A deal is only a deal if it’s for something you actually want. In other words, low price remains unimpressive when their is a doubt over quality. Keep that in mind when viewing this next contest and the results will make a lot more sense:
The main search term is “Diamond Engagement Rings” and so the headline for both ads prominently displays that term for maximum match-up. And that’s when the two ads diverge.
- The losing ad assumed “diamond engagement rings” was enough and then jumped right into the savings claim: “30% Cheaper than Retail.” Only afterwords was their really any mention of quality, but on a fast scan, afterwards is really too late.
- The winning ad follows up “diamond engagement ring” with an immediate assurance of quality — not just any diamond engagement rings, but rings you’d be proud to give to you fiancee — “Gia Certified Diamond Engagement Rings” and only then does the price advantage get made.
It’s not the biggest difference in the world, just swapping around the order of information, but it’s enough to earn a 25% boost in Click-Through Rates, which is nothing to sneeze at.
So take a tip from the Boosters and test whether quality first and savings second doesn’t work better than the other way around.
Tags: Afterwords, Diamond Engagement Ring, Diamond Engagement Rings, Diamond Rings, Doubt, Fiancee, Lot, Match, Price Advantage, Search Term
These posts are always great food for thought Jeff.
It would be interesting to see if a true flip of the two statements was tested?
For me “Gia Certified Engagement Rings” holds more authority than “Gia Certified rings” Maybe just because I don’t know who or what the term “Gia” is or means. The curious non-cap on the word “rings” causes the original phrase to lose power for me as well.
Bill, you bring up a good point about GIA, since, as an acronym for Gemological Institute of America, the GIA should have been all caps instead of “Gia” with only the first letter capitalized. I suspect that it was not all caps because Google sometimes rejects all-cap acronyms that it does not recognize.
Similarly, the cap/non-cap of “rings” does seem to have the effect you mentioned. My guess is that that engagement rings = diamond in most people’s mind, so that a “Certified Engagement Ring” would make more sense (of course you would want the diamond to be certified) and would seem more credible than a than a “Certified ring” (what are they certifying?).
- Jeff