Writing Good Ads for your Auto Body PPC Campaign

We started a series a couple weeks ago on starting Pay-Per-Click marketing campaigns for auto body shops.  If you're in need of a boost in your business, PPC campaigns are a good way to get it.  Check out our articles  The Basics of a Pay-Per-Click marketing campaign and Using the Right Keywords.  The next important thing to keep in mind is the content of your advertisements on the search engines.  

Writing good advertisements are the most important thing that separates you from your competition.  Besides choosing the more relevant keywords that pertain to your product or services, the ad text used for your PPC campaign greatly influences its success. In a few words, the advertisement must engage the reader and motivate them to click on the link to your landing page, which will convert that person's click into a sale. With careful planning, a "less is more" approach to the content of your PPC ad will increase the click through rate, which increases sales. For auto body shops, the advertisements are important because of the level of competition that you'll face on the search results. So you'll want your advertisement to really stand out in a compelling way.

The Basic Format of a PPC Advertisement

The starting point for an effective PPC advertisement is to follow the formatting rules established by Google for PPC ads. If your PPC ad does not meet the requirements established by Google, the ad will not appear. These guidelines are as follows:

  • The headline must not exceed 25 characters.
  • Each row of text should not be more than 35 characters.
  • Including the URL for the website, the ad should not exceed four rows.

The guidelines for Yahoo! Search and Bing ads have similar requirements.

The Content of PPC Advertisements

The content of an effective PPC advertisement should speak directly to readers and appeal to them on both a cognitive and emotional level, without sounding like an overbearing sales job. The first questions to ask is "What services do you offer? What are the potential customers you want to connect with through the search engines? Since many people have an inherent distrust of paid search results, the copy should be relevant to the keyword and suggest the website provides some type of authoritative value.

Some tips for writing effective PPC advertising copy include:

  • When writing the title and description of the advertisement, include the keywords so they flow with the rest of the content. The term "auto body shop" is a good example. If you're targeting this keyword (and you should be), then you'll want the keyword in the top line.
  • The description included in the ad should motivate the reader to click on the link to learn more at the site. One way to do this is to suggest the website has information that provides a solution to a particular problem. In keeping with "auto body shop" as our example, a good description would be "High Quality Auto Repair at a Low Cost."
  • The content of the ad should be relevant to the keyword and localized to the target audience. The copy needs to succinctly state the value of the product, describe what the product offers and its benefits, and include a call to action. The content should appeal to a certain geographic area and the demographic most likely to use the product or service. Additionally, the landing page to which the PPC ad directs should also contain specific targeted information that highlights the benefits of a product.
  • Use words that elicit emotions or strong images. Since the word count in PPC ads is extremely limited, the content must move the readers mind beyond the words they read so they can visualize the product and services, as well as the potential value of the content on the website associated with the ad.
  • Make sure the ad copy differentiates the product or service offered from its competition. When writing content for a PPC ad, describe the product or service in a manner that distinguishes it not only from those offered by other PPC ads, but also those found in the organic search results.

Many people have the impression that writing PPC ads is very simple since the content is so limited. The concise word count actually means the writing must skillfully create relevant content that engages the reader and motivates them to click on the link. Do this and you'll get visitors to your website.