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Moving Beyond Keyword Match-Up

Friday, May 17th, 2013

 

Before we do anything else, guess which ad outperformed the other:




Answer: Ad B outperformed Ad A by 817%. Let that sink in for a minute — Ad B created an 800% increase in Click-Through Rates!


So what’s the big difference? Here are the obvious ones:


  • Shop vs. Find
  • Modern & Unique vs. Eclectic
  • Containers & Tools vs. Canisters, Jars, & Tools


So which elements are the crucial ones?


Frankly, with that much of an increase in CTR, I think there’s plenty of credit to go around and I think that all of Ad B’s changed words represent an improvement, but if I had to weigh one change more heavily than the rest, I’d put it on the last one: moving from the more generic “containers & tools” to the much more visual and imaginable “canisters, jars, & tools.”


Why?


First because vivid, imaginable words almost always do better. But mostly because I think that “canisters” and “Jars” are really what searchers are looking for when they search for kitchen storage and tools. And, really, creating a significantly better match-up of searcher intent is pretty much the ONLY way to get over an 800% improvement!

So what’s the take-away?

Testing, really. When seemingly small, but smart word choices can make an 800% difference in response rate to your ad, you’d be foolish NOT to test those kinds of changes, wouldn’t you?


And if I had to give another, I’d say always look further than mere keywords to the buyer intent expressed by those keywords, because matching-up with buyer intent is the real key to extraordinary PPC Ad performance, which is why this contest was this week’s Win of the Week.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, Ads in the Wild, Copywriting, Paid Search, Win of the Week | No Comments »


The Right Word and the Almost Right Word

Monday, May 13th, 2013

 

Today’s column will give you two tips for the price of one. But first, check out the contest that demonstrates both tips:




OK, first tip: beware of the emotional association of your words. Yes, cheap does mean “inexpensive.” But it also means “of poor quality, inferior” and “worthy of no respect” and “vulgar.” NOT the kinds of qualities that a bride would look for in a wedding dress, even if she would like to get her dress at a discount.


So you can see why headlining your ad with “Cheap Wedding Dresses” would be problematic, whereas 70% Off Wedding Dresses” would be quite attractive in comparison.


The other tip? When advertising discounts, it helps to reassure the buyer of quality. Even when you don’t describe the products as “cheap,” anytime you advertise a discounted price, concerns about quality inevitably arise in the mind of the prospect. So a phrase like “You Will Look Beautiful” really helps.


“See our dresses” now also helps because it offers the searcher the chance to judge the dresses with her own eyes. If it was me, I might even ditch the “& Save Money Too!” to include the “30-day Returns” or some such to further alleviate quality concerns.


And that’s it — 2 Tips From the Boosters to help your PPC ad copy effectiveness.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, AdWords Ad Best Practices, Copywriting, Paid Search, Tips From The Boosters | No Comments »


The Clean Bathroom Approach to PPC Ad Copy

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

 

We naturally believe in the principle of internal consistency. It may not make sense in every situation, but we believe it anyway.


If you walk into a restaurant’s bathroom and it’s filthy, you wonder how clean — or disgusting — the kitchen is, even though it’s unlikely that the same people who clean the bathroom also work in kitchen. Or at least one hopes that it’s unlikely!


Well, the same principle of internal consistency applies to PPC Ad copy. Take a look at the following contest, and with that principe in mind, see if you can’t pick out which ad outperformed the other:





So, assuming that the search Keyword was “Turquoise Earrings” the ads are fairly similar, with Ad A offering more specifics to strengthen the “save” claim and Ad B strengthening the free shipping claim with “on all orders.” But frankly, neither of those is the deciding factor here


The deciding factor that put Ad B ahead on Click-Through Rates was the internal consistency between the headline offer of “Turquoise Earrings” and the body copy describing them as “Beautiful & Authentic.” Because when you’re talking about natural stone — especially a natural stone that’s often over-dyed and imitated — a claim of “authentic” is naturally what you’d expect to hear. It’s internally consistent with the offer, thereby making the whole ad more persuasive and believable.


And that’s why Ad B won the contest AND a spot in today’s WIn of the Week column.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, Copywriting, Paid Search, Win of the Week | No Comments »


Are Your PPC Ads a Joke?

Monday, May 6th, 2013

 

When you’re telling a joke, you’ve got to hold the punchline until the end. It’s the surprise punchline that gets the laughs. Works great for comedy, but it’s lousy for PPC Ads.

When people scan search results, they’re looking for immediate confirmation of relevance — will this result take me to what I want? — that can be effortless confirmed as they sweep their eyes over the results for, oh, just slightly longer than a nano-second, I suppose.


And that means the keywords and trigger words need to be as high up and far to the left of the ad copy as possible. At the front of the headline, at the front of the first line of body copy. That sort of thing. A PPC Ad isn’t a joke — don’t save your keyword “punchline” until the end!


With that principle in mind, the rather confusing results from this test start to make a lot more sense:




If the keyword is cookware, you’d think ad copy that focuses exclusively on “Cast Iron Pots, Pans, and Dutch Oven Sets” would alienate a lot of people who are in the market for stainless steel, copper, non-stick, and most other kinds of cookware. In other words, you’d think that the cast-iron exclusivity would sink the winning ads performance. But oddly enough, it didn’t.


So what happened?


The winning ad used “cookware” earlier in the headline, and in the first line of copy, AND used the confirming add-on words of “Pots, Pans, and Dutch Oven Sets.” When searchers glance at that ad, they instantly know that it’s relevant to their search, and may even overlook the “Cast Iron” part.


Compare this to the losing ad, which delays the use of the keyword to the end of the headline, doesn’t use cookware at all on the first line of copy and uses no other trigger words or confirming language. This ad is sort of a joke, in that it saves the trigger words until the end, making it harder to scan for relevance.

And how much difference does this really make? Well, for this test, it was a 49% increase in Click-Through Rates — which is no small difference!


So take a tip from the boosters: don’t save those keywords and trigger words for the end — put them high and to the left in your copy and use them generously throughout your copy. Because your PPC ad copy is no laughing matter.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, AdWords Ad Best Practices, Copywriting, Paid Search, Tips From The Boosters | No Comments »


Precipitating Events

Monday, April 29th, 2013

 

Some of us are proactive some of the time. And by some of the time, I mean like 2-5%. The other 95 to 98% of the time we are reacting to something, whether it’s a sudden opportunity or a newfound problem.


I mean, do most of us buy running shoes just because? Or do we buy a new pair when our old ones break down? Or at the start of a new running season? Or when someone comments on how ratty our old pair looks?


Why does this matter for PPC? Because people don’t conduct a search just because either — they usually conduct a search as a respons to an event. And keeping that event in mind helps you write ad copy that’s more immediately relevant and response-generating.


Check out this recent win and see for yourself:




The winning ad won because it was more relevant to the most likely precipitating event for safety signs: someone was notified that they were NOT in compliance with workplace safety standards. And who is most likely to be doing the notifying? Well, OSHA and ANSI, of course.


I think it would work even better had the winning ad also mentioned the availability of express shipping, since fixing a safety discrepancy usually comes with some sense of urgency, but overall, it’s the ad that most directly addresses the emotional state and motivations stemming from the precipitating event that wins. In this case, the ad boosted CTR by 20%


So take a tip from the Boosters and give some thought to what kind of precipitating events are motivating your prospective customers. Then adjust your ad copy accordingly.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, Copywriting, Paid Search, Tips From The Boosters | No Comments »


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