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Read this Post Today! The Power of the Call to Action.Posted by Amber on September 26, 2007 in Basic PPC Strategies |
According to an article written in Newsweek called, Hi-Tech’s New Day, 75 percent of Americans use the Internet and spend an average three hours a day online. So why is it advertisers and marketers feel they have to dumb down their marketing ads with huge, sometimes really ugly buttons telling customers what to do? “Buy here, Shop Now, Subscribe Here, Click Here”, etc. Why? Because it works!
“If you are offering a special promotion or have an incentive based product or service, stating a clear call-to-action is very important. In most cases, this will be the most important part of your ad.” (payperclickratings.com)
It is known throughout the marketing industry to include a call-to-action in any form of advertising. The most effective way to use a call to action for pay-per-click is in your landing pages and ad text. I find a lot of people forget to include these all-important statements in their ad text. Whether it’s a promotion you want people to take advantage of, or a magazine subscription you want them to subscribe to, be sure to convey that message clearly in a form of an action not only in your PPC ads but in your landing page as well.
Vanessa Williams has a great post on call to action phrases. Some tips of hers include: Tell your customers when and how to contact you if that is your goal. Can they call, email or fax? She also mentions you should instill a sense of immediacy. You can say things like “Subscribe Now” or “Buy Today.”
“A call-to-action can be as simple as saying “order today” or as elaborate detailing a seven-step process. A good call-to-action ties in with the goal of your copy. If you’re goal is to sell, don’t ask them to call you for more information, ask them to purchase your product today.” (Vanessa Willams).
Studies have shown, that if a visitor doesn’t find what they want in three seconds or less they will leave your site. The same I’m sure is true for PPC ads. 3 seconds is more than enough time to read a PPC ad, and if the user doesn’t know what to do by reading your ad, they’ll move on to the next.
More examples of great calls to action are:
- “Click here to subscribe!”
- “Join our affiliate program.”
- “Add to your shopping cart.”
- “Order now for your free gift!”
Remember next time your writing your PPC ads or landing page copy to include a call-to-action. It’s a great way to increase sales, leads and subscriptions.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:48 am
[…] Dave Davis from Red Fly Marketing gives sound advice on how to increase your paid search click-through rates through action words, or better known as a call to action. Here he gives several examples of good calls to action. You can also read more on the importance of a call to action in my post here. Don’t forget to subscribe to the PPC Hero feed! […]
November 7th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
[…] 6. Not Spending Enough Time on Your Ad Text: Jennifer talks about segmenting your ad groups better so your ads can be more targeted to the user’s search query. But what about the ad text itself? Your ad text is one of the most important aspects of your PPC account. A big mistake is when people focus more on their keyword bids than their ad text of an ad group. Be sure to include one or more of your keywords within your ad text and include a call-to-action. A good call-to-action will guide the customer in the right direction once they enter your site. For more information on Calls-to-Action in ad text please click here. […]