Advertise &
Profit Like Crazy
How to write effective PPC, CPA, CPM
Advertising and Profit Like Crazy
by Michael Campbell
Advertise and Profit Like Crazy
Introduction
If you've been reading my Internet Marketing Secrets Newsletter, you'll
know that I'm doing more PPC advertising and CPM media buys these days,
in addition to the usual SEO. Why? Because it just makes more sense.
Don't get me wrong, I still do SEO on my sites, including link building
campaigns, when I build out a site. But when it comes to testing offers and
getting quick traffic, nothing beats the vast inventory of cheap clicks, that
are available from the advertising networks.
Why PPC or CPM advertising instead of SEO?
Because...
*
*
*
*
*
PPC
PPC
PPC
PPC
PPC
is fast, SEO is not
is consistent, SEO is not
is predictable, SEO is not
has fewer rules and restrictions
does not rely on search engines
And my favorite #1 reason to use PPC traffic?
* PPC provides instant traffic for testing
It's important to realize, is that SEO is NOT free. You can spend either your
time, or your money to get traffic. The two are interchangeable.
If you have no shortage of sweat equity to invest, or little money, then it
makes sense to do SEO. If you have an advertising budget and a proven
sales process in place, then you don't need to wait for search engines to
rank you. PPC can get traffic to your web pages within minutes.
PPC advertising also trumps mass media, because you get instant traffic
from motivated prospects. Mass media like TV, radio and print cannot do
that, unless the prospect is in the market to buy, right now today.
With PPC you have the ability to target the individual customer when they
are earlier in the buying funnel. You can catch them in the thinking, asking,
or talking stages, and have the opportunity to convince them to buy now.
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You'll know for certain which advertising creative worked best, because it got
the click. More importantly, you'll know almost instantly, which ads work the
best, because their clicks convert into sales.
Yes, print has coupons, and TV has toll free 800 numbers, with fake locals
for you to "call now." And I'm not saying that buying mass media is a bad
thing, because it still works very well.
Just be prepared to get out your check book. You'll need about $20,000 to
get started in print, or $100,000 for television, and several months to pass,
before you have proof of concept, that a marketing idea works.
With PPC, you can split test a market, product idea, landing page, concept,
headline, book title, etc, in less than an hour, for about $20. If you tried to
do the same thing with SEO, it would take six months of your life and 100
hours of hard labor.
(And no, focus groups don't work either. Psychologists have proven that
people tend to agree with the majority, to avoid the pain of isolation. The
group opinion will be swayed by the individuals who argue, debate and
pontificate the most. PPC is pure data, because they vote with their clicks.)
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Part #1 - Writing Effective Advertising
Fundamentals
Become a student of marketing. Stop ignoring the ads and start focusing on
them instead. Hover your mouse over the ads and make a note of what ad
network they are coming from. You'll be using this data later on.
Unlike TV and radio, ads that are in magazines and online, don't suffer the
same "ad burnout" as other media. It's important that you pay attention to
the ads that you "see everywhere" or ones that run for weeks, or months on
end without changing, because those are the most successful ads.
Get into the right mind set. You never lose money with PPC. You're buying
data. Especially in the early stages. You're not doing anything wrong if an ad
bombs. Think of it in these terms, you're finding out what does not work.
Emulate the good ads and their styles. I'm not saying rip them off, because
all the ads and photos you'll see online are copyright. Some person or
company owns them. They are the intellectual property of their owners.
What I'm saying is that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. Learn from
them and emulate them, as you find your own style.
If you get stuck, open a classic book like Tested Advertising Methods by John
Caples. Just 10 minutes of reading is enough to jumpstart your brain, and
get the creative juices flowing again.
The more you practice, the more consciously competent you'll become.
Pretty soon you won't be able to write a bad ad. It will just flow from your
mind and fingertips.
Keep in mind that the ads with the highest clicks, won't necessarily get the
highest conversions. You'll need to track both, to find the most profitable ad
and offer combo.
Remember the PPC golden rule: Buy a little PPC traffic. Test & track until
you're making a profit and getting a decent ROI (return on investment).
Then buy all the inventory (clicks) that you can.
