This post was co-written by Holly Niemiec and Conor Bond. Summer is here for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. If you’re like me, the warm weather and sunshine make it hard to focus on anything besides relaxing outside with a cold drink and listening to OutKast.
While it’s tempting to embrace summer completely, we still have work to do. Even with great keywords and targeted audiences, there’s one crucial element for reaching potential customers: ad copy.
Excellent point! We’ll delve into value propositions, social proof, and sitelinks later.
Ultimately, we need people to click on our ads (except for awareness campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network). More specifically, we need the right people to click. This means improving our ad copywriting skills.
2 Tips for Creating Your Best Google Ads
Writing ad copy for Facebook is different from writing for Google. Each platform responds better to different techniques (we’ll provide plenty of examples later). In our upcoming webinar, we’ll share four tips for writing better ads on each platform. For now, here are two key tips for compelling Google Ads.
1. Tailor Your Message to the Customer Journey
Google aims to provide the most relevant search results, relying heavily on keywords to determine an ad’s relevance to a specific query. It’s generally recommended to use targeted keywords in your ad copy.
While including target keywords is important, I believe they shouldn’t be the primary focus of your ad copy. Instead, focus on addressing the specific needs of users searching for information related to your business. This means aligning your message with each stage of the customer journey.
What does this mean? People searching for terms related to your business are at different points in their customer journey – the path from recognizing a problem to buying a solution. Someone at the beginning (awareness stage) wants to learn about available options. Someone near the end (conversion stage) is more likely to make a purchase.
TripAdvisor’s ad is a great example for someone at the beginning of their customer journey.
When users look at search results, they choose based on their immediate needs. Therefore, to attract clicks, your ads should directly address those needs. This means focusing on aligning your copy with the customer journey stages, even if it means being less strict with keyword targeting.
Think about it: People don’t click on ads because they’re impressed by keyword density. They click because the ad offers something valuable.
Free guide 2. Explain Why People Shouldn’t Click Your Ad
You might be thinking, “Wait, shouldn’t we be encouraging clicks?” Why would we tell people not to click?
Because some people who see your ads are highly unlikely to become customers. It seems obvious, but it’s worth emphasizing: You only want users to click if there’s a chance they’ll convert. Otherwise, you’re wasting money on clicks with no return.
Ideally, we could completely eliminate unqualified clicks, but that’s not realistic. However, we can use copywriting strategies to minimize these budget-draining clicks. The most effective way is to use your copy to clearly define your target audience, implicitly indicating who your product or service is not for.
For example, if you’re not a student, this ad wouldn’t appeal to you, right?
Let’s say you sell skincare products specifically for women. To drive traffic and build your remarketing list, you’re bidding on the modified broad match keyword +skin +care +products. The problem is that men might also see ads linked to this keyword. Since your products are for women, you don’t want men clicking. The solution? Include “for women” in your headlines and descriptions. While this may not eliminate all clicks from men, it will significantly reduce them.
2 Tips for Writing Outstanding Facebook Ads
While Google’s audience targeting has improved, Facebook is still the platform for reaching specific demographics. However, getting your message in front of the right people is only half the battle; the message itself is crucial. Here are two tips for writing exceptional Facebook ads.
1. Test, Test, Test
As marketers, we make assumptions. With Google Ads, we assume our targeted keywords reflect the right user intent. When we create Facebook custom audiences, we assume they’ll be interested in our offer. When writing ad copy, we assume it will resonate.
However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, your carefully crafted Facebook ad copy might miss the mark, resulting in a low click-through rate (failing to attract the right audience) or a low conversion rate (failing to deter the wrong audience).
While assumptions are unavoidable, they can be valuable learning opportunities. That’s why A/B testing is essential.
An A/B test compares the performance of two ads. You can use this to optimize various Facebook advertising elements (audience, call to action, etc.), but it’s particularly effective for refining ad copy. The goal is to answer one question: Does a specific messaging style resonate significantly better with our audience than another?
For instance, changing “viral growth” to “10X more traffic” might make a difference. The only way to know is to test it.
Here’s a simple example. You’re starting with Facebook Ads and want to determine if your audience prefers a casual or professional tone. For one week, target them with a casual ad. The next week, use a professional ad targeting the same audience. If one performs significantly better, you’ve gained valuable insight into your ad copy!
2. Strive for a Seamless Blend
Here’s another reality: People generally dislike being advertised to, especially when browsing photos or checking updates on Facebook. Facebook’s algorithm even accounts for this. The less engagement your ad is expected to generate, the worse its performance will be.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon Facebook advertising altogether. It just means you need to create ads that provide a positive user experience by blending in with their environment.
Creating Facebook ads that don’t disrupt the user experience is simpler than it seems. Just consider what your target audience wants to see. Remember aligning Google Ads copy with their customer journey stage? The same principle applies to creating effective Facebook ads that seamlessly integrate into their News Feeds.
This is a fantastic example of a well-integrated ad (not to get too meta).
Imagine you’ve been running Facebook Ads and want to introduce your business to new users. You create a lookalike audience based on those who clicked your ads previously. Since this is their first interaction with your business, asking them to sign up for a free trial is unlikely to blend in. It would seem out of place. Instead, invite them to watch a video or read a blog post. This is more appropriate and might even lead some users to initially not realize it’s an ad! That’s a win.
Don’t Miss Our Webinar!
These four tips are just the beginning. We have much more to share about creating effective Google and Facebook ads. Join our webinar next Wednesday for twice the copywriting insights – completely free! Register here if you’re interested.