Best Practices

  1. Focus on what the end-user wants. Hit on their needs, illustrating how you'll solve them. Don't lead with questions that you already know the answer to, based on their search, such as "Looking to sell your car?" Get right to the point and tell them how you can add value to their lives. "We'll Buy Your Car Today" is better than "Sell your car today," since users don't care how you'll do it.
  2. Loss aversion. Humans are more motivated by the idea of losing our than the idea of gaining something. Add a timer, like "deals end in [24 hours]" to motivate conversions.
  3. Get hyper-specific. Specific numbers convert more often. "We've helped 2,546 customers last month" is more believable than "2,500+."
  4. Use active verbs. When writing your PPC ads, imagine that the search engine user is thinking “I want to.…” and complete the sentence (ideally in a headline). Ideally, you can address the problem in the first headline and provide a solution in the second.
  5. Lead with the benefits. Don't make it about your company. Work in "you" when possible. Your business's name is less important to your users than what you offer them.
  6. Get to the point. Use emotional triggers when possible. Try to consolidate your target keyword, CTA, and either an emotional appeal or value proposition into your headlines so that prospects can quickly determine whether you might meet their needs.
  7. Don't repeat yourself. There's actually a lot of space in ads. Don't stuff in keywords or waste space by repeating yourself. There’s a trick to learning how to say what you need to say without berating your prospects: write like a human being, not a marketing machine.

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