5 Simple tips on how you can improve ad copy by testing
Along with the keywords, ad copies are the backbone of each PPC account.
A good list of keywords will do nothing if you don’t have compelling ads that will draw the attention of searchers. Sure it will give your ads more impressions but might not gather clicks.
It will hurt your click-through rate (CTR) and quality score and soon, your ads will not appear on top pages anymore.
This will be a nightmare for every PPC managers.
It is mainly the reason why PPC marketers should think ads variations that may tickle the interest of customers as good as their keyword list. The challenge is, you only have 95 characters to sell your products or services.
Google AdWords gives you the control to have up to 50 ads per ad group, however the ideal number of active ads in each ad group is 3 to 4.
PPC managers should use these ad slots wisely by testing variety of ad copies to determine which ad appeals with the customers.
Let’s discuss further why you should do ad copy test and how to test?
1. Why do Ad Copy Test?
In marketing, A/B testing was being done to determine which ones produce positive results. PPC ad is not an exemption. Account managers run 3 to 4 variations of ads with each ad group and measures which one gathers more responses from searchers.
It is also to determine what type of ad customers will most likely to click and convert to sales.
2. What should be included in Ad copy?
Ads are the introduction to your website and it should create good impression. To have a good introduction, you should know your goals; what is the purpose of your campaign?
Ads should include clear description of your product, its benefits, special offers or promotions, key products and call to actions. You can sit down with your client or boss and discuss about them.
3. Test one thing at a time.
Honestly, I did not know about this until I read different blogs about PPC strategies. When I do testing, I just think variations about the products or services we sell.
I practically change whole thing about the ads with its varieties.
But the ideal way to test ads is you should only change one line at a time with each ad copy. It is to measure which of the headline or the description lines received higher Click-through rate (CTR) and number of converted clicks.
You can test as well with company name on headline or products / services name on headline, with or without official website on ad copy and with or without keywords on display URL.
4. Track and analyze the result.
Though it is an obvious step after setting up a test, most of the PPC managers who are bloggers as well, state that there are still managers who tend to forget to stop the testing and figure out the ad winner.
It maybe because ads should run with long enough time to gather data and measure the champion ads. And after waiting a long time, they forget to draw their attention back on testing.
Account managers should set a specific date to review each testing and stick with that. It is ideal to let the testing run for a month or gather up to 100 clicks before analyzing the result.
For large accounts, it is advisable to review testing every two weeks. You can use labels to keep track when do ads starts running.
5. Keep testing your Ad Copy
After getting the ad which collected most clicks and conversions, you may think you can stop testing. Your champion ad which continues to give you positive result is running on the first place.
But you should not stop experimenting about new ideas and variations with your ads. Start testing new ad copies against your winner ad. There might be another ad copy which can outperform your champion ad.
If you’re running out of new ideas, you can try to run your loser ads again and let them compete with your champion ad.
There are instances that “losers” performed better than champion ads. As what they say, treat it as a fashion, you are looking for what works best at the moment.
One way of being successful in managing PPC accounts is to think like a customer. You should know your audience, know their interests and know what attracts their attention. If you are not sure about them, test it!
