Every time you turn around, it seems like there are five new ad copy testing strategies. Do you know the best ones for your business, and how to use them?
We do, and we want you to share them with you.
Fundamentals
First thing’s first. There are some fundamentals that drive all of our favorite ad copy testing strategies:
- Volume is good- Use aggregate data across groups and campaigns whenever you can. The more data you can analyze, the more accurate your findings will be.
- Test lots of different permutations (combinations) as possible- Again: more data, more accuracy. This is known as multivariate testing, and yields more sophisticated results.
- Technology can help- We suggest checking out IF Functions and Ad Customizers for starters.
- Don’t give up- Figuring out what doesn’t work gets you that much closer to what does. Hang in there and keep testing. Try not to look at results as “good?” or “bad”, just ask yourself: what can I learn from this result— and how can it help my brand?
- Variety helps- Don’t sacrifice good copy to try to get “better results”. Try a diverse, varied approach.
Our Favorite Strategies
Ok. Now that we’ve touched on the approach that should guide your testing, we can jump into our favorite strategies for getting the most out of your ads, and your ad tests.
Long and Short-Form Numbers:
Whether you’re listing how much you’ve sold, how much your big event brought in, or how many social media followers you have, test different formats for writing the numbers.
For Example: Over 10,000 Satisfied Customers vs Over 10K Satisfied Customers
Quantifying:
When quantifying in your ad copy—stating a discount, or promotional amount—present it in a variety of formats, and see which version of the test performs best.
For Example: Half Off vs 50% Off vs $10 today
Call to Action (CTA) Testing Strategies:
There are a few ad copy testing strategies you can try when it comes to your CTAs:
Changing the First Word/Verb: Search vs Browse
The Placement of your CTA: The beginning of your headline vs the end of your description
Brand Name Placement (Headline 2):
It doesn’t matter if you’re a household name or not, this can still be a great ad copy testing strategy. Branding your ads is a great way to build name-recognition, and positive copy around your brand placement can only help build trust.
Put IF functions in Descriptions:
This is one of the best ways to do your A/B testing, because you can customize your descriptions based on device, location and more. Try placing it in different parts of your description for your testing, and see which one gets the most interaction.
Customize Headlines
This feature lets you get specific, so your leads are more qualified, and your site visitors are more likely to stick once they land there. Not to mention they allow for flexibility that can give you highly sophisticated testing (and results).
Use Dynamic Keywords:
Also known as DKI, this can help you bump up your clickthrough rate (CTR), and makes your ads more approachable and personalized. Just like the customization of your headlines and IF functions, you can do this test by placing them at different parts of your ad copy. [If you get stuck here, we can help!]
Landing Pages:
If you’ve got several different landing pages you’d like to try, this is a challenging but worthwhile test of the effectiveness of your ad copy. You can link multiple ads to a landing page (and/or try linking one ad style to landing pages with different layouts) and see which versions get you the most traffic.
Headline 2:
Perks and Benefits: Headline 2 is where you put your benefit-based language. Tell people why your product will make a difference for them, what problem it will solve, and what pain points it can help to heal. Testing different phrasing will help you learn what people are looking for, and which of those people is most ready to do business with you.
Once you get some clear winners from your various ad copy testing strategies, put them in place as soon as possible— and drop the under-achievers. Make sure to give it time, but don’t let months and months go by before checking your Google Ads accounts— you don’t want your hard-earned advertising dollars going down the drain!
