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Strategic placement of search ads is extremely important, but the effectiveness is stifled without a creative factor that increases relevance and draws in the clicks.
Creatives should be tied to keywords
The consumers of today are on the move. They run price comparisons at the department store on their smart phones, they review the news on their tablets while riding the bus, and receive notifications on their smartwatches. Today’s consumers are constantly connected … and very mobile!
The fact that so many mobile screens are being utilized-every minute-everywhere-it opens up a whole new world of marketing moments. For instance, someone looking for a tire shop during lunchtime on their work computer is probably considering purchasing new tires, and looking for the best deal. However, someone looking for a tire shop at 4:42 p.m. from their mobile smartphone is most likely standing next to their car on the side of the freeway with a blowout. Which ad will you serve?
For marketers, the right message must be delivered to the right buyers-at the right time. Appropriate creative improves ad relevance, driving more qualified clicks. Of course, better relevance and higher click-through rates lead to better quality scores, can improve positioning, lower cost per click and ultimately affect the bottom line, providing more bang for your advertising buck.
All of the components of the search ecosystem must work cooperatively; no part stands alone. Consumers want … and expect … consistency in their search experience, no matter what screen they’re on. This requires that the creative-keyword connection must be a seamless one.
Place associative keywords back into your ad creative
An ad that contains a phrase that a user has searched for is way more likely to catch a consumer’s attention than one that does not. As an example, if your keyword is dill pickle relish, an attention-catching ad my look something like this:
It’s helpful that the ad text that matches the keywords in the user’s search is bolded, which emphasizes the relevance, and makes it stand out.
- Based on Google data, keywords that are tied into headlines alone boosted ad CTRs an average of 15%
- Just by tying keywords into the display URLs there was an average lift of 8%
- Ads featuring keywords in both the headline and the first description line had a positive impact on CTR 68% of the time.
The copy should be simple, yet compelling
Once the creative is associated closely with your keywords, you must now highlight the unique selling points, writing ads that compel the consumer to make the purchase.
Specify a call-to-action that is pertinent to your business. In addition, it should be closely related to what consumers will see on your website. These CTAs could include: “Try our Relish Today,” or “Receive a Free Sample” or “Place Your Order Now.” From this, users can glean added info, which is a positive, as anyone who clicks on the ad are most likely pre-qualified leads.
This call-to-action should be closely tied to your landing page. A direct connection between your landing page copy and your ad creative is considered a good match, and will lend relevance to your ad.
Don’t try to cram too many points into your ad; it will only lead to confusion. Stick with one good point at a time, as you only have 70 characters and one headline to work with. You can make them count by emphasizing one point that will impress the consumer. You may consider the inclusion of pricing, product names, discounts, customizations and special offers.
Statistics show that by simply adding the term, “Official site” alone lifts CTRs by an average of 2.4%. In addition, by capitalizing the title, as well as placing a keyword in the headline, the CTRs can be boosted 62% of the time.
Ads should be tailored for mobile searches
Mobile searches are different beasts than the typical desktop or laptop searches. Those searching on a mobile device tend to be in a big hurry, less patient, more task-driven and more likely to be nearer to the end of their purchasing journey! They’re more inclined to search for things like directions, hours of operation, one-click checkout or mobile applications.
As a marketer, you should:
- Use mobile-preferred creative
- Communicate that your site is mobile friendly
- Make mobile creative flexible
Your call-to-action can be mobile-specific for your mobile preferred creative. For instance, messages like “Call now to book a table” offer mobile users new ways to take action-immediately!
Utilize ad extensions
Relevance can be improved by using ad extensions. They can offer additional information about your product or service, and provide more reasons for the consumer to engage with the ad. In addition, they can expand the ad’s visual footprint, making it more visible and increasing the click-through rate.
Ad sitelinks are direct links that connect deeper into your website, and run below your text ads. Consumers click more often when a link is just what they are looking for. There are some users that have seen an increased CTR as much as 30% by adding sitelinks.
- Each mobile-preferred sitelink should not exceed 15 characters or it will most likely be truncated when being viewed on a smartphone.
- The maximum mobile-preferred sitelinks that can be served is 3 for any particular ad. If you create 6, you will have variations for testing and optimizing.
Testing and optimizing your creatives
Ads that are effective today, may not be so effective tomorrow. Ads must continually be tested and optimized in order to remain current, and effective. That’s why Genius Monkey continually offers the “human oversight” to constantly conduct multivariate testing to assure that each ad placed is producing at its maximum capability.
Your creative optimization efforts should constantly be prioritized. Campaigns with the highest-volume ad groups should be tested first, in order to maximize the returns that the creative optimization can produce. You then must prioritize the ads that need the most improvement. Some of the red flags to watch out for are:
- Ads with underperforming click-through rates
- Ads with underperforming conversion rates
- Ads serving against keywords with low quality scores
The A/B testing should always be underway, making sure that the ad is performing with optimal results. In order to maintain the forward momentum for their clients, Genius Monkey continually monitors the advertising results from front to back, running various forms of multivariate testing to assure that traffic engagement remains peaked, and that the video and digital banner ads remain optimized to their fullest potential.
