Best Practices for Writing Google Ads Copy That Converts

There was this one summer, the dog days really, sitting in a sweltering café in Brooklyn. We were brainstorming ad copy for a new client, a quirky boutique selling alpaca wool socks. Picture us: sweaty, slightly dehydrated, but obstinately optimistic. It was during this caffeine-infused reverie that we stumbled upon the secret sauce of Google Ads — the art of vivid, compelling storytelling spun into just a handful of characters.

Speak Directly to Our Audience

Remember that summer? Our collective lightbulb moment came when Matt, after his third espresso, mused aloud, "What do alpacas say to make people buy socks?" It sounds ridiculous, but then, it clicked. We started speaking directly to our audience, who themselves probably identified more with whimsicality than practicality. Think less like an aloof marketer, more like a human friend. Compose sentences that sound like the ultimate insider tip.

You see what we did there? We made our message relatable. By posing a question — bizarre as it may be — we got attention.

Use Buzzwords Sparingly

It's tempting to stuff your ads with every keyword under the sun because someone, somewhere once said keywords are king. Remember Mr. Johnson, our high school teacher? He once gave us a B+ on a perfectly good essay because "It's too verbose," he said. The same rules apply here.

Less is more, friends. Use buzzwords like a touch of hot sauce – just enough to add flavor, but not so much that it overpowers the hearty main dish. Stick to evocative language that highlights benefits.

Call to Action: Make it Impossible to Resist

Back to that summer, after we understood the power of our quirky dialogue with the audience, we faced the next mountain: the Call to Action (CTA). We envisioned Sally, our muse, maybe a digital nomad or a stay-at-home mom who just wanted a little bit of cozy luxury. What would make Sally click?

Our solution was a CTA that sounded like a best friend’s enthusiastic prompt – something like, "Snuggle into alpaca warmth today!" Simple, sincere, and provokes instant mental imagery. Your CTA should create urgency wrapped in a warm blanket of necessity. Make clicking feel like a no-brainer.

A/B Testing: Our Scientific Playground

Ah, the glorious phase of testing. We decided to split our ideas in half like a weird but creative toast — one buttered, one with jam. That's the essence of A/B testing, where we took pride in being both artists and scientists.

Yes, it's tedious sometimes, but here is where real magic happens. Test the mundane versus the magical. Experiment with headers, descriptions, CTAs – heck, even grammar! Take Sally down multiple paths in her alpaca sock journey. If something doesn't work, tweak, and twiddle until it resonates.

Measure Results and Adapt

We can't stress enough how critical it was to look back and assess what we did post-campaign. Our debriefs over bagels and cappuccino became as sacred as Sunday brunch. A peek into Google Ads analytics revealed the heartbeat of our labor. By sifting through data, we learned what made Sally chuckle and click or simply shrugged past with indifference.

Adapt. That's the real message here. If an idea bombs, don't dwell in the despair of defeat but rather, let it guide us to a more fitting narrative.

And there you have it – lessons gleaned over many summers, countless espressos, and way too many thoughtful discussions about alpacas. Let’s make ads as enchanting as the stories we tell each other after the final page is turned.