Pay-per-click platforms, such as Google AdWords, can seem daunting for most businesses, especially those who are new to it. There are endless ways to customize your ads and tons of metrics to monitor. This can be a tiresome chore but here’s the thing: PPC pays off. It can increase brand awareness by 80% and give your business the opportunity to create highly targeted paid ads campaigns to reach the most relevant customers online.

Search Engine Marketing is also a great way for small and medium enterprises which may not yet be able to compete in the organic rankings. They can also raise brand awareness, boost website traffic, and increase sales. In fact, on an average, PPC doubles return on investment, making it a crucial part of your sales strategy.

If you’re interested in paid ads but don’t know where to start, you needn’t worry. There’s already a lot of effective, high-converting PPC campaigns that you can take your cue from or better yet, you can work with a performance marketing agency to help you run high-performing and budget-efficient campaigns. All you need to do is to know their strategies and apply them for your own ads. Keep these strategies in mind.

1. Look at your competitors’ copy

Most of the time, your paid ads are the first time a potential customer will see or hear about your brand and making a good first impression from the get-go is absolutely important. A great PPC ad copy grabs attention, entices customers with an offer, and guides them to conversion. To start, look at your competitors’ ad copies and see what keywords or strategies they’re using. Are they using particular keywords in their headlines? Are they offering discounts or promos? What calls to action are they using? Perhaps they’re using emotional triggers or testimonials? Take note of these and try to copy them on your own ads.

2. Use emotions

Research shows that campaigns with emotional content performed twice as better as those with rational content. Emotion plays a big role in purchasing products or services and tapping into the right ones ensure advertising success.

3, Highlight your unique value proposition (UVP)

Once you grab your customer’s attention, think about your UVP. Put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes: why should I buy your product or use your service? What makes you better than the competition? Knowing and using a UVP helps your brand stand out from the rest. For instance, if you, say, offer same day delivery, mention it in your ads. If you specialize in a niche service, mention that, too.

4. Use actionable call to actions

Once you’ve convinced a potential customer that you’re better than the competition, you now need to guide them to your conversion point. Including a call-to-action in your ad copy prompts customers to take action. Some actionable language you can use includes, “Buy Now”, “Shop Today”, “Contact Us”, “Start Free Trial”, and “Sign Up”.

5. Include testimonials

If you have them, you should also include testimonials in your ads. It’s a great way to drive traffic and clicks to your website. People trust reviews online as much as they trust reviews from friends and family. Think about how you decide when it comes to your own purchases. You’re more likely to buy a product when there are reviews about it online. You might even visit multiple sites just to determine if it’s really worth your money. We look for social proof when we purchase products or use services. Having social proof drives conversions and build your brand reputation. It’s a win-win, really.

6. Keep ads current

There’s nothing more disappointing than clicking on an an offer, only to find out it’s already expired. Keeping your ads up-to-date ensures that potential customers have a pleasant interaction with your brand and build your brand’s reputation as well. So make sure your paid ads team are always in the loop about new product releases, price updates, or any other important changes to your business.

7. Use dynamic keyword insertion

Dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) is a featured offered by Google AdWords that allow you, as the name implies, to dynamically insert keywords into your ad copy and customize it based on a search query. Let’s say, you sell cotton shirts and use the following keywords:

• cotton shirts
• best cotton shirts

With DKI, you can show searchers a more relevant ad since it’s dynamically programmed to include the user’s search query. Simply put, if someone is looking for “best cotton shirts” instead of just “cotton shirts”, your ad will still show up and be relevant to potential customers. By capitalizing “KeyWord” in different ways, you can control how your ads are displays. See the example below:

• keyword = cotton shirts
• Keyword = Cotton shirts
• KeyWord = Cotton Shirts
• KEYWORD = COTTON SHIRTS

But do keep in mind that DKI is only a small part of a larger keyword optimization strategy. This includes long-tail keyword optimization, negative keywords, and ad testing.

8. Be concise

Much like writing poetry, you want to make every word in your ad copy count. There’s not much room for long-winding ad copies; be concise and get to the point ASAP. Steer clear of using generic keywords like “cheap” or “free”, unless they really enhance your campaign. Otherwise, they can be a big turnoff to potential customers.

9. Keep experimenting

Great PPC campaigns don’t happen overnight so keep on testing until you find the right formula that resonates with your customers. Try tweaking small variables, such as word order or punctuation, every now and then. Keep an eye on competitors’ ads. Once you do get it right, continue testing to find out how you can improve your ads further.

Key takeaways

These are just some tips that can help you set up and manage a successful PPC campaign. Yes, it’s a lot of work but it all pays off in the long run. And, when in doubt, you can always hire a digital marketing agency to help you. LeapOut Digital offers Search Engine Marketing and Programmatic Advertising services. Get in touch with us today!