an impression for the related search query and not a click. Remember, too many impressions with very few clicks are one of the factors that will contribute to a low CTR. When creating your amazing ad copy, you have to remember to give the ad a purpose and put yourself as the viewer while asking yourself, “is the action or message clear”?

Not sure where to start or experiencing writers block? Don’t freak out! Remember in the beginning, you did the research, specifically keyword research. Find out what ads are showing for your search query and review the ads on the first handful of search pages. What are some “Call to Actions” you see being used? Another key point when evaluating other competing ads, would be to ask you yourself, “How can I stand out”? Stand out you must, like our friend Yoda might say. While you are reviewing the ads being displayed, keep in mind that being unique will work in your benefit. If all the ads being displayed look or read the same, wouldn’t you think a different verbiage would help the viewer find more interest and prefer the unique ad instead?

Following the Search Engines’ Editorial Guidelines

Yes, following the rules, especially editorial guidelines for Google AdWords or Bing Ads, will benefit you when creating compelling ads. Why? Because by following guidelines you will:

1. Reduce the likelihood of your ads being disapproved for not following policy, and
2. Contribute to writing a clear message to lead potential viewers to your converting landing page.

If you have done your research, you have a clear understanding of who your client wants to reach. Next, you need to know the limits of the ad format so you can craft an ad with the appropriate number of characters, use of punctuation and content verbiage as allowed on the platform.

Knowing the limits of the ad type, develop ad copy that reads with flow and is consistent with your other channels of communication.

Google AdWords Character Limits:

Bing Ads Character Limits:

Highlighting Features and Benefits

Let’s say that your new client is an online computer store that wants to advertise laptops in hopes of growing profits. How can you attract the right customer? This comes down to the message you send through the text of your ad. Let’s get more descriptive with our example.

In your preliminary research you identified the targeted audience, your ideal customer. This computer store client wants to target college students, and as it’s mid-summer, you want to sell as many laptops as possible to freshmen beginning their academic school year in August. So, what do you include in your message? Yes, features and benefits!

The features in your ad act as the information the student needs to know about the laptop. Possible features to focus on include how much memory it has, its size or dimensions, its weight, etc. The benefits in your ad highlight, why the feature, specifically the product, is worth the purchase. Here are some examples.

Product: X Laptop

Still not sure what features and benefits to use? See what others are doing, and then improve on those while being unique!

Like everything, especially in the area of creating effective ad copy, it takes time, practice and continuing education. Just how the internet continues to change every day, we as progressive marketers should also continue to keep updated and not forget the foundation of effective account management.

RECOMMENDED READINGS AND REFERENCES:

• Creating Better PPC Ad Copy
• 8 Actionable AdWords Tips for PPC Managers
• 12 PPC Tips from the Experts to Start 2014 with a Bang
• Tips for Creating Successful Text Ads

Diana Becerra is an SEM Analyst at Bruce Clay, Inc., a marketing enthusiast, and non-profit activist. She has a B.S. in Business Management with a concentration in marketing and is currently attending graduate school in focus of obtaining a Masters of Business Administration. Before joining Bruce Clay, Inc., Diana worked in many areas of marketing, including public relations, communications, community program development, software development and brand management. She loves marketing, sports and sprinkles. Connect with Diana on Google+.

See Diana's author page for links to connect on social media.