Month: August 2016

20 trigger words to improve your ads

The new AdWords expanded text ads allows 45 more characters. Its time to be more creative with the ad copy. Try these 20 trigger words to possibly improve your ad copy.

  1. You / Your
  2. Because
  3. Imagine
  4. Real / True
  5. Boost / Turbo / Speed / Instant / Now / No waiting
  6. Secret / Hidden
  7. Discover/ Unlock
  8. New
  9. Free
  10. Save / bargain/ value/ off / discount / deal / roll back
  11. More
  12. Amazing/ Incedible / Great / Awesome / Huge
  13. 100% Money back
  14. Act now / Today
  15. Everything / Everyone / All inclusive / Every where / Any where
  16. Easy / Simple
  17. Guarantee / guaranteed / warranty
  18. Proven / Reliable
  19. No obligation
  20. Premium / Elite / VIP

Detailed article :

How to improve AdWords ads? Make the best use of the additional 45 characters provided by the new expanded text ads.

I will come to the trigger words later but first I would suggest including more “BENEFITS” in your ads.

I think the best possible use of the additional allowed characters might be to add more product or service benefits to the ad copy.

There is a very popular saying in marketing – Benefits sell, features tell. When writing ads and landing page copy, this simple statement has always helped me get better CTR and conversions.

However many of my clients do not have any significant benefit over competitors. In fact I had to think of some differentiating factors when I started AdWords for some of them. This is very typical with small business and many business verticals where the product or service is almost commoditized. How does one differentiate ads is such a case? While there are many strategies available but the following trigger words could also help in attracting and motivating your target audience.

  1. You / Your – helps in getting attention, makes your ad more conversational and easier to relate to.
  2. Because – Everybody loves good reasons. Use “because” to build confidence by giving reasons. Due to limited space in AdWords, the word “because” was very difficult to use earlier. However now it may be possible to use this word more often.
  3. Imagine – paint a scenario to attract attention. This is a difficult word to use in ads because its tough to paint a scenario in so few words but it can be interesting. Example – “Imagine if you could… ” Or “Imagine pure indulgence….”
  4. Real / True/ Pure – Example, Real success, True wealth, Real solution, Real world techniques and so on..
  5. Boost / Turbo / Speed / Fast / Instant / Now / No waiting– Everyone wants fast results
  6. Secret / Hidden – Everybody wants to know the secrets!
  7. Discover/ Unlock – I use them very often with excellent results. (“Unlock your hidden potential”..)
  8. New – “New” has been a favorite word of advertisers since generations! Nothing new needs to be said about it! 🙂
  9. Free – probably the most overused word in advertising, and unsurprisingly it still works to improve CTRs.
  10. Save / bargain/ value/ off / discount / deal / roll back  – Everyone wants a deal!
  11. More – The desire to get more is universal.
  12. Amazing/ Incredible / Great / Awesome / Huge – Similar to above.
  13. Act now / Today – Work well when used for limited time offers otherwise this phrase just adds “noise” to your ad. (“Noise” in an ad is when you are saying things which are of no practical relevance. Ad space is precious. Use it wisely.)
  14. Everything / Everyone / All inclusive / Every where / Any where – people like to follow popular things (herd mentality still exists!). Solutions that include everything, work any where are always attractive to us.
  15. Easy / Simple
  16. 100% Money back – Reduces the friction of the offering.
  17. Guarantee / guaranteed / warranty – same as above
  18. Proven / Reliable – same as above.
  19. No obligation – same as above.
  20. Premium / Elite / VIP – works well to convey more desirability or higher quality.

Remember, trigger words are not magic bullets. They are just words to which people might respond favorably. When combined with other advertising techniques, they can significantly boost your results but real business reasons, real business USP which actually make difference to your customers makes for a much more successful advertising than any language gimmick.

These words could be helpful to gain that tiny (or sometimes significant) advantage over your competitors so do try to use them in your ads and share your feedback.

( Additional resource : A much more detailed and very popular article about power words is here. )