Sponsored Post: Ad Phrasing — Wording a PPC Ad for Best Performance

This post is part of a series on best practices in pay-per-call advertising, sponsored by Soleo.

Relevancy is what differentiates pay-per-call ads from traditional listings in the Yellow Pages, as marketers use targeted keywords and phrases to stand out when people search for the products or services they provide. As pay-per-call (PPC) demand steadily increases, with an expected 73 billion calls streaming into businesses through mobile search by 2018, strategic marketers are continuing to look for new ways to improve the performance of their campaigns. What they’re finding is that even slight adjustments to the wording in a PPC ad can increase the selection rate among mobile searchers.

Selecting the right keywords for a PPC campaign should be intuitive for small and midsize business owners (SBOs). When putting together a call generation strategy, marketers typically begin by looking at keywords relevant to their industries. For example, insurance agencies might use keywords such as “home,” “auto,” or “medical,” while financial services businesses would be likely to use keywords such as “mortgage lender” and “accountant.” These types of keywords are especially common among those businesses in high-value categories, according to a report by Soleo.

Specificity Matters
Few marketers understand how ad phrasing and keyword specificity influence conversions. Thirty-nine percent of consumers say they “always” or “frequently” call a business when they are looking to make a purchase or a transaction, according to Soleo, and marketers are often willing to spend more for leads that have a high likelihood of converting.

Beyond basic category keywords, marketers running PPC campaigns are able to include identifying information to deliver the right ads to the right mobile searchers. A business in the personal services industry, for instance, might include category keywords, like “salon” or “spa” in its ad, along with its target location, like “Silver Lake” or “Echo Park,” for a business in the Los Angeles area. Including location information in ad copy will lead to higher conversion rates, according to Soleo’s report.

Turns of Phrase
PPC ads with specific phrasing are likely to generate leads that convert, simply because searchers are less likely to be surprised at what they find when they call a business or visit in person. Businesses should be using the same words or phrasing to describe their services as their customers would use.

If a consumer who wants pie visits a bakery and sees that the menu only lists things like “baked goods” and “food,” he’s going to quickly leave, thinking the bakery must not sell pie since it wasn’t specifically listed on the menu. This idea applies to ad phrasing in PPC campaigns, as well. Consumers respond better to ad copy that’s specific and uses the terminology and phrasing that they’re used to hearing.

The key to getting an ad in front of the mobile searchers most likely to convert is to use ad phrases that match the words that searchers use themselves to describe the business, service, or product being sold.

Of course, things like correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar are always important in a PPC ad, as well. Marketers should take a professional tone and avoid excessive capitalization or exclamation marks.

Grouping Keywords
Similar keywords can be grouped together when putting together the content for a call generation campaign. Grouping similar keywords into themes based on a business’ services, category, or products improves specificity and leads to higher conversions.

For instance, a retailer that sells housewares could group together keywords like “kitchen utensils” and “kitchen plate sets” to improve the effectiveness of its PPC ads. Meanwhile, a window installer might group words like “hurricane windows” or “energy efficient widows” to attract the right types of customers.

Grouping keywords to increase specificity can decrease the number of calls that an ad generates, however it should increase conversion rates and lead to an improved ROI because the mobile searchers who do call are more likely to find what they need.

Improving Performance with Data
Data can be useful in pinpointing any phrases or keywords that have a particularly high performance value, along with those that score especially low. An established pay-per-call provider should have the individualized data necessary to guide clients toward the ad phrasing that mobile searchers are responding to in real-time.

In the case of a salon or spa, for example, it may turn out that ad phrases like “neck massages” or “full body massage” don’t perform as well as “body treatments” or “shoulder treatments.” If the phrasing in one ad returns a higher selection rate than another, then it makes sense that the business would want to adjust its campaign to maximize the number of targeted searchers.

Ad relevancy and call duration go hand-in-hand. According to Soleo’s report, companies with better ad matches have higher call durations (an indication of a satisfied caller). Pay-per-call providers should be tracking ad phrasing and keyword metrics, and they should be willing to share this information with clients when setting up new call generation campaigns or adjusting existing campaigns to maximize efficiencies.

For more tips and strategies for pay-per-call marketing, download the white paper, “Pay-Per-Call’s Role in Improving ROI.”