7 Tips on How to Write PPC Ad Copy

Learning how to write PPC ad copy is an art form. It takes practice, tweaking and an ability to draw users in with as few words as possible.

But when done well, good PPC copy is hugely impactful on your business. Without it, your ads won’t generate clickthroughs and you’ll have to deal with wasted spend and low ROI. But with it, you can target specific demographics or locations, appeal to user needs and desires, address pain points, and encourage engagement with your brand.

It’s not just about the ability to write well either, it’s about how and where you put it. In this article, we’ll give you some helpful tips on how to refine your ad copy, with user intent in mind.

Why is PPC Ad Copy So Important?

Without compelling copy that engages and draws in the reader, your ad just isn’t going to perform well. There are few things more engaging in the advertising world than strong, persuasive messaging that effectively conveys a product’s USP (unique selling point).

PPC ad copy is, often, one of the first interactions a user has with your company. Its overall tone conveys your branding and communicates important information about your business to the reader. It’s how you differentiate yourself from competitors and stand out; there’s a reason everyone loves meerkats nowadays…

Ultimately, the better your ad copy, the more likely users are to engage with your ad and click through, leading to greater ROI. If you don’t grab them with your PPC ad copy, they’re unlikely to want to learn more, resulting in wasted spend.

Also, as PPC adverts are promoted to additional consumers based on their success rates and quality scores, your ad copy can seriously affect its serving and placement.

Your Quality Score takes ad relevance, including copy, into account. The higher your Quality Score, the better your ad placements, leading to a lower CPC (cost-per-click) and therefore, a higher ROI.

Think of advertising copy as the linchpin in the PPC campaign success cycle. It needs to align with user intent and expectations to increase the likelihood of conversions.

For example, a real estate developer is served two PPC ads. One is from a real estate company with generic information about homes in the area. The other is about how they help developers find their perfect plots, with a catchy stat to prove their efficacy.

Which one do you think the developer is more likely to click on?

This example shows how compelling, relevant ad copy is essential in appealing to your consumer base and improving the likelihood of conversion.

Let’s dive into the different ad copy components and how with our 7 top tips, you can write an ad that will blow your competition out of the water.

1. Crafting Compelling Headlines/Crafting Compelling Ad Headlines

Readers’ eyes are immediately drawn to a headline first. If this doesn’t grab their attention, they’re not going to waste time reading the rest of your copy. As a society, we like instant gratification, so writing an attention-grabbing headline is paramount to PPC ad success.

First, do your research. Have a look at what type of headlines your competitors are using, and identify which of your USPs and keywords will perform best on your own.

One of the key issues with creating a good headline is how to fit in everything you want and make it sound good in under 30-40 characters (depending on the PPC platform).

There are different tactics you can try, but fundamentally an ad headline should be concise, relevant to the search query and immediately communicate the benefit of clicking through.

Say, for example, you’re a B2B company looking at monitoring leads that come in by telephone and need tracking software. So, you head to Google and type in “B2B telephone tracking” and are served these ads:

Each immediately offers you value that encourages clickthroughs and conversions. If you’re looking for a comprehensive, more holistic PPC tracking system, Infinity is advertising it can provide what you need.

WhatConverts, on the other hand, highlights the simplicity of its set-up as its USP in its headline.

To summarise, a good PPC ad headline should:

• Be snappy and attention-grabbing
• Address a pain point or highlight a USP
• Be under 30-40 characters (depending on the platformapprox.)
• Include high-value keywords
• Highlight any applicable offers, prices or statistics
• Make sure it’s digestible (putting | between value points makes your ad easier to read)

Dynamic Keyword Insertion is instrumental here in making your ad appeal to various groups within your targeted segment. By organising keyword groups in Google Ads, for instance, AI can enhance your PPC ad by choosing the keyword it thinks will resonate most with the user, based on their search.

Don’t be afraid to test out different variations of your headlines too, and utilise all the available space. A/B testing can provide actionable insights into how effective your PPC headline is, and which copy engages your audience the best.

2. Writing Persuasive Ad Copy

Once the headline has succinctly grabbed the reader’s attention, their next step will be to read your ad copy.

Like the headline, your ad copy has a character limit that varies depending on the platform. While you have more room to play with, you still want to get across your main points simply and effectively using active language and keywords.

You can trial multiple tactics in your ad copy and CTA (call-to-action), using A/B testing to see which appeals most to your audience.
Strategies for writing B2B ad copy include:

• The ‘urgency’ sell: Usually for smaller consumer products, this involves limited-time offers, or “nearly all gone” warnings that play on our fear of missing out.
• The statistics-driven approach: “More than 50 years combined expertise.” “Used by 8/10 higher education institutions” etc. Promote your value and authority through your ad copy, placing yourself as a top contender in your industry.
• The benefit highlighter: A quick list of your product’s key features. The more advanced copywriter will take this a step further, rephrasing the benefit as a problem solver rather than a generic feature. E.g. “Track your KPIs” becomes “See how close you are to hitting targets”.

