Getting the most from Search Advertising :: Who are your customers?

The sponsored links in Google convert at a rate of 25% less than organic search results. A big part of this is that we trust the informational results more than the Ads trying to sell us something. However, this isn’t the case for all industries and all types of ‘search’.

Some search is informational such as typing in the name of an author (to find out the name of that book they wrote that’s escaped you) and then some searches are commercial such as the name of a book with the word “cheap” or “buy” in front of it. One search will result in a hit on your site, the other will result in a hit and a purchase. If you’re trying to attract the latter, how are you inspiring customers to buy from you?

Let’s now think about a specific example. If you’re trying to attract people to your site who are typing in “buy books”, then your ad copy needs to have references to price discounts or savings. If someone is doing this type of search they’re probably looking online for the best price. Remember, people don’t go online to spend money but to save it. You would be surprised how many people who are bidding on terms in commercial searches don’t have any reference to the mindset of their customers. This is part of what marketing does. It considers the customer and then pitches a ‘call to action’ that represents their interests.

Let’s look at another example. If I’m a ‘business consultant’ or some other kind of consultant, the tendency is to try and list every service you offer. You won’t stand out and when you start listing services, consumers start thinking about how much each one might cost. Someone who searches for something like “business consultant” is looking for advice, so a much better keyword strategy and call to action for you would be something like “Subscribe now to our free newsletter”. You’re much more likely to get clicks as someone searching at this point is probably doing research and comparing service offerings. Your plug to give them free advice, hinting at the fact that they might not need to hire anyone is a nice way to get them subscribed to your newsletter and then open to your more detailed marketing pitch.

This strategy works for everyone! You need to know what is going on in the heads of your customers when they’re looking for you. Other examples of a ‘call to action’ that might work for you are;

1. Learn how to… (it’s better than saying ‘pay us to teach you’)
2. Free call us now for a no obligation assessment (which is better than ‘let us convince you to spend more money')
3. (Use comparisons…) ‘For less than a cup of coffee…’
4. What are the 10 biggest mistakes that people in your business make.. (fear motivates big time!)
5. Turn around performance in 6 weeks (give a timeframe, it makes the concepts you’re trying to flog sound more concrete).