As Bob Dylan once said, “The times, they are a’ changin’.” A few years ago, most Internet marketers were constantly chanting the SEO mantra and working feverishly to get high rankings through their optimization efforts. Pay-Per-Click/Cost-Per-Click advertising was somewhat demonized. Some even called it cheating. “You’re getting your traffic the easy way!” the SEO crowd protested.
All of a sudden, doing things the easy way started looking more appealing. After all, some people worked for years to earn top rankings only to lose 50, 60, even 75% of their business, quite literally overnight. We’ve since learned that for many marketers, it’s a balance between the two that needs to be achieved to at least maximize the odds of success. Once you get the traffic flowing, you can start employing long-term SEO strategies to start getting it organically.
But first, you need to get the clicks.
This is the first and most important part of many marketing strategies, especially in content marketing. So how do you get there? You create an environment of engagement. “That’s great,” you say, “but how do I do that?”
Here are a few ideas:
1. Start with Great Content
Before you can procure clicks, you need content on which your audience can land, and that content needs to be good. This means that whatever it is you’re linking to – an e-commerce site, a landing page, a blog, etc. – has to be top-notch. Mediocre content will get you nowhere even if your click-through rate (CTR) is in the upper stratosphere.
2. Write Good Ad Copy Around Your Content
This may seem a little bit obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many marketers overlook this one elementary element. Many will go for the edgy, mysterious, sometimes borderline inappropriate approach with their ads to get people onto their websites. There’s just one problem with that strategy, and it has to do with a concept I bring up quite a bit: congruency.
If your copy isn’t what your audience is expecting when they click through, you won’t make any money on it regardless of how you frame it, sell it, hype it, or by any other means monetize it. To put it simply, don’t mess with your audience.
Just as an example, a picture of a leggy model standing next to a Lamborghini with a headline that says, “Get more ride for your dollar,” might earn you a click-through to an article on car insurance, but as soon as the readers remember (or figure out) that they clicked through to an article about car insurance, they bounce. They don’t click your ads; they don’t watch your VSL; they don’t read anything on your landing page.
Unfortunately, this is the kind of tack that a lot of marketers take with their ads. Line your copy up well with your product, and your CTR might be lower than Mr. Lamborghini, but your RPM and ROI will be way better in the long run. For those who might be new to all the lingo, that means you can maximize the amount of money you make per click simply by not messing with your audience’s heads.
3. Use Good Visuals
This goes back to the concept of congruency. If you’re selling car insurance (or linking to content about car insurance), you want your ad visuals to evoke images of driving, not… “getting a ride.” When you choose images for your ads, ask yourself what part of the content you’re linking to is going to be represented by that particular picture. What concept or takeaway comes quickly to mind just looking at the picture? This is important because people are going to decide whether to read your headline based on how interesting the picture is.
4. Get to the Point Quickly
The most effective ad headlines are between 50 and 55 characters; that’s about 8-15 words. Within those 8 to 15 words, you want to include at least two of the following:
• A direct “you” or “your” statement – 5 ways you can save more money on auto insurance
• A direct call to action – Save money on your car insurance. Find out how here.
• A survey, list or superlative – Top 5 best car insurance companies for teen drivers
• A problem or “pain point” – Dropped by your car insurance company? We can help!
If you’re writing a description or summary for your ad, you also want to make sure the most powerful point is conveyed in the first 55 characters (or so).
“Yes, there are good rates out there for teenage drivers. We’ve compiled a list of companies that reward responsible teens with affordable rates.”
5. Advertise on the Right Network
Some ad networks are edgier than others. Then there are those that have very tight restrictions on what you can say, what visuals you can use, etc. Content.ad, for example, dissuades (and will often reject) an ad with a direct call to action. Other networks will all but insist that your ad be edgy enough to appeal to their target demo. If theirs doesn’t line up with yours, don’t waste your money. These places know their audiences, and they expect a specific style of ad for a reason. Be sure your ad is being seen by people who are likely to click on it.
6. Split Test like Crazy
Finally, don’t put all your stock in a single ad. Come up with different ads based on the ad styles listed above and see what works best. Test the same headline with different visuals; test your visuals with different headlines. When you hit on a winning combo, you can often apply the same principles to other ads in the same niche.