How to Write Better Ad Copy for Paid Search

When planning your paid search campaign, review your ad copy and look for ways to improve it. This single step is often overlooked but can have a significant impact on the success of your PPC campaign.

Depending on how bad your ad copy is currently, people have seen a significant improvement to conversions. This can represent a large portion of your budget, especially when you consider that you are paying per-click, not per-conversion. Refreshing your ad copy on a regular basis is all part of ongoing PPC management and whether done by you, or a firm like us, setting and forgetting your ad copy is not a wise idea.

Our Ad Copy Suggestions

• Speak to your customer service team. Your customer-interfacing staff is likely to know what common objections are and what people are calling about. You can incorporate that into your ad copy, for example, “Call now! We are open 24/7”.

• Focus on your unique selling propositions. Consider what you offer that your competitors don’t and incorporate it into your paid search and organic marketing campaigns. For example, if you offer same day appointments or free shipping – talk about it.

• Propose a call to action. Understandably you are trying to get someone to click on your ad and placing a call to action in your ad copy, can inspire them to do exactly that. You can ask people to download, book an appointment, or order from your ad. Be sure to that specific page so that taking action is easy. Part of PPC management is ensuring that your links work, so be sure to check them on a regular basis.

• Make slight adjustments. Paid search ad copy can start to blend together, making it important to adjust your copy slightly in order to stand out from the competition. While this may sound difficult, carefully considering where to place certain words can make all the difference. For example, “easy returns” vs. “free returns” or “free shipping on returns”. While saying the same thing, simply phrasing it differently can ensure that your ad isn’t the same as your competitions.

• Change your tone. Good PPC management includes evaluating your demographics and how they like to communicate. For example, does your target audience take life more seriously or are they more whimsical? You can adjust your ad copy accordingly. For example, “affordable vacation packages” versus “your dream adventure vacation”. You can be selling the exact same thing while targeting two very different customer groups.

• Ask questions. Instead of informing your customer, try asking a question to see if that improves your click-through ratio. For example, “open for dinner” or “hungry for dinner?”.

When managing a PPC campaign, you can make changes to your ad copy as often as you need to. In fact, we recommend it. Make subtle changes on a regular basis and watch how your analytics change. Doing so, until you find the perfect ad, is important as it will create customer acquisition opportunities and increase your profitability.