This week I’ve learned about what does and what does not make an advertisement successful. When it comes to advertising on Google, there is a good and bad way to design simple text ads. Firstly, people like to get straight to the point. They like to confirm that a link is related to the keywords they searched for, so some of them should appear in the heading. Secondly, they like to know specific information. In creating a text ad, showing what separates you from the competition is an advantage. If you’re running a special or a discount, display that. If you’re a local business, provide your location or a phone number. Thirdly, it’s important to provide a link that relates to what is being advertised. If it’s a specific product, it should go to that directory on your web page so the user doesn’t have to search around for it. The more time someone spends looking for something on a website without any success, the more likely it is that they’ll leave.
Additionally, it is important to makes ads entertaining or interesting. No sane person likes their viewing experience to be interrupted by ads. When a YouTube video starts, how many of us eagerly await that 5-15 seconds so we can click the skip button? I would dare say most of us. Interestingly, this advertisement showed before a video I was watching and I didn’t skip the ad. Feel free to view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNT2mBjLoTk&ab_channel=Purple
Humor, sarcasm, and an interesting title can go a long way and even get someone like me (who skips every ad) to watch all 3 minutes and 43 seconds of it of my own free choice.