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Posts Tagged ‘Copywriters’

An Outside Perspective Helps

Monday, May 20th, 2013

 

The curse of knowledge, as made famous by Dan & Chip Heath’s book, Made to Stick, says that once you learn something, it’s hard to remember what it was like NOT to know it. Without realizing it, you tend to assume that “everyone knows that.”


This is important for PPC copywriting because in-house copywriters — i.e., copywriters working for the company they are writing ads for — get a hefty dose of The Curse of Knowledge. They know stuff about the company through simple immersion that most people don’t know. Yet because they’ve known it for so long and because all their co-workers know the same stuff, it becomes really easy to accidentally project that knowledge onto the searcher.


This contest is a perfect example of The Curse of Knowledge at work:




When you work for a company that specializes in creating customized and personalized products, you start to assume that EVERYONE knows that — to the point where it’s not even emphasizing in the copy. Heck the 20% off sale is news. Free shipping is an important draw. The customized thing, well, that’s just par for the course.


But to the searcher, the fact that you’re advertising a customized phone case ISN’T obvious or secondary — it’s the lead (or lede) for the story and putting that fact in the body copy is essentially “burying the lede”! It’s the 20% off bit that’s secondary.


And that’s why the winning ad grabbed 192% higher Click-Through Rates than the losing ad.


So how can you avoid The Curse of Knowledge? Easy — just hire some outside copywriters once in a while. Get an outside perspective from people who don’t know what you know about your own company. That’s how the company in the example contest did it. And that’s a tip from the Boosters you can take to the bank.


 

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


Is Shorter Better?

Thursday, August 30th, 2012

 

First, choose which Ad won:




Now, in choosing your winner, it may have occurred to you that the central difference between the two ads is one of length. Ad B is shorter than Ad A. So which one wins: the shorter or the longer ad?


This is interesting because it pits two clashing observations against each other. On the longer side, you’ve got traditional direct mail copywriting wisdom, which says longer is better. And on the other side, you’ve got the Advertising Team at Facebook who believe that shorter, more direct ad copy tends to outperform longer copy, at least statistically.


So what gives?


First, a lot of it boils down to context. The length of copy in Direct Mail sales letters is measured in pages. Facebook Ad’s copy length is measured in characters. So in some sense, there’s no such thing as long copy on a Facebook Ad to be able to really test long vs. short.


Second, most direct mail is sent with competent copywriters penning the letters. So it’s a good bet that the extra length of longer letter is put to good use, whereas most Facebook Ads feature poor creative, with not-so-great copy. So shorter Facebook ads mean less room to bore readers or stuff in adspeak, which would tend to give shorter copy an edge overall.


But that’s Facebook; what about regular Search-based PPC Ads?


Word Power = Message Power Divided by Length


If your added length ads persuasive power to the message with added information, the ability to get readers to take a new perspective on the offered product, or some kind of deal sweetener, then the longer ad will win because the words are worth more than the effort and time to read.


But if your words aren’t adding anything, you’re just weakening your ad by sticking them in where they aren’t needed. You end up with the same message delivered with more words. And how can that be good?


So the question is: do the added words (and characters) in Ad A add more info or persuasive power than what’s already communicated in Ad B? No? Then you now know which Ad most likely won the contest, right?


And that is the right answer, as Ad B did indeed win the contest.


So are your ads carrying more words than they need? Or are you failing to offer as much information as you could? Give it some thought and then put it to the test.


 

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


Logic vs. Image — Bet on Image

Monday, August 13th, 2012

 

Logically, it would be better to abbreviate words in a PPC Ad, because the meaning is still conveyed, but you save characters. Emotionally, an abbreviation just doesn’t have the same affective impact as the word, because it requires longer to translate.


Logically, it shouldn’t really matter whether free shipping or some other enticement is on the first or second line of body copy — the offer is still included in the ad, and the searcher is obviously reading the copy, so… Emotionally, the sequencing and placement of your offers/words makes a HUGE difference.


For copywriters, it helps to think in terms of mental images. What mix of mental pictures, sounds, emotions, tastes, and so on run through the mind of the searcher when she reads your copy. Your job is to create and sequence powerful images.


