The Importance of Ad Copy Testing for Your Business

May 8

In today’s digital age, online advertising is essential for businesses to reach their target audience. However, simply paying for ads in the right places is not enough. With the average American exposed to between 4,000 and 10,000 ads daily, ensuring that your ad copy is engaging and stands out from the crowd is crucial. Ad copy testing is an effective way to determine what works and what doesn’t. This article will discuss some ground rules, tips, and tricks to help you create the best ads possible and improve your PPC performance.

Don’t Test for Testing’s Sake

Before conducting ad copy tests, it is crucial to have a hypothesis of what you think will enhance your conversion rate and why. Testing for testing’s sake is ineffective, as it may lead to inconclusive results that do not provide valuable insights.

Aim for Producing Clear Results

To get the most out of your ad copy tests, always ensure you have ample data. Statistical significance should be your goal. According to Google, your test should run until it meets one of two conditions:

At least one variant has a 95% probability of beating the baseline. Two weeks have passed to account for cyclical variations in web traffic during the week.

Set a Testing Timeframe

Tests should only be left running for a while. Defining a specific time frame to gain and stick to valuable data is essential. Not every test will result in significance one way or the other, and that’s okay. Chalk that test up as inconclusive and move on.

Now, with those ground rules out of the way, let’s explore some practical ad copy tests.

Numerical Abbreviations vs. Full Numerical Values

Using numbers in ads helps to quantify information and make them more attention-grabbing. However, the question remains, what do your targets respond to? Is it numerical abbreviations (15M) or total numerical values (15,000,000)?

Manipulating numerical values in your ad copy is a great way to differentiate your ads and grab attention.

Add, Modify, and Remove Pricing

Pricing can be a double-edged sword in PPC ads. Being upfront with your pricing gives users the information they need to purchase. However, it can also turn people off by reminding them they need to spend money.

To determine what approach works, testing is necessary. You can generalize the number or frame the price as a discount to make it more attractive to readers.

Experiment When Quantifying Promotions

Quantifying promotions with numbers is a common practice in PPC marketing. However, changing the language used in your promotions can further maximize your click-through rates. Try testing ads with percentages, actual pricing, and fully written offers.

Punctuation?!

Punctuation can make a significant difference in your ads. Using exclamation points, for example, can increase engagement, according to an analysis of 612 top-performing branded paid ads. Try using different punctuations such as commas, question marks, percentile, or dollar signs.

Appeal to Emotion

Ads that appeal to people on an emotional level can result in significant gains in click-through rates. Determine your customer's emotions, what they love/hate, their most important problems, and how you can solve them.

Test Your CTA

A key ingredient in shaping people's reactions to your ads is presentation, precisely the way you ask them to trust your brand or try your product or service. The first word in your CTA can create a positive or negative impression of the ad. Test different verbs in your CTA and use the high-converting copy.

Play Around With Your Landing Pages

Landing pages are a crucial marketing tool, allowing your target market to decide whether to interact further with your business. Therefore, testing your landing pages is fundamental to doing business online.

Within Google Ads, there are a couple of landing page tests you can easily do without making any changes to your website:

Link directly to the most popular product in a category you’re advertising.
Link directly to the category page.
Try different sorting methods on your category pages, such as best-selling first, cheapest first, newest first, best-reviewed first, promotions first, and manual placement.
Link to a search for a particular brand, product, or product type.
Link to your homepage.

Pro Tip: Google Optimize is an excellent tool for A/B and multi-variant testing for paid media and SEO. When it comes to campaign optimization, you need to split-test and analyze your results constantly.

What’s Next?

Ad copy testing gives you confidence in your ads and boosts your chances of making a return on your investment. Following the steps above can help you to test your ad copy as best as possible before investing money in their placement. However, ad testing should stay at the forefront of your list of priorities. Track your ads' performance and analyze the data you collect to make even more informed decisions going forward, maximizing success and profit.

Remember, Always. Be. Testing.