12 PPC Ad Ideas When Writing in 2018

Great news! Only 12 steps away from the best text ads you’ve ever written.

All aspects of PPC unite together to form a well-oiled machine, we can look at ad copy as the oil that keeps systems running smoothly. Communication is key in good any text ad, space is limited and to get the desirable clicks often, ads act as the potential client’s first introduction to your brand, services and products. Needless to say, first impressions can never be made twice so act accordingly.

Always ensure your ad covers key points. One of the main points to cover is attention capturing. Be sure your signals come across clear and concise. This will entice the right prospects to click your ad, just make sure you’re within character constraints.

What constitutes great text ad? Follow these 18 tips to get you started in the right direction.

1. PPC Ad Tip: Communicate with your client!

When onboarding a client, it’s crucial to ask the right questions. Find their unique selling proposition (USP), There’s simply no comparison to getting the tale straight from the horse’s mouth!

So often we find a client has the most accurate, complete and detailed description of their goods, services and other offerings. When writing text ads, we’ll use their words carefully and often verbatim for ad building.

2. Be the targeted audience

Before writing a word, be sure you know your audience! That means taking a walk in there shoes, really try to capture a snippet of their perspective that way we already know your ads will be a big hit with the right crowd. You may want to ask questions like;

what are some everyday problems you experience?

What causes the most problems?

How could these goods and services solve their problems?

What questions would potential prospects about these goods and services?

Answering all or even some of these questions will help lead you and your clients down the right course for their needs.

3. It’s all about the audience

Remember the audience, remember the goal. Create relevant text ads. When writing ads, it should always be put through the filter of your audience, just because you like it does not necessarily mean your audience will. Always write from the perspective as if you were searching for the product yourself. For example, look at these two headlines:

Ex. 1 “123 Computer Parts – Shipped Internationally!”

Ex. 2 “123 Computer Parts – We Ship Internationally!”

Example 1 is the more capturing of the two because you are making the the prospect the focal point instead of yourself.

4. Include product/service benefits

Your product has to stand out to your desired audience. Ask yourself, what can I offer that is different than my competition?

When relevant make sure to list your unique selling propositions (USP) to your audience.

5. How do you set yourself apart from the competition?

Put next to your competition’s ad copy how does yours compare? If you ever need inspiration or direction, look up your competitions ads.

You’re not looking to plagiarize exactly what the competition is saying, although understanding what they are trying to accomplish and how can help you decide what key points to highlight.

6. Look at the big picture, as well as the finer details

Always keep in mind the overall goal, cultivate a laser focus.

Repeating yourself is good sometimes when it helps make your point. But “Get $20 off!” showing in three separate places, it’s not only distracting, it’s wasting finite space.

7. Call To Action!

Be sure in the ad copy, you tell your visitors what action to take, this can be as simple as saying “Learn More”, “View Now”, “Shop Now”, “Buy Now”, or “Request A Quote From Us Today.”

Be certain your call to action is strongly stated and abundantly clear. Use action words and include any actual time limits “Shop Today! Sale This Weekend Only!”

Naturally you’ll need to include your keywords in the first or second lines of your Ad Copy. This is the initial indicator in a potential client’s mind that your ad is what they are searching for.

8. Mirror keywords & phrases

The closer your ad copy is to your potential client’s keywords & phrases the more likely they are to click.

So, for example, if people are searching for “Event Planning St. Pete,” then try putting “Event Planning in St. Pete” in the ad copy instead of “Planning Events in Saint Petersburg.”

9. Consider stating your price point

Decide if including your pricing in your ad works for you or not. If your researching has been thorough, you will know how competitive your pricing is, if you’ve identified this as a strength, then include it. Be certain to monitor competition carefully, this is to protect yourself against your competitors dropping their prices or have sales.

Another time including your price can be beneficial is as a deterrent for those who may not be able to afford your product. If you know your product is a more expensive high-end quality item it’s worth considering putting the price to discourage bargain shoppers from wasting their time in the wrong place.

10. Whenever possible, use qualifying elements

It can be useful to include qualifiers into your ad. This can help sift through the untargeted traffic you are inevitably bound to attract. We touched on this concept in the last idea, referencing when you can use price as a means of deterring price-sensitive potential clients from clicking.

This makes clear that the company focuses on clients with a certain price point they are willing to spend and unless you qualify you need not click. The prospect clients that do have the money to spend are more likely to click and convert in some way. In contrast, ads that don’t have this kind of qualifier can easily lead to non-converting traffic.

11. Have fresh eyes proofread

Once you complete the processes of brainstorming and writing an ad find fresh eyes to check your work in fact the more people you can get to genuinely look over your ad copy and edit it the better your ads can be.

Ideally a PPC associate will write an ad. A supervisor will get a chance to review the ad. Then, the ad will be reviewed for client approval.

With a checks and balances system like this in place the idea is you’ll get multiple opportunities to catch errors.

12. A/B testing, testing, testing

As soon as you create the perfect ad, stop. Write another ad, then another ad. It’s always smart to craft a few ads, then test them to see how they perform. This is known as A/B testing.

Create at least three to four ads for an ad group. You want to use different messages for each ad to see which performs the best. AdWords can rotate ads automatically to show the best-performing ads more often.

Even the most stellar PPC programs need great text ads. You must do them right.

Follow the 12 tips and ideas outlined above and take your ad writing skills to the next echelon, you’re far more likely to create text ads that grab attention, communicate your message clearly and get qualified prospects to click and convert.

By: Ken Soracchi, PPC Coordinator