When coming up with the perfect PPC Ad, the dilemma is: How do you use your ad copy to pass your message to your digital audience using the least amount of words? Is it even possible?
Well, Google rakes in well over $116 billion in advertising revenue annually. That’s a whole lot of advertising. So if you’re not leveraging on PPC campaign, well, your competition already has you beat.
This guide compiles 15 PPC tips that will teach you how to write an ad that sells. Read on.
1. It’s not about you
Yes, it’s your company and yes, it’s your brand. Sure, nobody knows it the way you do.
But it really isn’t about you now, is it? You need to make it about your audience and part of that process involves getting into their mindset and anticipate their search queries.
2. How to Write an Ad That Sells: Perspective Matters
When making your PPC ad copy your audience are the ones who’ll be reading your ad copy. So you need to make sure that you imply the word “you” more than you do “ours” or “us.”
3. What Makes Your Brand Unique
When writing your ad copy you need to include what benefits your products bring to the table that makes your brand different from your competitors. This is what ultimately informs your audience’s decision when it comes to whether or not they’ll click on your ad.
4. Check out Your Competitors Ads
It’s very likely that you have competitors in your industry. It doesn’t hurt to check out how their ads compare to yours. It’ll give you an idea of what features you should place emphasis on.
5. Think Bigger Picture
When you’re writing ad copy make sure that you think about the ad extensions you’ll use to avoid redundancy.
If not you might end up repeating the same message when more ad extensions show up relaying the exact same text copy. Not only will your audience find this distracting, but it’s also quite off-putting as well.
6. The Call-To-Action Is the Heart of Your PPC Ad Copy
Forgetting to include a CTA is a PPC marketing crime. Ensure you use an action verb that is strong and clear, to push your audience to take the next step. Great examples include: “Learn more,” “Request a Quote,” “Shop Now,” etc.
7. Include Keywords
At the risk of stating the obvious, you need to include relevant and highly targeted keywords in your PPC ad copy. These need to be situated in your first or second headline.
8. Match Your Ad Copy to the Search Phrase
Mirror the exact phrase users enter into the search engine. This is likely to give your ad more traction than if you used a different phrase altogether.
For instance, people searching for coffee shops in LA will most likely input “Coffee shops LA.” So, your ad copy should have that exact phrase incorporated. This will get you more traction than if it read “Places where you can have coffee in Los Angeles.”
9. To Price or Not to Price
Stating the price point in your ad copy can be a double-edged sword. Weigh the pros and the cons of doing so, relative to the industry you’re in.
If your product is price-competitive, then you should definitely include it. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your ads in case your competitors decide to undercut you.
10. Qualify Your Prospects
In order to get the most of out of your PPC marketing campaign, you need to qualify your prospects. This eliminates the possibility of your ads getting clicks from audience segments that you don’t serve.
Make it clear who the ad is intended for so that those who don’t qualify can keep on scrolling. For instance, say you’re running a dating service for the older folks. You have organized a singles’ mixer.
An appropriate qualifier would be something along the lines of “…for straight singles aged 40 and up.” That way when singles aged 39 and below see your ad, they won’t bother clicking on it.
11. Headlines Are King
In the digital marketing realm, content is king. But, when it comes to PPC ad copy, headlines take the crown.
You need to craft them carefully and beautifully. All other elements like the description line, display URL and ad extensions exist to complement what‘s written in the headlines.
12. Test and Optimize
You might think of yourself as a modern day genius when it comes to crafting the perfect ad copy. You might very well be, but, it’s always better to create another two or three ads for each ad group.
Let Google Adwords rotate them every so often. That way you’ll know which ads are performing better and which ones you can optimize to get the results you want.
13. Address Your Audience’s Objections Before They Do
Take control of the objections your visitors may have and respond to them right off the bat. For instance, if your ad copy has to do with a food delivery service, you can address hygiene issues, freshness issues, and nutrition issues within your ad.
You can say something like, “…fresh ingredients used daily without trans-fats or artificial additives… All food is prepared in adherence to strict food-safety standards…” You get the idea.
14. Be Location Specific
When creating your PPC ad copy localize it so that you can be both relevant and familiar to your target audience.
For instance, if your business is a flower delivery service make sure your ad copy is geographically specific to the people looking for flower delivery services in your area. It could read something like “Long Beach, CA Best Florist – Save 35% Off & Free Delivery.”
15. Optimize for Mobile
Ensure you optimize your PPC ads for mobile viewing as well. You can take advantage of Ad text customize.
This Adwords feature allows you to create a text ad with a headline and description specifically optimized for mobile devices. It helps to read through the Google PPC ad copy best practices to learn how to do this.
The Bottom Line
When all is said and done, even the most targeted PPC ad campaign can’t survive bad Ad copy. Now that you know how to write an ad that sells, use the tips in this guide to writing captivating PPC text ads that will capture your audience’s attention and get your message across effectively.
Not quite sure where to begin? Check out our beginner’s guide to PPC.