The correct text ads and banners
Whether a campaign is successful or not depends on many factors that can be influenced. One of the biggest factors is the presentation and wording of the ads and banners. Here, a target group-oriented and appealing creation can be a success multiplier. I would be happy to show you, based on my experience, which mistakes you must avoid at all costs and which points you must adhere to.
Agency Lucerne
Writing text ads correctly
Text ads like those on Google Ads, Yahoo or Bing unfortunately cannot appeal with visual elements. This makes it all the more important to choose the right words and use eye-catching features. It is imperative that you adhere to the following points when creating text ads:
Advantages:
List all possible advantages that offer added value to the customer.
Example:
- Delivery free of shipping costs
- Ordered today – delivered tomorrow
- Payment on account
USP:
The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is an advantage you have over the competition. What sets you apart from the competition? What additional services do customers receive that they do not have with the competition? Mention your USP in the text ads, both in the title and in the description text.
Price advantage:
An unrivalled price must be mentioned. Many visitors are mainly focused on price. If you know that your products or services are unrivalled in price, then shout this message out to the world.
Keyword function {keyword:}:
As you can see from the Google Ads article, the Ads display has useful functions such as the countdown or the keyword function. The keyword function is a placeholder that replaces the predefined standard text in the placeholder {keyword:standard text} with the searched keyword and thus increases the relevance and the quality factor.
Keywords welche im Anzeigentext erwähnt und vom User gesucht werden, sind FETT markiert und fallen somit stärker auf. Deshalb empfehle ich, die Keyword-Funktion im Titel, im Beschreibungstext und in der angezeigten URL zu verwenden.
If the keyword searched for is too long, the default text entered in the keyword function will be used.
Keyword in URL:
The displayed URL can also be used as a keyword holder. It does not have to be identical to the target URL. For this reason, I always recommend using the main keyword here as well to guarantee the conspicuousness of the ad.
Banner & Graphic Ads
Pictures say more than a thousand words.
In contrast to the text ads, the banner / visual ads should contain less text and more graphic elements. For this, you should consider the following points.
Call to Action:
Several A-B tests have proven that a call to action increases the click-through rate by up to 40%. So you’ll get the customer’s attention much better with a clear call to action.
Example:
- Order now
- Register here
- Click here
- To the shop
- To the competition
- Enter now
You can present the call to action as a button or in an otherwise eye-catching form and colour in a visually appealing way.
Price advantage:
A price advantage in the form of a discount or a quantity discount is always an eye-catcher for customers. For example, an advertisement with a discount in % appeals to a customer more strongly and quickly than ordinary product presentations.
I additionally recommend placing the price advantage as large as possible.
Disruptor:
Additional info and restrictions can be brought to the customer very conspicuously with a disruptor. It even supports the sales process if certain “print messages” are listed as disruptors on the banner.
Example:
- Only for a short time
- While stocks last
- Only available today
- 100 pieces left in stock
- Get an extra bonus with every purchase
Surely you can think of one or two disruptors that would be optimal for your ad.
Neuro-linguistic leverage
Maybe you have heard of neuro-linguistic programming methods? This is a meta-model for communication techniques as well as for the therapy and changing of psychological habits, barriers or fears and is even used in sales talks to convince the partner. This is usually done in a form of suggestions, which are subliminally received by the psyche.
Such neuro-linguistic techniques can also be used outside of a conversation. You can use the following motivational or pressure tools for your promotional materials:
Pain (away-from) as leverage
In neuro-linguistics, people are divided into two different types of motivation. The away-from-motivation is an indirect sign of despair and thus the avoidance of pain. So you can also motivate certain people with “pain” or by avoiding pain – i.e. away-from-pain. You can also use this type of motivation in your advertisements to reach this target group.
Example:
- Finally done with the pain
- You must not make this mistake!
- Don’t be a loser like I was!
- With this method you will have no more pain.
- If you don’t read this, it’s your own fault
- Finally no more fear
Gain (Towards) as motivation
Thus, in addition to the away-from people, there are also others who can be lured with the towards method. Here, a gain or added value is enough motivation to do something. This target group is motivated towards a goal and is accordingly happy to move towards this goal.
Example:
- Win now
- Receive now
- Fulfil your dream with…
- This product will make you look 20 years younger
Scarcity
You may have experienced how the department stores and shops are overcrowded just before a holiday? This is the fear of shortages during the holidays. You can also use this fear to speed up the buying process for customers. Whether it is time or stock shortage is up to you. You can also use both. However, the limitation must be respected, otherwise customers will quickly feel ripped off.
Example:
- Only today and only 30 left
- For the next 30 purchases
- Only available until the “date”.
- While stocks last
- Attention – short stock.
- Attention – the product is quickly out of stock.
- Countdown (4h and 20min left)
Curiosity:
You may have noticed, on social media or elsewhere on the web, that many articles with incredible stories are written with a special title to arouse curiosity.
There is hardly a greater motivation than curiosity. You can also use this phenomenon to draw attention to yourself and entice the customer to perform an action. Depending on the product or service, it can be used more or less effectively.
Example:
- …what happened next you will hardly believe!
- Unbelievable but true!
- These customers could hardly believe their own eyes when they saw this!
- Unimaginable what I achieved!