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Posts Tagged ‘Unsubstantiated Claims’

The Power of Confidence

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

 

Look, if YOU don’t think your products are great/cool/unique/high value — than why should anyone else? Why choose you over the other guy if even you’re not confident in your own product?


This is a big element in sales and it’s just as big an element when it comes to PPC Ad Copy, which is one reason unsubstantiated claims actually work to boost CTR — they communicate that all important confidence. Here’s a perfect example




Notice how the winning ad proudly proclaims the client’s horse products to be both “awesome” and “affordable,” while the losing ad mentions nothing about the quality of the products, the size of the selection, or even the pricing.


Is it any wonder that the winning ad boosted Click-Through Rates by 52%?


Granted those claims are unsubstantiated, but they at least communicate the confidence of the seller and make the online store worth checking out in order to substantiate those claims. Without that, what’s the point of clicking on the ad?


So take a tip from the boosters: communicate confidence with your ads. If your stuff is awesome, go ahead and say so. Just make sure to substantiate that claim post-click, once the searcher gets to your landing page


 

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Don’t Raise Concerns That Aren’t Already There!

Monday, March 25th, 2013

 

When I first took a look at this contest, I thought I knew exactly why the winning ad won — but it quickly turned out that my initial impression was wrong. Here, take a look for yourself:




So, the main element that I initially clued into was the winning ad’s simple claim that the FLIR E60 was a “Top Thermal Imaging Camera.” This is usually a lot more important than most people would think. Time and time again, I’ve seen a simple, totally unsubstantiated, claim for quality, or cool styles, or ease of use transform PPC Ad performance.


Now, in traditional copywriting, ad writers are taught to always substantiate claims and to steer away from unsubstantiated statements like that, but in PPC Ads, there’s so little space, that I think the ad copy is given a temporary pass on substantiating claims — with the searcher willing to click through to the landing page and “see for themselves” if the advertiser can walk the talk.


And that means that PPC Ads are one of the few places in all of advertising where (temporarily) unsubstantiated claims can work and work well — which is exactly what I thought was going on in this contest!


But then I saw the ad group for this contest: “FLIR E60.” In other words, the ad group and keywords were PRODUCT SPECIFIC, which means the searcher had already done his research, and already KNEW that the FLIR E60 was “top quality” and what he wanted.


In other words, the searcher likely didn’t need anymore reassurances around the capabilities and quality of the product, so that the unsubstantiated claim in the top line of copy was unlikely to be the main differentiator in performance.

And then it hit me — the “Free Level III Tech Support 24/7″ was actually working AGAINST the losing ad. If the searcher already knew the FLIR E60 was the infrared camera he wanted, what he may not have known was how easy or difficult it would be to use. From the product videos, the E60 looks pretty easy to use. But, SOMETHING must be hard about it if it requires “Level III Tech Support,” right?


So the very claim used to sell the product worked against the ad — it raised a concern that wasn’t already there. And that’s how the winning ad came to boost performance a whopping 301%


And that’s two tips from the boosters you can take to the bank:


  • Don’t dismiss the power of an unsubstantiated claim
  • Don’t raise concerns that aren’t already present in the mind of the searcher


Oh, and then there’s always: test you best ads and your assumptions to find out the REAL truth. Doubtlessly, this client thought that Free Tech Support was a big selling proposition or deal sweetener, something you’d obviously want to include in as many PPC Ads as possible. But the test says otherwise doesn’t it.


And those are some tips you can take to the bank.


 

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Unsubstantiated Claims — Which Ones Work Best?

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

 

Traditionally, copywriters are taught to always build credibility, substantiate claims, and close loopholes. And that’s great advice for most traditional media.


In a sales letter, or radio ad, or magazine ad, one has time to trot out the proof and credibility elements that transform idle boasting into persuasive communication.


But PPC Ads are different. Often, there just isn’t space for proof and credibility building elements. Also, there’s sort of an implied promise that the proof and details will be provided after the click.


And, heck, an ad that at least makes a relevant claim is better than one that doesn’t even bother addressing the buyer’s chief concern, right?


And that gets to the crux of the matter: when making unsubstantiated claims in a PPC ad, how do you figure out the most relevant and CTR-boosting claim to make?

So with that question in mind, take a look at these two ads and pick your winner — which one makes the more relevant claim?




Well, if you’re looking for a Walking Cain, you are very likely NOT using solely as an affectation. In other words, you are in actual need of the extra support that the cain should provide.


