Levick Strategic Communications

Six@Six: Tips for Successful Search Ad Writing

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:00:20 GMT

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is all about catching Web users’ attention with a message that is highly relevant to what they are searching for. Of course, you only have 130 visible characters with which to work (that’s less than a Tweet), so it’s not always easy to fit everything you want to say about your business in such a small space. That means you have to make every word count in order to ensure you are driving the right audience to your website and attracting those that are most likely to convert.

As such, ad copy should be written after you have already built a keyword list and organized the terms into very succinct, categorized ad groups. The more succinct the ad groups are, the easier it will be for you to draft clear and concise messages. To assist in your search ad writing efforts, this week’s Six@Six outlines several tactics that can be used to make ads informative and attention grabbing, while also maintaining a high quality score and search rank. Do you have additional tips? Share them with me @katiebertram.

1. Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique.

Be very transparent about what makes your business stand out from the competition. Do a Google search for similar services or products to find what other companies are stating in their ads and what they are missing. Web users typically just scan over the search results, so you want your ad to stand out and make it easy for people to instantly understand the benefits. Ultimately, the goal is to encourage your target audience to click the ad while simultaneously filtering out those who aren’t serious. Because you pay for every click, you only want clicks coming from those who are actually interested in your selling proposition.

2. Incorporate relevant keywords.

Incorporating keywords from your ad group into the headline and description of your ad copy helps to increase relevancy. Terms that users are searching for will catch their attention and show that your ad is related to what they want. Track the top performing keywords that drive the most traffic to your website and include them in the copy. Another effective strategy is to use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) when writing ads. This allows you to write your ad so that a user’s actual search query keyword will be inserted into the ad text, making it appear even more relevant to the searcher.

3. Include prices and promotions.

If you have something special to offer, make sure your customers are aware of it by including specifics whenever you are able. If you are offering a discount, include the specific price. If you have a limited-time offer, include dates to establish urgency. If you have new information available on your website, let Web users know they can be the first to access this information. Give them what they need to help make it an easy decision to click on the ad. Including promotional details gives online users a great reason to visit your site and helps them better understand what you are offering.

4. Match your ad to the landing page.

Pull key messages and terms directly from the ad’s destination URL into the ad text so people know what to expect when they arrive on your website. This will also help to ensure a high quality score, which ultimately allows you to achieve a higher position on the results page and lower overall cost-per-click. You want to ensure that people are getting what the ad promised. If visitors don’t find what they to expect to see when they reach your site, they will just bounce off, which will not only deter visitors from returning but will also affect the ad’s quality score and could prevent it from being triggered.

5. Tell your customers what they can do.

A strong call-to-action will make it easy for Web users to understand exactly what they should do. Using strong verbs such as “call”, “buy”, “order,” or “browse” increase the likelihood of people clicking on your ad. Make sure to repeat the call-to-action on the landing page as well. By clearing stating the desired action and making the process to convert on the landing page easy, visitors will be less likely to drop off the site and click on a competitor’s link.

6. Feel free to experiment.

Because it can be difficult to determine which messaging will be most effective, it is best to create three to four ads per ad group and test them. Schedule ads to rotate evenly when first establishing the campaign and track performance. This will enable you to understand what type of messaging is the most effective in attracting your intended audience. Once the ads have been running for a while, you can let Google do the work and change the scheduling setting to optimize for clicks, so that it shows the ads that will drive the most traffic. Keep in mind that testing ad copy is an ongoing process. Try to keep at least two ads running per ad group at all times, and continue tracking which message performs best.

The Evolution of On-Campus Crisis Management

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:58:15 GMT

Today on FastCompany.com, Richard Levick examines the myriad issues that are impacting college and university brands today. In an era of unseen risks, increased transparency, and minute-to-minute news cycles, having a crisis response plan in place simply isn’t sufficient to contain a damaging narrative. Instead, colleges and universities must take proactive steps that assume control of a potentially negative story before it ever plays out.

Read Richard’s full take on FastCompany.com.

Debt, Scandal, And Bruised Reputations: Damage Control For Colleges In Crisis

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:54:00 GMT

Richard Levick examines the myriad issues impacting college and university brands today and outlines the strategies that help silence a potentially damaging narrative.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1837284/debt-scandal-bruised-reputations-damage-control-for-colleges-in-crisis

JPMorgan Shareholders Bear Entire Debacle Burden

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:48:48 GMT

Michael Robinson comments on the steps Jamie Dimon can take to protect the JP Morgan brand in the wake of $2 billion second-quarter trading loss.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11535485/1/jpmorgan-shareholders-bear-entire-debacle-burden.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

Facing more scrutiny, corporate boards evolve

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:39:18 GMT

Richard Levick comments on the new levels of transparency and accountability that define directorship in the post-financial crisis era.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/14/3610499/facing-more-scrutiny-corporate.html

Daniel Loeb & Yahoo!: Investor Activism Reaches New Heights

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:41:55 GMT

Today on Forbes.com, Richard Levick delves into the controversy over Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson’s allegedly embellished resume. The real significance of the current crisis goes well beyond the company itself – even though a prominent Yahoo! director has already been forced to step down amid the uproar. Never before has a shareholder activist used forensics as effectively as Daniel Loeb. As a result, it may not be long before others like him to follow suit.

