Writing an effective PPC ad brings up several factors that are unique to this form of marketing. Even if you have created successful print advertisements in the past, you are dealing with a whole new beast when it comes to PPC ad writing.
PPC Ad Writing Considerations
There are several considerations which determine the specifics of PPC ad writing. For one, you have only 25 characters for a headline and 35 characters allotted to the brief description so you’d better figure out how to say what you want succinctly.
Next, grouping your keywords is of utmost importance. You cannot use the same ad for disparate keywords (well you can, but it does nothing for the success of your campaign). Relevancy of your ad to the targeted keywords is critical to gain successful click-throughs.
Finally, you must put each ad to the test. Until you have your ad in place for a while and then examine the analytics, you have no idea whether or not your copy is effective. Consider testing the headline and the description independently of each other to determine which area needs the most tweaking.
PPC Ad Writing – Types Of Ads
If you are ready to start PPC ad writing, you have four basic models to choose from: keyword headline, question, dynamic keywords, and creative.
The first one, keyword headline, is the most basic. Simply take the keywords you are bidding on and insert them into your headline. For instance, if your PPC campaign utilises the keywords “horse training DVD” you might write a headline that is, simply, “Best Horse Training DVD”. Note that due to character constraints, there is little else you could add to your keywords.
The second type of headline asks a question that is relevant to your target market. Using the example above, this headline might read “Is Your Horse Crazy?” This headline is sure to gain attention partly from its rather humorous query and partly because it speaks directly to the frustrated horse owner – your target market.
Using dynamic keyword insertion in your headline is a bit trickier. It takes some care to set this one up as you are creating code that changes the headline to match the exact search term someone used to find the ad. Not only can the result be a very awkward combination, it could get you into trouble. This type of headline is better left for very savvy PPC marketers using very specific and brief keyword phrases.
Finally, the last type of headline requires a bit of thought and a lot of inventiveness. The idea is to stand out from the crowd by creating a headline that makes someone do a double take. Consider the one major problem that all members of your target market share and expand on that. You may want to be totally irreverent. Perhaps you want to go the opposite direction of what most internet marketing education courses teach – refrain from using cheap or inexpensive and let the internet searcher know your product is aimed at a wealthier demographic. You’ll never know if your creative ad copy will work until you try it.
What about that short description? Usually your business tagline is perfect here, but you may also create something different that perfectly complements your headline, i.e. ask a question in the headline, answer it in the description.
When PPC ad writing, consider trying one or all of these types of headlines and then perform some split testing, carefully analyse the results to help you determine which one might work best for your target demographic.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hello Sean,
You amaze me with how much knowledge you know about the internet. I found this blog very interesting. I love to come up with different names and eye catching phrases for each time I write. Its interesting to see what catches the audience eyes. I will need to add this blog to my favorites also, because again its jam backed full of great hints and tips. Thanks Sean
Glad you are finding the information helpful Lisa. Come back soon, there are plenty more tips and tricks on the way
Yes dynamic keyword insertion can be risky. I remember an article having a laugh at Kmart or Target for having ads such as ‘Buy your Mum Here’ or words to the effect.
Split testing the ads equally is the best approach (and not letting Google choose the best ad). This allows you to see what’s working, then challenge that combination again with another ad contender.
Yes, dynamic keyword insertion can be risky if you don’t know what you are doing, and is something best left to the PPC pros. As for split testing your PPC ads, if you are not doing it, how do you know what’s really working and what is possible? Good comment David.
I remember I had a similar issue when I first used dynamic keyword insertion. Luckily I picked it up quickly and changed the keywords and ad around to make more sense.
I believe that the trick is to use highly targeted keywords per ad group so that things such as dynamic keyword insertion aids in your PPC efforts.
When I was doing some PPC and even making a little money I found that for me the most successful ads were ones that had some form of Arkansas hillbilly (where I am from) humor. I remember one which was about weight loss and I ended it with ‘waddle in here’.
With all the restrictions it seems to me worth the time and effort to find something sufficiently outrageous but related that will amuse a certain type. I found that the ads I wrote that tried to cater to everyone reached practically no one. So, for me, a targeted audience (even one with a silly sense of humor) is better than a general one.
Thanks for your help and hints.
That’s really interesting and useful, Dobbs. I will see if I can think of some expressions that are unique to my targeted demographic.
Sean
Thanks for the article. Very timely.
I have been considering using PPC ads. I have been apprehensive about it after hearing all the horror stories of people losing their shirts.
I can definitely sympathize with you here Gee. PPC was, and still is a massive learning curve for me.
There are a few ‘golden rules’ to follow and one that I employ over all others is to set a budget and stick to it. This way I know exactly what I am spending and don’t get over my head.
Sticking to a budget is a great idea Cemil. If you are beginning with PPC marketing, start out with a very small budget, do some testing with different keywords and ads and see what is working for you.
Good idea. If the budget is used up quickly you can first check if it did create any income for you or if people were just browsing. So you find out what is working and put your money to only the ones that are worth it.
Great thing about PPC is that you’re in total control of the budget.
I have come across some ads that use dynamic keyword insertion and very often have been disappointed. So I am very reluctant to click on ads that show exactly my long tail keyword that I am searching for.
I think that Dynamic Keyword Insertion works very well Renee. It may have to do with the human brain or something. It’s like when people see the exact keyword that they are looking for its a magnet for them to click on it.
On the flip-side, the advertiser needs to ensure that their landing page is relevant, or we leave the site just as quickly as we came.
I have an awareness of how tricky PPC is after putting in a lot of effort to get it ‘right’ and then barely breaking even. But this post puts it so well, I will be referring back here when I do it again.
Hi Sean,
I am definitely keen to try PPC and these are really great ad writing tips. After reading this though, I’m thinking maybe I need to master writing attention grabbing headlines and interesting posts first. I don’t think my boring style is going to cut it.
Do you have any suggestions on what a reasonable budget would be for a beginner? Should I allocate $80-$100/week? Is this too little or too much? Also, what is a good length of time? I’m thinking 3 months but I would really appreciate your advice.
How much can you afford to lose per week Jazz? That is the real question you need to ask yourself. Sales are not guaranteed, so budget wise, you have to look at worst case scenario in my opinion. I would imagine 1 month should give you a fair indication of whether or not a particular campaign is working or not, depending on how much split testing you do.
To be honest, PPC advertising looks pretty daunting for someone that doesn’t know what they are doing. At least with using SEO & Social Media to drive traffic, if you don’t get it right they won’t drain your bank account. Coming from a newbies perspective I guess for the more experienced guys it is probably an important part of their marketing strategy.
PPC can surely drain the cash fast if you are unfamiliar with it Jeremy. If you are going to try it, it’s best to test it with a very small budget and learn all you can before diving right in
Sean,
Great ideas. Keep em flowing..Learnt something here and like the idea of the puzzle illustrating what you are teaching here. Perfect!!!
Cheers
Rose