by Bain Smith, Lead Copywriter

In this article we will focus on the nature of search engine advertising itself and provide pointers on how to make your ad copy stand out in the ultra-competitive environment of search engine marketing and advertising.

Back in the day when people had something to sell, they traveled door to door with their wares. Their challenge was two-fold. Before they sold anything, they first had to create “the sale before the sale”:selling a prospect on giving them the audience before they could actually sell a prospect anything. The search engine turned this traditional paradigm on its head by eliminating the “sale before the sale”. Search engine users now generate ad content voluntarily based on words they use to search, which should be a boon for business, right?

As a copywriter, the challenge is not creating the opportunity to sell anymore –that’s been done for us – but crafting a winning ad in a prohibitively competitive environment. Where in the past a sale required two sales, now a sale requires that your ad be selected from a list of ads, often selling the exact same product or service.

I have no groundbreaking wisdom to impart on how to write a search engine ad. that resonates with an audience. There are precious few characters of space to employ in a search engine ad and consequently few chances to make your copy “pop”. I will list, however, in no particular order, tips for creating an ad that only a lunatic wouldn’t click.

• Ask yourself, “What am I selling?”
– The railroad industry sold railroads, not the bigger idea of transcontinental transportation. Look at it now.
• Make it readable.
– Don’t cram too much into one ad or you’ll lose the attention
span of your audience.
• Write as if you were speaking to a friend, not a stranger.
– Strangers and prospects are friendly people, too.
• Create a compelling offer.
– If you don’t have a reason to run an offer, make one up.
– A believable reason for a special offer gives it traction and
boosts response.
• Separate your copy into small compartments of information.
– Three facts in one ad are better than one.
• Create a unique message for each of your audience segments.
– Targeted messaging boosts response and customer loyalty.
• The strongest ads tell the truth dramatically.
– If you try to be everything to everybody, you wind up meaning
nothing special to anyone.
• Craft a call to action that’s an easy next step for the
prospect to take.
– If you wrote a good ad, the call to action will click the ad
for them.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment!
– Experiments can create happy accidents, boosting response
rates.

These tips will help you get started down the road to conversion and hopefully illuminate some finer points of writing a good ad for a search engine. There’s no secret to it. It’s like juggling, without the chainsaws. Practice, create tests, learn from your results, and practice some more. Voila!