So with that in mind, take a look at this contest — can you tell me what the deciding difference is?




So, there isn’t that much different between the two ads, right?


The winning ad drops the “Fast shipping,” probably because “fast shipping” is meaningless to most consumers. Free shipping is powerful and can be quite compelling. Fast shipping, on the other hand, is expected and therefore not worth mentioning, so dropping it was a good move on the part of BoostCTR ad writer, WordIsBorn.


The winning ad swaps out “Buy” in favor of “Shop,” another good move. And this one certainly involves mental imagery, as the emotional associations with “Shop” are much better than those for “Buy.” People like to shop. They like buying decidedly less so, as it involves the pain of parting with their money. To wit, there’s no such thing as “shoppers remorse.” Another good call by WordIsBorn


But the real difference is in the use of “T-Shirts, Hoodies & More” vs. “T-Shirts & More.” Why? Because even though your brain can logically process the “& More” to mean, “and additional imprinted items,” it has a tough time picturing those unspecified, additional items. “T-shits & More” creates the mental image of “Mostly T-shirts and a few accessories.”


“T-Shirts, Hoodies & More,” on the other hand, supplies the imagination of the searcher with one of those “& More” items, creating a decidedly different mental image, to the tune of “T-Shirts, Hoodies, and other imprinted clothing.” This change isn’t merely a good move — it’s a brilliant one.


Logically, the two ads should be equivalent. Emotionally the difference is big enough to account for a very emotional greater than doubling of click-through rate — or a 119% increase in CTR, for you logical types.


Either way, it’s a difference worth thinking & getting excited about.


 

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Posted in Ad Text Tips, Ad Writing Techniques, Copywriting, Tips From The Boosters, Win of the Week | 2 Comments »


If You’ve Got It, Flaunt It – But Which “Flaunt” Made the Difference?

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

 

OK, before we discuss anything else take your pick for the winning ad.



2 kinds of PPC Ad Writing situations


OK. So before I reveal the winning ad, let’s talk about the two fundamental PPC Ad Writing Scenarios:

  1. Where you’ve got more “good stuff” to cram into the ad then you have space
  2. Where you’ve got more character-space than “good stuff”


And by “good stuff” I mean, “reason why” style claims and selling propositions and guarantees and deal sweeteners. The kind of stuff most copywriters naturally want to feature when I client or offering has it.


In fact, in the first situation, a copywriter’s usual tendency is to try to cram too much of that stuff into a single ad. And, at least to some degree, for good reason, as those elements have been proven to boost ad performance.


So knowing that, which ad do you think won?


Yup, Ad B, the ad with the added info-bits of “Huge Selection,” and “Many Custom Options,” along with a final guarantee stated as, “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” This ad improved CTR by 171%


Of course, it won, right? How could it not with all those added claims and guarantee. But there’s the rub — because when an ad like that wins, you’re left wondering exactly which element (or elements) actually contributed to the win, and which really aren’t that important to the prospective customer.


The Challenge of Constant, Ongoing Optimization

Taking it line by line:

  • Was it the word “Browse” rather than “Shop” in the title?
  • Was it the claim of “Huge Selection”?
  • Was it the offer of (and searcher interest in) customer orders?
  • Was it the expansion of Free Shipping to all orders instead of just for custom orders?
  • Was it the Satisfaction Guarantee.
  • Or was it some combination or all of the above?

    • Now some clients don’t care, adopting the attitude of “Who cares as long as it won and I’m not getting more clicks.” But if your goal is long rang optimization, this is the wrong attitude to take. Because the next step is to figure out which elements are most important, and then testing better ways of expressing and sequencing them.


    That’s how you get win piled on top of win. That’s how you optimize when you are a professional.


    Of course, you’ll still want to occasionally swing for the fences with another challenger ad that changes everything or takes a new approach. And that’s why it’s so important to have multiple writers and multiple perspectives in your writers.


    That, in fact, is why BoostCTR believes in and harnesses the power of crowd-sourced PPC Ad writing — to get the best of both optimization approaches: incremental improvement and “Hail Marry” efforts.


     

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