3. Emphasising USPs (Unique Selling Points)

What sets you apart from your competitors?

Marketers who have researched their target audience create the best PPC ads. They understand their pain points, and what gaps there are in the market they can take advantage of.

This is then highlighted through the PPC ad copy. If your business offers something your competitors don’t, use that to your advantage!

4. Tailoring Copy to Match Search Intent

PPC ads delivery is determined by, among other factors, ad relevance. The more relevant your ad is deemed to be to the user, the better chance of it being served at a higher ranking, for a lower CPC.

Depending on where your users are in the sales funnel, the type of ad that’s most appropriate for them will vary. However, if you tailor your ad messaging across the different types of user intent that come with each stage, the more likely you are to receive a higher clickthrough rate.

For example, a SaaS company retargeting a user who has engaged with the brand several times might choose to use ad copy to highlight free demonstrations and product walkthrough guides.

However, the best way to refine your PPC copy is through finding the right keywords. Long-tail keywords are signifiers of more niche user intent, so use these to your advantage when creating your ad’s copy.

Google’s search term reports, showing you which search queries triggered your ads are particularly useful in understanding specific user needs and how to address them in the copy using the identified keywords.

Make sure to continually monitor and tweak all your copy based on your PPC metrics. This is so it becomes more refined and more closely tailored to user intent, improving overall campaign performance.

5. A/B Testing and Iteration

The best PPC ad copy has been continually tested and refined. This is done through A/B testing, changing certain parts of the copy, CTA, headline or landing page to see if it impacts the campaign’s performance metrics.

This allows you to more closely align with user intent, and understand what language and tone resonates best with your target audience.

But before starting an A/B test, there are key questions you should ask to ensure the testing has an overall purpose:

• What is the reason for changing this piece of copy? (Are you trying to more closely match user intent, trial a new long-tail keyword, or see if an offer has any impact on clickthroughs, etc.)
• What do I want to achieve? (attract a new audience segment, push users through to the next stage in the funnel, etc.)
• What kind of performance uptick am I expecting to see? (more clickthroughs, lower CPC, etc.)

This allows you to begin your test with clear measurable goals and outcomes. Give it some time to bed in and then monitor the difference in performance between your existing ad and the test, to see which is delivering at a better rate to your audience.

The best A/B tests:

• Focus on one change/variable at a time
• Are given time to “bed in” and grow
• Have clearly defined parameters and goals

6. Optimising for Mobile and Local Audiences

Did you know that in 2023 over half of all internet usage in Europe came from mobile phones?

That means our ads and how we approach these users needed to change accordingly.

When creating PPC ad copy for mobile users there’s usually less room to play with. Plus, on phones our attention spans are generally shorter, meaning you need to grab users’ interest faster.

Short headlines and clear CTAs are paramount to the quick absorption preferred by mobile users.

For example, if a SaaS is targeting higher education institutions, they may choose to use the rule of three approach to highlight key features in as few words as possible.

“Engage students. Streamline resources. Tailored solutions.”

If you incorporate further local elements into your ad depending on the targeted geographic location, you can make your PPC copy more personalised and specific.

This is particularly necessary if your business has a brick-and-mortar location and you’re trying to drive foot traffic.

Use location extensions and geo-targeting to deliver mobile ads that incorporate local knowledge or humour into the PPC copy for some cheeky personalisation that makes the audience feel you understand their needs and area.

E.g Incorporating “Alright me babber” might make sense in Bristol, but people in Edinburgh won’t have the same emotional connection.

You can either do this using Dynamic Keyword Insertion in a broader ad set or create specific targeted groups for certain locations.

7. Ad Copy Formatting and Character Limits

We’ve already discussed the importance of ad copy grabbing its audience in as few words as possible, particularly on mobile. However, there are additional Ad extensions you can use to give the user more information.

Sitelink extensions are a great way of providing access to key pages quickly, or callouts provide telephone numbers without taking up any ad space. Utilising these lets you enhance your ad visibility without taking up any valuable copy that can be used to engage the users with other aspects of your business.

When writing good PPC ad copy, you can use small character limits to your advantage. Short, sharp sentences highlight key points. Using the long line character breaks up key bits of information without the need for conjunctions. The rule of three cuts to the heart of the user journey and highlights key points for each stage.

Try different approaches in both headlines and copy text to see which are most effective for your audience and thus generate more clickthroughs and a much higher ROI.

Through A/B testing, utilising dynamic keyword insertion, taking into account user intent, and engaging, persuasive copy, Common Ground has seen businesses like Veolia quadruple their number of leads.

Try some of the tactics we’ve discussed here in your next PPC ad campaign, and tell us the impact they had.