How to Write Great PPC Ad Copy

Despite what you might read, there is no formula or template for writing great PPC ad copy. It’s a continual process of monitoring what copy variations are effective at driving clicks and conversions and what variations are not- and optimizing accordingly. Sometimes though, successful inspiration can come from the least expected places.

On a recent trip, I had the opportunity to teach my sister’s 5^th grade class for a period. As you can imagine, I was extremely excited to build awareness and excitement around the digital marketing industry. After covering the various disciplines of SEO, PPC, and analytics, I passed out a “Build your Own PPC Ad” worksheet for them to complete.  Before they got started, we talked about staying within the character limits, including the benefits of the product, adding keywords, as well as, including a call to action.

It occurred to me that once you have included the elements above, there is not much room character wise for creativity- well, I was definitely proved wrong.  Here are some student examples from this project:

From smelly beans to a homework machine, they not only came up with a fun product to advertise but the copy was surprisingly refreshing.

How can we think like a 5th grader to write great PPC ad copy? What can we learn from these examples? A few elements that I took away from their ads include:

• They clearly denote the product benefit (e.g. every flavor/ can hold  almost 12 books / makes life easy/ lots of songs AND a photo album) in the simplest of terms.
• They are fun and imaginative. All of them are creative in either the product that they are advertising or in the benefits of that product. They also use expressive language.
• They are clear and easy to understand. There are no gimmicks or abbreviations. They tell you what the product is and why you need it.
• They all seemed to use exclamation points- BUT did not go overboard. They used it once (all but one) and effectively. The use of exclamation points in ad copy can be used to show excitement about a products feature and helps the ad stand out.

As adults, and as our mind develops and matures, we tend to over-think and over-analyze things. While this is a natural part of our development, there are times when over-analyzing delays success. Over-thinking can hinder our creativity and the ability to find resourceful solutions to problems. As sometimes the best solutions are the most elementary, and I say that literally.

While technical elements of ad copy creation, such as keyword incorporation and competitive analysis are definitely critical to successful PPC campaigns, it’s also beneficial to “think like a 5^th grader” when developing copy by incorporating the elements noted above. You might be surprised by the outcome of your elementary thinking cap.

So, it’s time to ask yourself:

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