Writing Effective Copy for PPC Ads

Know (Really Know) Your Audience

Before you can begin writing copy for PPC ads, it’s essential to understand as much as possible about your audience. You may be speaking to a wide range of age groups, but maybe they are all trying to solve a similar problem. Or, perhaps your audience is focused on a single generation, but they experience several pain points. 

One of the best ways to visualize this information is with buyer personas, which you can build once you have a good understanding of your audience—like their ages, occupations, preferences, behaviors, and habits.

Buyer personas help you see exactly who you are speaking to, so you can tailor your PPC ad copy around relevant language, goals, concepts, and perceptions.

Do Your Keyword Research 

We haven’t gotten to the actual writing portion yet, but that’s because you can’t answer someone’s query (remember it’s the top reason they click on PPC ads) until you know what they are searching for in the first place.

The right way to get that information is through keyword research, which helps you see how many searches people are doing for specific search terms (keywords) and what kind of competition you’re up against if you use those search terms. From there, you can choose the keywords that best fit your ads and goals. 

That way, you can build your strategy based on real data, knowing your PPC ad copy will be written with those keywords in mind.

Write Your PPC Advertising Copy

Audience and Keyword Considerations

Hallelujah, the time has come to incorporate what you know about your audience and keywords into your PPC ad copy. Here’s the thing: you don’t have to use the exact keywords you choose in the copy for your ads, you don’t have to use them at all. But, if we want to try answering search queries (again, the top reason people click on PPC ads), there’s no better way to do so than using the actual keywords you choose. 

For example, let’s say someone searches for “meal kit delivery” and this is what Google displays:

Source: Google Search

Right away, the ads answer the query by matching the copy with the keywords they typed in. There’s less confusion about the ad, and users feel more confident the ad contains the information they’re seeking. 

Calls to Action

Writing effective PPC ad copy includes calls-to-actions (CTAs), which tell people what to do, why they should do it, and when to do it. If the goal of your PPC ad is to get someone to download a report, then you may want to include “download” as part of your CTA. “Learn more” and “Sign up today” are some of the more common calls to action seen in PPC ad copy, but this is an area where a more creative CTA may be the right fit. You can always test CTAs in your paid ads, too, to see what works the best. 

Special Offers 

When you have a little something extra to offer, you should use it in your PPC ad copy. If your ad is up against another similar ad in search results, then your special offer could be the reason someone chooses yours instead. 

Whether it’s free shipping, limited-time discounts, or no delivery fees, incentives like these are PPC ad copy gold. They give people a reason to not only click on your ad (and sometimes urgently, if you phrase it that way) but also give you the business over your competitors.

Monitor Performance of PPC Ads 

It’s a good idea to watch how your ads are performing by looking at data like impressions, clickthrough rate (CTR), and conversions. If you notice these numbers are not where you want them, you can always adjust the PPC ad copy to see if that’s more effective with your audience.

Test your understanding in the concept of paid campaigns and their uses with these Advanced PPC Exam Questions. Try answering now!

Learn More About PPC Advertising

If you’re looking for an easy way to learn how PPC works, check out Simplilearn’s Advanced Pay Per Click (PPC) Certification Training. It’s an online course that takes you from an introduction to PPC to the more advanced skills needed to be effective in paid advertising.