Read Richard’s full take on Forbes.com.

The Yahoo! Fiasco: A Sharp New Arrow in the Activist Quiver

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:36:39 GMT

Richard Levick examines the forensics employed by activist investor Daniel Loeb in his bid to replace embattled Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardlevick/2012/05/10/the-yahoo-fiasco-a-sharp-new-arrow-in-the-activist-quiver/

Headline Writing: Can You Please Google and People at the Same Time?

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:32:44 GMT

This week on Mashable.com, Jonathan Rick examines the fine art of headline writing in the age of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Because the Google spiders don’t appreciate the wit, irony, and humor that so effectively draws eyeballs to articles, online authors have begun dumbing down their headlines to include the terms that Web users are likely to plug into searches. But with the right tools and a little imagination, writers can, in fact, craft one-liners that satisfy both the search engines and human beings who use them to access the content they crave.

Read Jonathan’s full take on Mashable.com.

Say-on-Pay: We’ve Seen the Future – and it’s In the UK

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:49:03 GMT

Kathleen Wailes examines three recent investor revolts in the UK and how they might impact the executive compensation debate in the U.S.

http://www.bulletproofblog.com/2012/05/10/say-on-pay-we%E2%80%99ve-seen-the-future-%E2%80%93-and-it%E2%80%99s-in-the-uk/

Say-on-Pay: We’ve Seen the Future – and it’s In the UK

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:41:56 GMT

Before the Dodd-Frank Act gave U.S. shareholders the opportunity to cast non-binding votes on executive compensation at least once every three years, investors in the United Kingdom were encouraged by the then-Labour government to become more engaged with the companies in which they invest. Regular votes on executive compensation were considered a key element of that increased engagement – and now, the current coalition government is considering another giant step toward strengthening shareholder rights by allowing binding votes on future pay policies.

In the last few weeks, three CEOs of FTSE 100 companies (an index of the 100 largest-capitalization companies listed on the London Stock Exchange) have resigned following shareholder insurrections on pay policy. Perceived failure on the part of these companies to align executive compensation with performance has caused not only executive departures, but other unforeseen results as well – as at least one major company was left with no clear succession in a challenging environment. Perhaps shareholders should consider this a case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Andrew Moss of Aviva PLC followed the CEOs of AstraZeneca PLC and Trinity Mirror PLC out of the executive suite. He was nearly followed by the CEO of UK sports and online betting company William Hill PLC, where just less than 50 percent of shareholders opposed the company’s plan to give CEO Ralph Topping a large pay increase and retention bonus. Barclays, UBS, and Credit Suisse all have received significant “no” votes on compensation as well.

Even conservative Switzerland is getting into the shareholder democracy act. National referendum votes on “fat cat” salaries may take place later this year or early next, allowing citizens to vote on whether to expand shareholder rights to limit executive pay.

In 2011, U.S. companies did not feel the same sting of shareholder wrath on executive pay. According to Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), only 2 percent of firms failed to win approval of compensation resolutions, and most companies that did successfully restored relations by engaging with investors and changing their practices.

In a sign that investor frustration with skyrocketing pay packages may be expanding across the pond, Citigroup became the first major Wall Street firm to have its executive compensation package rejected earlier this year. The board’s response may help determine the course of “say-on-pay” in this country going forward – especially given that shareholders in FirstMerit Corp. and KB Home also did not vote in favor of their companies’ pay plans.

All of this begs several key questions. What will boards do when executive compensation plans are rejected? Will they face sudden leadership vacuums if CEOs resign or are asked to leave, as has happened in the UK? What if shareholder votes are made to be binding, rather than the current non-binding vote?

Clearly, having a strong succession plan is place is a must. A clear-eyed look at compensation is another. Boards should ask, “Have investors criticized the company? How do our pay practices stack up against those of our peers? Do our financial results and stock price performance merit the increases that are proposed? What are our major shareholders saying on this issue?” In order to succeed, a board must be able to successfully defend its compensation practices and amend them as appropriate before a crisis of confidence manifests itself in a “no” vote that could drive the CEO out. Ongoing engagement with investors on this and other issues will help prevent the future that we have glimpsed in the UK from becoming the new reality in the U.S.

Kathleen Wailes is a Senior Vice President at Levick Strategic Communication, the nation’s top crisis firm. She is also a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog™.