Running PPC ads on Google is seen as the magic bullet for marketing. Run an ad, get traffic, and voila… Money comes rolling in. 

Unfortunately, as many marketers quickly find out, it’s not as simple as that. Pay per click ads are complex and can take time to get right. Well, they can take time if you don’t know how to make your PPC ads pop.

Luckily we’ve put together this list of hacks for successful PPC campaigns, which should bring you more conversions for your Google Ads.

 

1. Know your audience 

This might sound like an obvious one, but surprisingly few marketers actually pay attention to this step. Or, at least, they gloss over it. 

Doing audience research is ground zero for successful PPC ads. So how can you do this effectively?

Study your existing customers and the language they use. What are they looking for? What is their average age? Where do they live? Do they have kids? A car? 

The more you know about your average audience persona, the easier it is to build ads for them. So do yourself a favour and don’t skip this step!

 

2. Make your ad copy engaging

Another tip that might sound obvious. But if you look at some PPC ads, you’ll notice that most of them are boooooring. By this we mean, they don’t really say much beyond some sales speak.

As an example, consider this real ad copy for a gourmet coffee brand:

“Buy Fresh Coffee Beans or Ground to Order. Delivered Free from 9.99! Buy Fresh Coffee”

They have wasted valuable ad copy space by saying the same thing twice, and not giving the reader any real reason to click. 

A better version would have been:

“Fresh Gourmet Coffee, How You Like It. Ground or Roasted Beans Delivered Free. Buy Now”

The difference is the second ad speaks to the customer, using direct language and making the product sound appealing.

Always ask yourself if you would be happy to click your ad instead of your competitors. 

 

3. Understand power words

If you’ve never heard of power words, they are strong and influential words that can inspire action in people. 

Take for example the popular phrases “Limited Edition” or “Sale ends soon”.

Words such as limited imply an exclusive product. Sale obviously suggests cheaper prices, and ‘ends soon’ adds a time limit.

Put simply, power words can change the way people interact with your content and your ads. Search for power word lists online or check out this guide to power words.

 

4. Use landing pages

So you’ve got people clicking on your ads. But once they land on the product page, what do they see?

Landing pages are one of the best ways of creating more successful PPC ads as they give the shopper what they want.

For example, if the shopper is searching for a new men’s shirt, and the ad takes them to a general menswear page on your website, they might not want to spend time searching for the shirts. They might click back and try a different ad instead.

But, if your ad goes straight to your men’s shirts page – and specifically a landing page highlighting the best of your men’s shirts, you are more likely to see a conversion.

Why?

People are in a rush. Online, we want results quickly and if we have to dig too deep, we are likely to give up and try somewhere else.

Give them fewer reasons to click back.

 

5. Use extensions

Google gives you the option to add more content to your ads with extensions. These are additional snippets of information that expand your ad. For example by highlighting specific sections, showing average ratings and reviews, or opening times and contact details.

For some listings, Google will add extensions automatically. But to make sure extensions show, you need to input enough information.

It also helps if your Google Ads account is linked to your Google My Business (which it should be anyway).

If your ads aren’t showing extensions, read up on Google and make sure they are ready to display.

 

In summary

Your Google Ads campaigns can have a great impact on your sales. But for the best success with PPC ads, you need to do a little bit of preparation.

Understanding your audience and then tailoring ads to them is going to yield the best results. Similar to how you would with an SEO campaign.  Use their language, create engaging landing pages and understand a bit of the psychology of marketing and you’ll see more successful PPC ads in no time.