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Get a Course
If you've never written an ad before in your life, I suggest that you get a
couple of books, or courses to help you figure it out. The first one I suggest
reading was written in 1923. It's Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins.
You can probably find it online for free.
The others are Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples and Breakthrough
Advertising by Eugene Schwartz. It doesn't matter that these books are old,
because human nature hasn't changed much in the last 2,000 years.
Yes the delivery mechanisms, and the mediums are faster and better, but
people still have egos, pride, virility, vanity, lust, greed, style, peer pressure,
embarrassment, individuality, compassion, hopes, dreams, desires, love, etc.
All these things are timeless and never change.
For writing classified ads like the ones in PPC advertising, Perry Marshall
covers the basic principles in his, Definitive Guide to Google AdWords. But in
this case, since the advertising medium is the internet, and it's constantly
evolving, I recommend buying an ebook, not an out of date printed book.
Even though I don't use Google for PPC anymore, Perry's teaching can be
applied to most PPC sources. The bottom line of what he teaches is this;
little changes in the ad can lead to huge differences in conversion.
So instead of trusting your gut, test and track. It's the only thing that
matters in PPC advertising.
If you have the basics down, you're ready for advanced training. The PPC
Ninja's Traffic Dojo is the next logical step.
Christian Weselak (the Ninja) makes a lot of money, because he constantly
tests and tracks. He keeps the winning ad and further split tests, deep into
the demographics, until he has a laser targeted ad, that's pulling double the
original investment.
The only downside, is that his training system doesn't spend much time on
the ad creatives. (Which is why I created this manual for you.) :-)
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In the Traffic Dojo you'll learn "secret" traffic sources, how to set up
campaigns, split testing demographics, and how to automate the tracking
and reporting, so you can spot the winning ads more quickly. I recommend it
because, the targeting and tracking methods in the course, can make the
difference between wild profits, or losing your shirt.
Seasonal Trends
One of the nice things about PPC, is that you can start and stop your
campaigns on a whim. You can also "pick up" or reuse your successful
creatives from the year before.
Do all your creatives for Mother's day and start them running three weeks in
advance of the holiday. Then shut them off three days before, because not
even FedEx will guarantee delivery after that.
If you're using a Mac computer, you can subscribe to the holidays of different
countries, and email yourself reminders in advance with iCal. It allows you to
target and advertise major holidays like Thanksgiving in the US and Canada
separately, because they happen six weeks apart.
Ad Components
Most ads on the ad networks have similar components. A photo, headline,
body copy and a landing page url.
After someone clicks on the ad, you can take them straight to the
advertiser's offer, or you can set up an interstitial, also known as a landing
page, with a persuasive sales message. We'll look at each component and
scenario in detail later on.
Now, keep in mind, as a general rule, advertisers like to have their ads look,
and feel, and sound like ads. Which is silly when you think about it.
Advertisers think that the ad should be about them. It should contain info
about fast, fair, friendly service. How long they've been in business. Repeat
the phone number three times. Say the address. Mention store hours.
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Wrong! The best ads are always about the customer. How they'll benefit by
taking action and clicking, or signing up. It's your job as the ad writer, to
persuade the reader to take that action.
Try not to have your advertisement, look like an ad. Make it stand out from
the rest. Try some goofy, outrageous things, like unusual looking people in
unexpected circumstances. So instead of looking like a slick hollywood
production that's easily ignored, do something odd to grab their attention.
Photos
Most affiliate networks provide pre-approved creatives from the advertisers.
It's mostly banner ads, terrible photos, and Flash based junk. Most of it is
pure crap, made up by art school flunkies hiding in the graphics department.
Most people in the graphics department haven't got a clue about advertising.
Trust me, they don't teach persuasion and conversion in design school.
You could use Photoshop, or Preview, to crop faces out of the banners, but
most of them are low quality GIF format. Not only that, your ads look like
everyone else. You want to stand out, remember?
A better idea, is to buy your photos from iStock photo. You can crop them to
the size you need, and submit them to the CPA network for approval.
Do not use any unapproved photos, or they might put up a fight about
paying you. It's only a formality, and takes a couple of hours, just be sure
you tell them that you bought the photos, and the rights to use them.
