Home » PPC Optimization: Wordplay & Humor

PPC Optimization: Wordplay & Humor

Summary:

Humor and wordplay can make your advertising stand out from the crowd. Unexpected word combinations and humor attract valuable attention and can garner higher PPC click-through and conversion rates.

Sometimes in advertising you need to think different(ly). In PPC advertising, standing out from the crowd is becoming more difficult as more advertisers join the fray. One way to stand out and attract short attention spans is to use wordplay and humor. We already covered strange attraction using unusual word or character combinations to boost performance. This time in our PPC optimization series we look at wordplay and humor.

The Challenge of PPC Advertising

The primary challenge in crafting PPC ad text is the limited space to make your case. In Call Only ads, Google places a limit of 35 characters for description lines (see Figure 1).

PPC Ad Text Editing

Figure 1: PPC Ad Text Editing

The key is to make your points succinctly and effectively, respecting the 35 character limit. Avoid duplication and be creative. If you are working with a dentist as in this example, don’t be too literal. Saying a smile makeover will makeover your smile won’t cut it, think of how the service will make patients feel: confident, happy, ready for anything. Think benefits, not features.

Injecting Humor and Wordplay

Even better, inject some humor and wordplay into the mix. Some examples:

  • Lumineer Your Smile
  • Dazzle Your Smile Makeover
  • Free Smiles
  • Regain Your Smile Mojo

Using words in unexpected combinations (Lumineer Your Smile) can garner higher click-through rates and conversions. Humor, ideally with shorter words, often wins the ad text sweepstakes. Here is an actual example from Dr. Cirka’s PPC campaign (see Figure 2).

PPC Ad Text Humor Example

Figure 2: PPC Ad Text Humor Example

The use of the word “Mojo”, or casting a magic spell, injects some humor into the mix. The word “Regain” implies the reader had their mojo before, and can get it back with some artful dentistry. The “mojo” ad had higher CTR and conversion rates than similar ads tested.

Conclusion

Humor and wordplay can make your advertising stand out from the crowd. Unexpected word combinations and humor attract valuable attention and can garner higher PPC click-through and conversion rates.

Further Reading

PhillyDentistry.com
Dr. Ken Cirka’s website is the subject of this PPC article. A cosmetic dentist in Philadelphia PA, Dr. Cirka has been practicing for many years.
PPC Optimization: Abbreviate Ad Text
Abbreviating key phrases in PPC text ads can lower CPC and the cost per conversion. Our otherwise identical text ad with “Michigan” abbreviated to “Mich” decreased the cost per call by more than 35%, and increased the conversion rate by 33 percentage points.
PPC Optimization: Ad Text Position
Leading with benefits can improve PPC text ad conversion rates. We show a case study that improves conversion rates by 1.8X.
PPC Optimization: Age Range Targeting
You can target specific age ranges in Google Adwords to optimize conversion rates. By tweaking the bids on high performing age ranges you can tilt your campaigns to those folks more likely to convert.
PPC Optimization: Average Income Targeting
Targeting your desired audience within particular geographic area using income is a powerful tool you can use to improve your conversion rates. Average household income is just the first demographic that Google has rolled out for that purpose. Coming soon are gender, age, and parental status which could be used to further refine your campaigns.
PPC Optimization: Be Specific
Using specific copy in your PPC ad text can improve conversion rates. Giving searchers ad text that more closely matches their search queries gives them results that more closely match their goals.
PPC Optimization: Display URL Expansion
By including keywords or calls to action in your display URLs you can boost text ad performance in Google Adwords. This article shows a real-world example of display URL optimization.
PPC Optimization: Experiments in Punctuation
By varying the punctuation and plurals within your text ads, you can optimize their conversion rate and cost per conversion. This article shows a case study of call only text ad optimization.
PPC Optimization: Gender Targeting
In Google Adwords you can optimize conversion rates using gender targeting. Learn how to squeeze more leads out of your PPC spend by targeting high performing demographics singly or in combination.
PPC Optimization: Strange Attraction
Learn how using strange attraction in your ad text can lower CPC and boost CTR and conversions. Grab attention with letter and symbol combinations to optimize PPC campaigns.
PPC Optimization: ZIP Code Targeting
Learn how to add ZIP code targeting to your PPC campaigns to boost conversion rates. By optimizing the performance of individual demographics and locations, you can improve conversion rates to squeeze more leads out your AdWords spend.