About those ads that follow you around….

February 6, 2012 By

You know how sometimes you visit a website, and then you start seeing ads for that business all over the place, on a lot of the sites you visit? I’ve always wondered about that, but I have to admit I never looked into it. Turns out there’s a technique called “remarketing” or “retargeting” that does this. The idea is that you will be reminded of the website and the advertiser will have further opportunities to make an impression on you.

I learned all this from a short article called Are PPC Ads Following You?, written by Pay-Per-Click Manager Robert Brady of Righteous Marketing. Here’s how it works, from a technical perspective:

  • The site owner places a snippet of code on their website.
  • Site visitors have a cookie placed on their browser when they visit the website.
  • The advertiser creates ads and targets all users with the cookie on their browser.
  • Any site using Google to serve ads can then show targeted ads when the cookie is detected.

This technique is clearly effective, but as Mr. Brady points out:

When creating your ads, be careful not to be creepy. While you may want to remind them that they were on your site, the average user doesn’t understand how remarketing works. They just see your ads in places they might not expect it. And don’t overdo the frequency. Most platforms, Google included, allow you to set a frequency cap so they only see your ad a certain number of times/day. This helps decrease the creepiness a lot.

In the end, this is a chance to bring back some of the lost sheep that you worked so hard to get in the first place – even if it does require you to follow them around.

Filed Under: PPC ads

How to write successful Facebook ads

February 5, 2012 By

I came across a great article on how to write a good Facebook ad — and it applies to Adwords and other PPC ads as well. Have You Tried Facebook Advertising Yet? appeared in Tire Review and offers great advice for the small business owner. The whole article is worth reading, but here is the highlight:

Here are some keys to successful Facebook advertising:

• Choose the right image – This is probably the most important element. Your message has to be delivered in such a little space, the image often separates the good from the bad. The image needs to grab attention. Facebook users are inundated with content. They quickly scan text ad images to find what interests them.

• Image Size – Facebook requires that ad images are no greater than 110×80 pixels, and less than 5MB. The height and width is important because images that do not match the 110×80 dimensions will be resized automatically to fit. This often results in an image losing quality.

• Test Images – A/B testing is a great practice for all online marketing techniques. Running multiple image ads with the same message can provide wonderful data on what attracts your users.

• Action – Each ad needs a call-to-action. The call-to-action can be established with one question: What do you want to the user to do?

• Offer – In a competitive industry, many products need to have an offer to get the user’s attention. The link in your ad should take people to the offer details, whether they are on your Facebook page or website. The advantage of using a Facebook link is that you are also likely to pick them up as a fan.

• User Benefit – You probably already know the user benefits, but the trick is working that into clever, short copy. You have 135 characters to work with.

Filed Under: Facebook ads

Offer discounts to get more clicks

August 19, 2011 By

Everyone likes to save money. This is even more true when the economy is down and people face economic uncertainty. Given a choice between two ads, one which offers a discount and one which does not, most people will click the ad that promises savings.

A simple way to appeal to bargain hunters is to add “value words” like “discount” and “coupon” to your keywords. This illustration from Google shows how it’s done:

Bargain hunters will be more interested in your ads if you offer a discount.

In addition to discount, coupon, and savings, other words and phrases that appeal to bargain hunters are:

  • Markdown
  • Price cut
  • Cut
  • Rebate
  • Deduction
  • Reduction
  • Voucher
  • Decrease

Let your bargain-hungry customers know that they can save money and you’ll boost your Adwords response rate.

Filed Under: Discounts

The 20 most expensive Adwords keywords

August 19, 2011 By

This says a lot about where the most competition for customers is in the market.

Where Does Google Make Its Money? [ infographic ]

Filed Under: Keywords

Words that sell

September 15, 2010 By

These time-tested words can boost the effectiveness of your ads. See if you can can combine them with your keywords to increase the power of your ads.

Free: Everyone likes to get something for free!
You/Your: Makes things more personal.
New: We always want to know what’s new.More: It’s great to get more, isn’t it?
Save: Everybody loves a discount.
Easy: We don’t like things to be difficult.
Money: We want it and we want it bad!
Love: Oh, yeah, we want this too.

There are others, but these are the basic words. Pat attention to how you respond to ads and you’ll discover many more!

Filed Under: Power words Tagged With: , ,

“Better ad texts, better performance!”

April 21, 2010 By

This nifty video from the Google Adwords team does a great job of summarizing the basics of a successful Adwords or Pay Per Click ad. Watch it; it’s only a minute long!

These are the best practices, the things that can help your ad stand out from the crowd and get customers directly to the page they want.

Filed Under: Adwords writing, Write better PPC ads

Test your PPC ads

March 23, 2010 By

One of the great things about PPC advertising is that you can test multiple versions of your ads. I like to write a whole bunch to see which ones get the most clicks. I deactivate the duds, then write new ads which are variations on the winning ads. Sometimes I only change one word.

This way, your ads evolve and become more and more effective over time.

It’s easy and effective. Try it. If you’d like, I can help you get started with your Adwords writing by writing a whole bunch for you to begin with.

Filed Under: Testing PPC ads Tagged With: , ,

Great tips for writing more effective Adwords ads

February 24, 2010 By

While doing some research, I came across these 12 tips for writing Adwords ads. It was written by Michael Wong, who appears to be an SEO guru of some sort. There are some really great tips here. I especially like:

2. Refine Your Keywords

Use square brackets “[...]” around your keyword/s.

For example:

[google]
[google adwords]

Your ad will only show when the search is for the exact keyword phrase you have included within the brackets.

The ad will not show for searches that include other keywords. In our example, this would be for searches such as “google search,” or “google news.”

3. Test Multiple Ads Simultaneously

Always test 2 (or more) ads simultaneously. This is what is known in the print industry as an A/B split test.

Find out which one produces the higher click through ratio. Then replace the weaker performing ad with a new one.

Continue this process in your never-ending quest to get the highest click through ratio possible.

Because of my background in Direct Mail, I’m a big believer in testing. The wonderful thing about internet advertising is that you can test multiple versions of your ad, very easily. I recommend making very small changes, like simply changing one word, and seeing how your ad performs.

Filed Under: Adwords writing

New HubPage post on writing better Adwords and PPC ads

February 24, 2010 By

I recently wrote a short article for HubPages, entitled, How to write better Adwords and PPC ads. It’s basically just a few tips that can help you write your own PPC ads, or make them better.

  1. Use action verbs. Get rid of verbs like “is” or “has” and replace them with more active and descriptive verbs, like “save,” “find,” “learn,” or “get.”
  2. Start your sentences with those action verbs. You don’t have much space in a PPC ad, so don’t waste it. Cut to the chase, with a strong action verb.

I hope you find it helpful. Please visit HubPages to read the whole article. And of course, if you’d like a professional Copywriter to write your PPC ads for you, here’s where to go.

Filed Under: Adwords writing, Write better PPC ads