How to write great ad copy that works
How a paid search ad is constructed will make a huge impact for your brand and for performance. Jack Gamwell shows us what really works.
The digital sphere is growing ever faster, but many sectors are becoming more competitive too. It’s hard to differentiate yourself out there and cut through the noise. This is where the building blocks of digital advertising must be refined. And none is more important than ad copy when aiming to drive higher rates of engagement and value.
In this piece we will explore how, when, and why to apply different styles of copy writing to your paid search marketing campaigns.
6 key tips
If you only take away one section of this article, the following best practices will be sure to improve your ad copy:
Maximise EVERY character within the limits set
Capitalise each word for a clean, professional look. It makes the copy jump out faster than lower case
Utilise all available headlines / descriptions
When creating ETAs (Expanded text ads), try to have 3 variations per ad group plus 1 RSA (Responsive search ad) - migrating to RSAs only in time for June 2022, when ETAs are phased out.
Try and incorporate the triggered keyword into your headlines / descriptions to boost your ad relevancy – avoid spamming and ensure it is appropriate.
Ensure grammar and spelling are both error free
PPC isn’t necessarily at the bottom of the funnel
As much as the marketing funnel is an invaluable concept when designing campaigns and branding, pigeon-holing PPC to the bottom of the funnel as a conversion generator isn’t always correct. For example, if I search ‘holidays in Spain’, can you tell if I’m intending to book a holiday right now? Or am I researching? With this in mind ensure your copy can cover both scenarios:
Position your brand name front and centre of your first headline. This way if a user recognises the brand, they are more likely to click. If they don’t, we’ve taken a step towards building brand salience.
Make sure at least one of your headlines / descriptions are telling the story of your brand or products you stock, building or reinforcing brand awareness.
Ensure snappy calls to action (CTAs) are present. This entices all users regardless of their knowledge of your brand.
Testing, Testing, Testing
As this subtitle suggests, testing different ad copy variations is one of the most sure-fire ways to improve the quality and results of your messaging. This can be conducted with an A/B test, however the caveat here is you are usually comparing different time periods amongst a plethora of other variables. This means you cannot guarantee any change in performance metrics are directly attributed to ad copy changes. To combat this, you can use tools such as Google’s ad variations. As its name suggests, you can run ads with slight changes. For example, does ‘Save Half Price Off x’ or ‘Save £x off x’ resonate better with users. With this tool both ad variations run concurrently, with the option to split budget equally. This reduces as many external variables as possible, returning more accurate results. Finally, it is crucial to understand how your success is measured in your business, which will guide what key metric to track. Variation A could benefit from a stronger click through rate, however lead to a lower conversion rate and higher bounce rate.
Feeds and automation
Connecting business data to Google Ad Customisers is crucial at scale, or if location / time based messaging are key to driving KPIs. In a large account with many different products and variables, the complexity of this can easily escalate, so building a clear control sheet to change ads at scale via Ad Customisers is key.
For the automation of copy, Google’s Responsive Search Ads will become the primary ad unit in June 2022 - so write headlines and descriptions for RSAs first, and think of how they will be tested against each other as they go live.
Understanding how consumers see your brand / industry
Always consider the industry in which you operate. This is especially important in certain sectors where wording guidelines must be followed. Such is in the case within financial or legal services. Here it is recommended to ensure headlines / descriptions are pinned to show in a specific order to confirm messaging is coherent and accurate.
Furthermore, the same applies when aligning copy to the idea a consumer holds of your brand. Take the example of a trendy, social media-friendly fashion brand. Users would expect some continuity in writing styles portrayed in your copy. However, it is important to consider that overly personal styles do not typically resonate as strongly in the PPC sphere (although, again, it’s worth testing!).
By following these outlined points, you have taken important steps towards improving your ad copy and consequently your performance metrics.
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