And so while you’re undoubtedly interested in buying a nicer looking cain (hence the “Designer” included in the headlines and search terms for these ads), what else would be your chief concern?


How about QUALITY?


Yeah, that’s what I’d think, too. Apparently, it’s also what most shoppers thought as Ad B, brilliantly penned by booster mcdavis1982, managed to boost Click-Through-Rate by an unheard of 605%!


Also, note that neither ad provides any proof elements that the ads are stylish or fashionable. Nor are any specifics given as to the size of the selection/variety on sale or the speed of shipping.


But only one ad made the claim for quality, and that ad cleaned house when it came to clicks. Whether or not it cleans house in terms of conversions depends on how well the landing page makes good on the implied promise of “proof” elements appearring on the post-click landing page.


So what about your ads and your landing pages? Are your ads promising what your prospects are most concerned about? Are your landing pages living up to those promises?



 

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Win of the Week – When Deal Sweeteners Become Deal Makers

Friday, June 8th, 2012

 

As usual with the Win of the Week, you’ll have to pick the winner before we can go into why the winning ad won. So here are the competing ads — take your pick:




Picked your winner?


Good.


Now take a ballpark guess at how much the winning ad improved Click-Through Rates.


OK. The correct answer is Ad A by an astounding 419%! Whoah, right? So let’s look at each ad to see what’s driving this astonishing difference in performance.


The Losing Ad


Headline: The losing ad’s headline is keyword driven for “Baby Cradles,” so far so good.


And yet, this headline simply makes the claim that the company HAS baby cradles, rather than adding anything to indicate quality, savings, or kind of baby cradles. So in some ways, that represents a missed opportunity.


First Line of Copy: The losing ads first line of copy makes two unsubstantiated claims: 1) that the cradles are “wonderful” and 2) that the cradles are “on Sale.”


The Wonderful line lacks all credibility, but might be OK when going up against ads that make no claim on quality whatsoever. But when competing against an ad making a more verified claim, it’ll lose out.


As for “Sale” pricing, this remains to be seen, especially in terms of whether the price savings will more than make up for shipping charges on an item as big as a cradle.


Second Line of Copy: The losing ads second line of copy continues the first line’s use of unsubstantiated claims by citing the availability of “Top Brands” and “Great Prices.” Neither claim will be accepted by a prospective buyer/searcher, rendering this type of copy useless, except when competing against equally unsubstantiated and unemotional copy.


Displayed URL: This ad displays an attached “Baby” to the base URL, which is good, because it’s related to “Cradles,” but why not just put “Cradles” itself?


The Winning Ad


Headline: The winning ad’s headline not only uses the Baby Cradle search term, but immediately indicates that they are “On Sale.” Since baby cradles are available at most local stores, including Wal-Mart and Target, most people looking for cradles on line will be either looking for discounted prices OR luxury selection not available locally.


In other words, this is a much better headline than the losing ad’s.


First Line of Copy: The first line of copy makes an unsubstantiated claim, but mixes it with a concrete and substantiated adjective: “Stylish Wooden Cradles.” The “Stylish” is subjective and unsubstantiated, but the “Wooden” ads credence to the stylish part, and ads a sensory detail.


Also, the “In stock” lends credence to the store itself by indicating that the online store isn’t just a drop-shipper of other’s goods, and instead actually has the items in stock and ready to ship.


Again, this line of body copy is much better than the losing ad’s.


Second Line of Copy: This is where the winning ad REALLY seals in the win by providing a deal sweetener that objectively answer real buying concerns on the part of the searcher/shopper. “Free Shipping” answers the question, “will the prices be low enough to justify paying for shipping?” Answer: yes, because shipping is free.


Whereas the other elements of the ad would provide for a solid win, this is the difference that creates the gigantic performance difference evidenced by a 419% increase in CTR.


Displayed URL: Obviously, putting “Cradles” in the URL for an ad targeted at people searching for “Cradles” just makes sense. Another advantage for the winning ad.


In Conclusion


I’ve often said that seemingly small differences in ads can create large psychological differences in how those ads are perceived by searchers, and therefore yield equally large differences in performance. And this is true.


But when you have these sort of advantageous differences on every line coupled with one large, very important difference, now you’re taking the performance improvement to a whole new level. And 419% increase in CTR definitely qualifies as a “whole new level.”


But squeezing maximum performance out of every element of your PPC Ad isn’t something that’s done casually, as a collateral duty. It’s something that requires a professional (or at least experienced) ad writer along with a bit of testing.


And that’s exactly what BoostCTR is in the business of providing for your PPC improvement efforts…


 

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