How to write effective text ads

August 2007

Effective text ads that generate leads
Whether you’ve snagged a great deal on a sponsorship ad placement or are diving into a Google AdWords campaign, the words you choose are more important here than in any other type of ad. There are no graphics, no images, no pictures. Just words. What your ad says is the sole determining factor in whether the reader clicks or not. Here are some tips for writing text ads that get clicked:

Understand the audience
Key to writing a click-friendly ad is understanding the mindset of your prospects. To be effective, you must stop thinking like an industry insider and start thinking like a customer. Understand the challenges of your business audience and you will increase your success when communicating to them in writing.

Less is more
You can't put complicated strategy into 20 words. When copywriting for text ads, there is no room for elaborate techno-speak. Be straightforward and succinct. You don't need to say much -- only enough to prompt a click. The objective is not to make a sale but to get your prospect's attention.

Define your goal
Make sure the message in your ad supports your goals. If you want to generate phone calls, put an 800 number in the ad, or point to a page on your website that includes your phone number. You might link to a page that offers a free demo, or some other offer that motivates the prospect to pick up the phone.

Highlight unique selling points
Instead of telling searchers that your product or service is the best, tell them why. Highlight the key features.

Clever word play doesn't work
Precise targeting and an attractive offer does. Avoid clichés and phrases that are meaningless. Here’s an example, often used, that can describe practically any business: Company X offers an integrated end-to-end solution." To a reader, the line has barely any meaning, and certainly no impact. It is too familiar. He or she has read the same phrase too many times before, in too many other places.

Forget punctuation...for once
Avoid excessive or irregular capitalization and punctuation. It is distracting to the eye, and many publishers won’t accept it as part of the specs. Also, punctuation has a tendency to appear distorted or as an unintended character, making your ad look confusing and unprofessional. It’s OK to use the word free, but avoid all caps and don't use exclamation points.

Stay within the character limits
The best way to delay your ad, or make it display poorly, is to ignore, or try to bend the specs set forth by the publisher. If the publisher’s mandate says the first line of the ad is to be bold and less than 20 characters including spaces, don’t try to squeeze in 23 characters. Your full ad will not display properly, or it will be held up by the publisher until it is fixed.

Test different concepts
Test two or more ads going head to head. Develop two or three copy angles and test them against each other. Leave at least two different ads running for 7 days and at the end of the period, compare their performance. At that point, if necessary, ditch the lower performer(s).

Test the link
Once your text ad is live, click it! It sounds like common sense, but many marketers never check their own ad. Make sure the link works. Mistakes do happen, and nothing kills click through rates like a broken link.

Before you delegate the task of writing text ads to an admin person, or try to do it in five minutes yourself, remember: writing text ads is a skill. What you write directly impacts whether or not your ad gets clicked. Now that you know the rules for writing effective text ads, give it a try. MediaBrains has a tool that lets you add a listing – i.e. text ad – to directories that serve your industry. You can see your ad building as you type, and can change it until you are 100% satisfied – and until you have the perfect text ad.