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Posts Tagged ‘Prospects’

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What They Want vs. What You THINK They Want

Friday, April 19th, 2013

 

Before we do anything else, pick the winner:




So without preamble, Ad A won the contest, more than doubling Click-Through Rates. And in looking at this win, I couldn’t help but see the results as part of a larger pattern, wherein ads containing copy about:

  1. Compatibility Matching, and
  2. “Affluent” Singles/Men

almost always lose to ads that offer the chance for the searcher to “find” matches on their own and that leave out any mention of affluence.

So if they don’t respond to these factors — or if searchers actually do care about them, but are offended at such a bald mention of them in PPC copy — then what DO they seem to respond to?


Answer: potential dates who are “mature” (even when the add isn’t specifically aimed at over-40 singles) and “ready to find someone” (which in this ad takes the form of “looking for dates”).


Now, this may not seem like that big a deal, because it’s “just” online dating, but the dynamic IS a big deal when you think about it in terms of using PPC to find out what your prospects ACTUALLY care about rather than what you THINK they care about.


And once you have that insight it’s applicable to far more than just PPC — it can then be used to improve landing pages, Web copy in general, and even e-mails.


But you’ll never get those insights unless you test, and unless your PPC ad writers come at the ads from different angles, testing out different appeals. In other words, unless you have multiple ad writers capable of adopting an outside perspective on your business and industry.


So what kind of testing are YOU doing? And what are you learning from those tests?


 

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


But Is That What THEY Think Their Problem Is?

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

 

People often don’t recognize problems. What they recognize are symptoms.


And which symptoms are most pressing and important to them, aren’t necessarily the concerns that are most important to the organization.


What problem X means to an employee might have a lot more to do with the fact that he has to put in a lot of unpaid overtime or his next promotion has been jeopardized, than with the real nature of the problem or the best fix for that problem.


So when companies advertise solutions via PPC, they need to keep all that in mind. Specifically, they need to ask themselves:


  • How does the searcher see this problem?
  • What symptoms are most important to them
  • Will they recognize my labels for the problem as being valid
  • Will they recognize my solution benefits as relevant to their lives and careers


And so forth. If they don’t ask that, they run the risk of writing ineffectual PPC ads. This Win of the Week contest is a great example of that:




So picture this: you’re a sales manager, and something has forced you to reevaluate how you handle your Incentives and Commissions for your team. Ok, now think, what is most likely to have brought you to that kind of reevaluation?


Answer: Poor, or at least disappointing performance from your sales team.


So… knowing that, which PPC Ad do you think best speaks to your perceived symptoms and concerns?


Yup — Ad B, with its messaging around “Reward Your Sales Team Right.” And that’s why it managed to nearly double Click-Through-Rates over Ad A, boosting them by a solid 94%.


Now, I’m sure the advertiser thought that automating and systematizing sales incentives was what the prospect OUGHT to have cared about. But that’s not really what the prospect thought his problem was about, is it?


So make sure your PPC Ads speak to what your prospects THINK their problem is.


 

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


Bump It Up to Boost It Up

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

 

OK, before anything else, guess which PPC Ad boosted Click-Through Rates over the other:




OK. The winner was Ad B. Now let’s explore why…

Last week I wrote about testing to find out which PPC Ad offer elements generated the most response, since the elements that YOU think are most important aren’t necessarily the ones that your prospects will respond to most strongly.


This week I’m writing about what to do when you find response-boosting offer elements. Answer: test PPC Ad variants that move the response-boosting offer element higher up in the ad hierarchy. Here’s what I mean by that:


  • If the offer element was in the second line of body copy, try testing it in the first line
  • If it was in the first line, try testing it at the front of the first line rather than the end, OR
  • Try testing the offer element in the headline instead of the body copy.
  • And if the offer is in the headline, try testing it at the front or head of the headline.


In the case of this week’s WOTW contest, the element in question is the “30-80% off” claim, and the winning ad moved that offer element from the end of the first line of body copy into the headline.


And by bumping that offer element up to the headline, the winning ad boosted Click-Through Rates by 134%!


