Considering how crucial they are to ecommerce and lead gen efforts, PPC ads continue to be grossly underestimated and misused.
Unless your SEO is good enough to get you onto the first page of search results, PPC ads are your ticket to putting your company and/or products in front of potential customers at the precise moment they’re looking for you.
Their importance is such that we can’t cover all of the dynamics here. But you can get a good start by breaking them down into three basic elements:
1. The Keyword
Contrary to their primary role in SEO, the main reason for using a keyword as close as possible to the start of your ad, preferably in the headline, is to develop a “scent” or “trail” for searchers. When we enter a word or phrase into a search engine, numerous studies show we are more likely to choose a result that reflects that keyword. We are looking for a point of familiarity in the results, and the keyword(s) we entered are it.
For example: “Solar Panels” is a great keyword for companies that install them. And a good headline would be:
Solar Panels Installed
2. The Trigger
With countless other ads vying for their attention, your customers need a reason to choose yours. That reason is the trigger and it’s best presented in the first description line of the ad.
People respond to certain types of triggers, including emotional triggers, like health, safety and love; and logical triggers, like saving money or time.
Continuing our solar panel example, the headline and trigger in the first description line might look like this:
Solar Panels Installed
Reduce your energy costs (the trigger is saving money)
3. The USP and/or Call to Action
To add impetus to your ad, follow up the trigger with your USP (something you offer that your competition doesn’t) or a call-to-action. Your USP tells readers the benefit they get from your company that they won’t get elsewhere. A call-to-action urges them to act sooner than later.
USP
Solar Panels Installed
Reduce your energy costs
Installs in less than a day (the USP is one-day installation)
Call-to-Action
Solar Panels Installed
Reduce your energy costs
Get a free quote today
As with all digital marketing, testing is key to finding the PPC ad copy that works best for you.
