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"Clever Headlines Usually Flop! Are You Being Too Clever For Your Own Good?"
Copywriters that try to be clever, humorous, abstract, or use double entendre with their headlines and ads will normally find that they flop and are thus a waste of both time and money. Many of the Super Bowl ads fall in this category. While they...
Copywriting and Your Five Senses
Copywriting and Your Five Senses by Karon Thackston © 2004 http://www.copywritingcourse.com In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things, the art of conveying a message in writing for the purpose of persuading someone to do something....
How to Write Killer Sales Copy
Sales copy is kind of like high school kids: the nicest, most polite ones often have the least friends. There are so many misconceptions going around as to what makes good copy that I thought it would be interesting to discuss the basics here....
Three Steps To Pump Up The Drama In Your Copy
All the world’s a story. Video games have storylines; newspapers report stories; country music lyrics tell a sad tale.
At a quick glance it would appear that fiction writing and copywriting are two mutually exclusive disciplines. But it just...
What's So Different About Writing Web Copy?
To write persuasive web copy, it really is an advantage to know how to successfully write for off-line publications. Because Copywriting techniques that work off-line, also work equally well on-line! We have to make some changes of course to...
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Lower Cost & Increase Conversion of Your AdWords Ads
by Karon Thackston © 2005 http://www.copywritingcourse.com
Comparison shoppers are the mortal enemy of pay-per-click (PPC)
advertisers. When you're paying each time someone clicks your
AdWords (or other PPC) ad, the last thing you want is a person
determined to visit every site to find the best price, the
closest location or the most secure guarantee. But, with many
categories of products or services, it's bound to happen. There
is a way to eliminate many of the lookers, however.
When you qualify your AdWords leads, you can reduce the
click-through rate (CTR) of browsers and help direct only those
most interested in your offer to your site. How is it done? By
inserting text that will purposely eliminate arbitrary visitors.
Qualifying Your PPC Leads
Purposely eliminating visitors sounds like an awful thing to do,
doesn't it? Perhaps, until you consider the fact that - once
these visitors got to your site and found out the details of
your offer - they'd most likely leave anyway.
Why not save yourself a click (and the money associated with
that click!) and prevent the visitor from running up your
monthly AdWords bill? This is exactly what Steve Jackson of
Conversion Chronicles and I discussed awhile back. Since that
discussion, I've come up with a process that will allow you to
easily write pre-qualifying ads when you use these simple steps.
Step One
Outline the specifications of your offer. Be precise. List all
the details of the offer, the price, length of time, physical
location, size, etc. For example, say you have luxury cruise
packages available. You'd want to list the details such as:
packages depart from New York City and go to several
destinations in Mexico including Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta and
Mazatlán from December 5-15 for a cost of $2500 per person.
Step Two
Go back and highlight anything that would be a deal breaker.
This is a luxury cruise, so the cost of $2500 per person might
be too much for most people. Quite often, cruisers are looking
for the best deal possible.
Also, the cruise only leaves from New York City. The additional
airfare cost might not be something your site visitors want to
add to the cost of their trip. Or, it may be inconvenient to
depart from New York City.
What about the dates? These cruises are only available on the
dates of December 5-15. Your site visitors may not be able to
take a holiday during that time.
Does the visitor want to sail to the locations on the itinerary?
Maybe they've already been to Cozumel,
Unions Create TV Ad To Appeal To Young People
Hoping to continue a conversation about inequality started by the Occupy Wall Street movement, a recently test-launched ad by the AFL-CIO doesn't mention unions, though. Instead it forwards the message, "Work Connects Us All."
California's Stevia Growers Bet On Fast Track To Sweetener Success
The first big fields of stevia ever grown in the U.S. will spout this summer in California's Central Valley. One company is trying to turn this semiwild, zero-calorie plant into an industrial crop at Silicon Valley speed.
Puerto Vallarta and
Mazatlán and are looking for a cruise to Cabo San Lucas.
Are there other factors that might force shoppers to decline the
offer and move to another site? If so, list them here.
Step Three
Now, decide which bits of information you want to include in
your AdWords ads. You'll want to test and track to see which
combination of details bring the lowest click-through rates
along with the highest conversions. For example, your ad might
read:
Luxury Mexico Cruise 12/5 Tour tropical Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta
& more. Leave NYC. $2500pp www.whatever.com
That would give a lot of information that would keep unqualified
visitors from clicking through to your site (and running up your
AdWords bill). At the same time, the use of words like "luxury"
and "tropical" help the searcher visualize their wonderful
vacation.
Another example could be a special shipment of microwave ovens.
Let's go through the steps once again.
Step One
The specifications include: convection/microwave combination,
built-in with light and vent features, 1200 watts, white, $900,
available on the Internet only.
Step Two
Any of these could be used to weed out visitors. Someone may not
want the convection feature. They want a countertop microwave
rather than a built-in model. Twelve-hundred watts may be more
powerful (and larger) than the visitor needs. Their kitchen may
have stainless steel or black appliances, not white. Lastly,
$900 could be more than they have budgeted for a microwave.
Step Three
Again, you'll want to test and track to see which tidbits of
information work best to bring qualified leads, reduce CTR and
costs, and improve conversions.
Your ad might look like this:
Powerful Convec/Microwave Special purchase. Attractive range
built-in with 1200w. Only $900. www.whatever.com
Rather than using generic terms to describe high cost or
frequently compared PPC items, get as specific as you can with
"disqualifying" copy. By weeding out those who would likely take
one look and leave, you can save yourself a lot of money in
AdWords expenses while increasing conversions.
About the author:
Karon Thackston is author of "The Step by Step Copywriting
Course" at http://www.copywritingcourse.com and "How To Increase
Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)."
Discover the secrets to creating SEO copy with a perfect balance
between keywords and natural language.
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword
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