Writing an Effective Text Ad

[Drastic]

The best way to write a text ad is to work it into the context of your content. However, that is not always possible, and some ads perform well standalone.

Here are some tips for writing effective ad copy.

#1 most important aspect - the headline. If you don't get the reader's attention with this, you won't get good results. I believe stellar headline copy wins, even with bad/mediocre body copy. Focus on making the headline draw the click. Get the user's attention, try to appeal to their interest, and explain the destination of that click. Try to make the headline as short and concise as possible, you have only one quick shot at getting their attention.

Using headlines that stir emotions can be very effective. Headlines that make the user feel frightened, angry, excited, or just plain curious draw very well.

Use attention-grabbing keywords in your headline, such as: Free, Advice, How to, Breakthrough, Finally, At Last, New, Save, Secret, The Truth About, etc. Try to find the type of words typically in the mindset of your user demographics. (i.e. on a webmaster site "Top Secrets of SEO Found Here") But, as this last example being a bad one for this point, make the headline believeable.

Onto the ad body copy.
Once you have gotten the attention, and hopefully most of the general message, in the headline, I like to take a down-home approach. I basically write in my own words, what I think about the product/service. (I rarely try to promote something I don't like or believe in myself - a good practice in general.) I try to check out the product/service and offer somewhat of an opinion. Readers recognize this injection of personality, and I think it helps. I try to stay away from superlatives and other common no-no's, like "The best of", "You can't miss this", etc. Be yourself in your commentary, and it will shine through to the user.

Sometimes I don't have time to research the product/service, but the company usually provides ad copy. In these situations where I want to use their copy, I always remove caps, unnecessary punctuation, and the above noted superlative type comments. I often re-write exactly what they said into a more digestible form.

Doing these things have helped me draw more outbound ad clicks, increasing revenue.

Any thoughts on these ideas? Any other ideas you can share?

[JamesR]

One thing I am trying to be more aware of is "What draws my attention?", "Why do I read an article as opposed to another?". Maybe peruse through your favorite mag (PC World for me) and see what grabs you. Take a moment and find out why. Was it the headline? Content? Graphics?. Do the same with your search results. Why do you click on one listing over another? Just like banner ads, I think people get numb to hype and just filter it out. Use yourself as your own best experiment.

[rcjordan]

tedster's flavah words [webmasterworld.com] post come to mind, too

[NFFC]

Interesting article on how how Moreover got 10.21% click through on Google adwords:

Contentbiz [contentbiz.com]

Anyone done any better, I'm running at 6.01%

[Woz]

One thing to watch is your I(writer) / you(reader) ratio. Basically the reader is not interested in the writer so much as what the benifit to the reader is. So when you have finished writing, count the number of time I or Me or the likes appear, and the number of times you appear. the ration sould be not greater then 25%I, and lower if possible.

Another way of looking at this is the "So What" test. Imagine your reader is sitting there with a sign on his/her head thet says "SO WHAT!"

Sales people are taught about FAB, Features, Advantages, and Benifits, but unfortunately most then try selling on Features and Advantages, when the client is really only interested in the benifit to him/her.

Quick example,

This new computer is a laptop with wireless net access. "SO WHAT!"
It allows you to access the internet from anywhere you happen to be. "SO WHAT!"
You can go online and continue working whilst you are waiting at the airport and similar places which will save you a lot of time that you can spend with your family instead when you get home. "AH!"

I/Me = 2
You = 8

Onya
Woz

[Drastic]

Great points, guys.

I want to add that your first version of ad copy is rarely your best. Try it for a week, and check the results. Tweak it a little, or completely rewrite it if you aren't drawing any/many clicks, and then recheck your results. Not only tweaking and checking can help you determine what is working, you get fresher ideas and thoughts when you look at it at different times.

Edited by: Drastic

[tedster]

I sometimes write technical marketing copy -- the standard we use is a minimum of three re-writes, and often many more.
The best writing I've ever seen is worked over by a team of two or more after it's initial creation. Even on "small" things, a team approach works wonders.