Many of these columns focus in on what I might call the non-obvious factors that affect ad performance, mostly because one can only cover the obvious factors so much before boring the pants off of both writer and reader.
But that doesn’t mean the fundamentals are any less fundamental, and the astounding performance of this winning ad serves to drive that point home with a passion:
Would you believe that the winning ad increased CTR by 355%?
You would if you understood the fundamentals of good PPC Ad writing! And what fundamental principle is at work in this contest?
Use of credible, factual claims outperform vague, unverified statements.
Look at the losing ad. What should strike you immediately is that “High Quality” and “Affordable Prices” are both qualitative, unfalsifiable statements.
Affordable is in the eye of the beholder, what is affordable to one person could be exorbitant to another. In other words, it means nothing and will be assumed as deceptive by a skeptical reader.
High Quality also “means” nothing. What makes them high quality? To what level of quality are you comparing them?
Contrast this with the terminology used in the winning ad: “Dozens” and “$16.99”
When the ad promises dozens of superhero baby costumes, the ad is making a falsifiable claim. They either have more than 12 such costumes to chose from or the don’t. As a result, we believe them.
As importantly, dozens of costumes can be imagined. We have an instant picture regarding the size of their selection. And the reader may even infer that a store with dozens of costumes in a very narrowly defined niche, probably has scores or hundreds of other baby costumes.
So not only is the claim of “dozens” believed on a literal level, it engenders positive associations in the mind of the prospect as well. That’s a very good thing.
And then there’s $16.99. They don’t have to say affordable, they just give you a price, and then YOU think “That’s really affordable” in your mind — meaning that you actually believe it because the judgement came from you and not the advertiser.
Bottom Line: use factual, verifiable claims rather than vague adjectives. It aint sexy or sophisticated, but it works.
Tags: Astounding Performance, Baby Costumes, Credibility, Dozens, Eye Of The Beholder, Factual Claims, Fundamental Principle, High Quality, Literal Level, Niche, Passion, Skeptical Reader
Great post Jeff. I’ve always wondered why specificity pulls better than generalizations. “Common sense” would dictate that using specifics would repel more prospects than it attracts.
And that is true to an extent; specific ads do disqualify better than general ones. But it disqualifies non-prospects, not valuable clicks.
Beyond qualifying, I think what really gives specificity it’s power is that it makes visualizing the offer easier. Like you mentioned in the post, the word “dozens” is easy to see in the mind’s eye… much easier to see than a word like “tons” or “lots”. When a prospect can’t see or touch the offer in person, it’s important to make it as real as possible for them if you want a response.
You make some very strong points here. Great article! I think it’s worth adding that if you have a younger child, you are going to react emotionally to “adorable baby superhero costumes” in addition to anything less than $20 because when outfitting your child for a festivity, this price is a bargain!