So if you want to boost it up, bump it up!


 

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


Will THEY Think It’s a Benefit?

Monday, January 28th, 2013

 

First, take a look at this recent, winning contest:




Now, a couple of things about these two ads:

  • They both have the exact same headlines and URLs
  • Each ad has one and only one promotional claim/info-bit that the other ad doesn’t
  • The winning ad has “Get Exclusive Access” and the losing ad has “Style Delivered Daily”
  • Apart from those two differences, both ads contain “Premium Brands,” “80% off,” and “Free Sign Up / Join For Free.”
  • The winning ad way more than doubled Click-Through Rates, bosting it by 185%


In other words, apart from some slight rephrasing, the differences that made the difference between these ads comes down to the increased appeal of “Get Exclusive Access,” which seems reasonable enough, and the repulsive effect of “Style Delivered Daily,” which seems kind of odd to consider at first.


Why would “Style Delivered Daily” REPEL searchers?


Possible Answer: because people don’t want that many offers junking up their in box. Or maybe, because it now sounds like they’ll be marketing to you, rather than granting you “Exclusive Access.”


Either way, the point is that it’s entirely possible, and even likely, that the prospects for this ad didn’t consider “Syle Delivered Daily” to be any kind of benefit they wanted. And may have considered it something to be actively avoided.


Three Take-Aways


First, that without testing, this brand could have made that phrase a key tagline of theirs, without ever realizing that it was actively driving prospects away from their website. That’s how crucial PPC Testing is!


Second, that a professional ad writer can and should put herself into the prospect’s mindspace to see what might NOT be so attractive to them, even if it’s something the company feels IS a selling point.


Lastly, in order for a professional copywriter to take an outsider’s perspective, it really helps if they are actually an outsider — someone outside the organization. In this case, the winning ad was penned by Booster JeffBaum71, who is indeed outside of the client’s organization.

So… are you sure that YOUR selling points are really seen as attractions by your prospects? Have you tested it?


 

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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 »


Specifics Outperform Generalizations

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013

 

Before we discuss anything, first guess which of these two ads outperformed the other:



Which did you pick: ad A or Ad B?


Well, if you picked Ad A, you were right, as it boosted CTR by a whopping 190%! So what’s the secret?


Two Reasons:


  1. Ad A gave the reader specific, imaginable functions and benefits (“Track Mentions, RT’s & More”), while Ad B stuck with generalities (“Find Out [How Your Twitter is Performing] & Improve w/ [Brand]“), and
  2. Ad A Featured a strong Call-to-Action that included the offer of a 30-Day Free Trial, while Ad B had no CTA or Free-Trial Offer to speak of.


Why Free Trials Don’t Boost CTR As Much as You Might Think


Now, it’s tempting to place all of the credit for the improved CTR on the Free Trial and Call-to-Action, but testing experience tells me that’s a mistake. Here’s why…


Free Trials boost CONVERSIONS, but often-times don’t boost Click-Throughs as much as you might think, because no one is interested in a free trial until they’re first at least moderately sure that the product offers what they want in the first place. And that’s because free trials aren’t free. They may not cost money, but the expense comes in the potential for wasted time, frustration, and opportunity costs that come with downloading and trying the wrong software/product/etc.


Why Imaginable Specifics Beat Out Generalities


So if the free trial and CTA aren’t the major driver, then that leaves the specifics vs. the generalities. And this also concords with testing experience. Why? Because the right specifics are imaginable and emotional, and often already in the minds of prospects in the first place.


If you’re searching for twitter analytics, chances are you already have some idea of what you’d like to track — that’s probably why you’re interested in getting analytics in the first place. And since the most easily identified metrics for tracking are mentions and re-tweets (aka RTs), it makes sense to mention this ability in the PPC Ad copy. Why? Because it identifies your product as the one likely to meet the searcher’s needs. And that’s what boosts CTR.


Of course, having the free trial info on there also helps and is likely to improve post-click conversion, so… DOUBLE WIN! And that’s why this contest is a featured Win of The Week.


 

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


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