Tips for Gaining Clicks on “Stretch” Ads

I like search engines – they quickly find what I am looking for and don’t talk back.  I can visit them when I like, ask about as many search terms as I want and the search engine responds in a speedy fashion with more information than I could ever find the time to read.

Because the search engine is such a trusty sidekick, we quickly forgive it when there is the occasional irrelevant result.  We have become so accustomed to irrelevant results spattered about, that our eyes are actually trained to quickly glaze over anything that doesn’t exactly match.  Search engines even help us with this by bolding the results that parrot our requests.  Even if we accidentally click on an irrelevant link, we can immediately bounce back to the search engine after realizing our mistake.

Since searchers have become such expert results cruisers, can a PPC ad that is not directly offering what you are looking for persuade you not only to click, but to actually consider an alternative? We continually see advertisers trying to stretch the limits here, so let’s analyze some examples.

Let’s say you are hungry for dinner and have decided on pizza.  You do a search for pizza in your town and Google includes an ad for Thai food.  You are not at all likely to click on that ad or even read it.  The Thai ad will get the “irrelevant” glaze-over.

Some advertisers argue that you could all of a sudden say, “Yeah, I’ll have Thai instead!”  But the likelihood is so low that it’s not worth it.  Too much of this “stretch” advertising can actually hurt you: garnering lots of impressions and no clicks can quickly damage your quality score. (And you don’t want a bad quality score!)

However, there are situations where “stretch” advertising is necessary.  Two typical examples are:  1) a new type of product or offering; and, 2) out-maneuvering your competitors.

These are a smaller stretch, but require careful crafting in order to avoid the “irrelevant” glaze-over as the ad will not be what the searcher thinks he is looking for.  Here are some tips for successful “stretch” advertising:

Do not use a “generic” ad. We all have them – an ad that includes your brand, its key benefits and a call to action.  This ad is guaranteed to get the glaze-over.  Instead:

First, your ad must be specific to the search term and very catchy.  Feed on your competitor’s weakness; use the keywords in your ad to get yourself bolded; ask questions that prompt further reading.

Second, once you’ve avoided the glaze-over, your ad needs to justify a click.  Why are you better?  What reward awaits the searcher that clicks on your ad?  Very strong draws are required here – much stronger than your typical call to action.

Do not use a “generic” landing page. Using your home page as your landing page is always a bad idea and in this case, it’s absolute death.  Your landing page is your only chance to seal the deal and persuade the searcher you are worth a try.  Think about where the user is coming from and clearly articulate your benefit in those terms.    Keeping with the theme of your ad a big catchy headline, short bullets and “offer completion steps” on the same page are good starting points.

Include some form of reward or guarantee in your offer.  You are asking someone to divert from their original intention, so incentivize them.  Do they get something for free?  Receive a discount?  Get some form of guarantee?  Why should they bother?

Make yourself sticky. Some of us (present company excluded) are a bit stubborn.  So even though the searcher might not change their mind on the spot, provide an easily memorable way for them to come back and find you.  Try a catchy brand name or URL and make sure you rank #1 in the natural search results for your persuasion taglines.

Just to reiterate, you should only use such tactics when absolutely necessary, and where you think you have a real chance at success. If you’re not careful, your quality score may take a fatal hit.