Writing the Best Possible PPC Ad - Focus on Benefits

If you want to get the highest possible CTR from your pay per click ads (and who doesn’t?), you should be applying a lesson that copywriters use in virtually every other field.  They write ads that focus on benefits.

There’s a distinction between benefits and features.  Features are aspects of the product you’re selling.  A feature of a cordless screwdriver, for instance, may be the fact that it can hold a charge for up to three solid hours.  That’s a great fact about the product, but it isn’t the kind of thing you should be writing about.  Instead, you want to look for the benefits of owning that screwdriver–what it could really mean for potential customers.  Instead of extolling the virtues of it’s long battery life, you’d want to hammer home the fact that it makes household repairs and assembly fast, fun and easy.  Instead of talking about the fact that it can use either straight or Phillips heads (another feature), you should be talking about the way it saves the user from bloody knuckles, offering a comfortable solution.

Focusing on benefits has been a hallmark of successful marketing for as long as people have been putting pen to paper.  However, many in the SEM world aren’t necessarily experienced copywriters.  Thus, they apply a sort of logical approach to ad writing.  They emphasize, naturally, what the product has instead of painting a picture of how its use will positively change the life of the buyer.  That’s a mistake.

Are your PPC ads focusing on benefits?  If they aren’t (or if you’re not sure), it’s time to revisit them.  Adjust them to fall into line with this time-tested approach to successful copywriting.  You’ll undoubtedly start to see a differenece as your CTR increases.

Turning 95 Characters into Sales – Writing Ads for Adwords.

PPC marketing is probably the fastest way to drive traffic to your site and it can be one of the most profitable—if it’s done correctly. An important part of the PPC equation is actually convincing people to click on your ad. It doesn’t do you any good to have the ad displayed every time someone queries for your keywords if they aren’t clicking.

Unfortunately, Google gives you a mere 95 characters to construct an enticing ad. You don’t have a lot of space to write irresistible copy in the world of PPC. In addition to playing by Google’s rules with respect to grammar, spelling, etc., you need to be strong, succinct and tempting.

That’s easier said than done, of course. And there’s no way to turn an absolutely miserable copywriter into a PPC ad writing superstar in a single blog post. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind when writing your Adwords ads that will increase your CTR dramatically.

First, you need a call to action. The call to action is a critical component of traditional copywriting. Every sales piece is a funnel leading to that moment where the prospect is convinced to follow through with action. Your 95-character PPC ad might be a tiny copy project, but you can’t overlook including a call to action if you want to produce the best possible results. Don’t just impart information. Make a point of persuasively directing searchers to click on your ad.

Second, you need to approach your ads as if you were a potential customer. If you’ve done market research, this is the time to use it. If you have a strong sense of your potential customers and what they really want, this is the time to make sure you’re giving it to them. Too often, PPC advertisers think like business people or advertisers instead of “getting into the head” of the people who’ll really be seeing (and hopefully clicking on) those ads. Write for your audience.

If you put together an ad that will resonate with your prospects and you manage to craft a compelling call to action, you can expect great results for your PPC ads. Your CTR will jump and you’ll be getting the most out of your Adwords investment.