Flip the photos so they look into the ad. Never have a photo of a person with
their back to the ad, or looking off the web page, unless you purposely
intended to do so, as a graphic design element. Direct the readers eye, by
having the person in the photo look towards the ad.
Use a photo of a person that shows the same emotion, or end result, that
the advertised product will bring. For example, if you're advertising dating
services, smiling faces outperform serious looking ones.
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In a different product category, like adult diapers (incontinence), an
embarrassed looking face reminds them of the painful problem they want
solved. It out performs a happy face.
If you're going after seasonal trends and holidays, be sure the photo
matches the occasion and what you're selling. They could be flowers, hearts,
chocolate, wine, gift baskets, wrapped presents, etc.
Even clipart and cartoons will work better than photos at times. For
example, if selling a dating service, try showing something like two pink
elephants with their trunks intertwined in the shape of a heart. Yeesh...
sappy I know... but I've seen it convert better than photographs.
Headlines
The headline interrupts the viewers thought patterns and grabs their
attention. It makes them want to read the rest of the ad. What you're trying
to do, is tap the desire of mass markets that lie deep within all of us.
Mass markets exist where people have hopes, desires, fears and dreams.
They could be about about vanity, weight, age, virility, health, food, shelter,
clothing, entertainment, arts, hobbies, pets, sports, etc.
All you can do as an advertiser is agree with their desire, heighten it,
sharpen it, channel it and direct it. Focus their hopes, dreams, fears and
desires on your product or service, and position it as the solution.
Headlines that are topically related to the photo work best. Try testing the
use of metaphors, putting interesting verbs in unusual places, and using
numbers as percentages.
For example, How to Learn Spanish 80% Faster, or the "Cosmo" headlines
like, 5 Tips for a Flat Belly in 3 Weeks, or 10 Ways to Get Kissed on the 1st
Date, always work.
Unlike the search engines, most other traffic sources allow the use of
superlatives. You can say words like best, ultimate, freshest, cleanest,
fastest and all the other adjectives. Just be careful to substantiate your claim
with facts, or the reader might claim BS and ignore your ads.
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Ad Copy
You can sell emotional things with emotion. Talk to the pain of being alone in
a personals ad. Talk about thunderous, crunching, action, if you're tying to
sell tickets, or big screen TVs to watch the football game. Be warm and fuzzy
when it comes to Valentines.
Selling with logic works, if the numbers are logical. You can say things like,
"Ours is 30% faster and 20% more reliable, according to independent
consumer tests" but only if the statements are true. Be careful that you
don't use any unsubstantiated claims.
Things like lowest price, 30% off, save $5, etc, always work, if the person is
in the market for what you're selling, right now, today. Just keep in mind,
that the person who switches to you for price alone, can just as easily "click
off" and switch to someone else for the same reason.
Because the space in PPC ads usually limited to 140 characters or less, it's
better to focus on benefits as opposed to features. You can however pick one
feature, and focus on the benefits it brings.
Shake it up. If everything looks uniform, and all the ads look the same, it
can make your ad invisible. Try shaking things up by SUDDENLY capitalizing
a word in the middle of a sentence.
Calls to Action
Call to action is a term that I coined back in 1999 in my first book Nothing
but 'Net. In the advertising business we used to call it a kicker, because it
was the text that kicked off the price. Words like, order now, for only, get
yours now, just, low price, great deal, hot price, buy now, etc.
Many of the advertising networks require a call to action in the ad copy.
Words like sign up, register, or join, must be used in the ad. Be sure to read
their ad guidelines to learn more about each platform.
For best results, use a compelling call to action, that's topically related to the
message. For example, if their problem is squirrels digging up their garden,
saying "click here to order now" is pretty weak. A far more effective call to
action would be, "Get Rid of Squirrels Now."
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Landing Pages
Another PPC expert Greg Davis, suggests setting up landing pages and preselling. I heard him say that the landing page can turn a 10% ROI (return on
investment) into 30-50% according to his tests. So there's no shortage of
things to try.
I used landing pages extensively from 2000 - 2004, before the search
engines decided to take them away from us. Now they're back with a
vengeance, because most ad networks don't care if you use landing pages.
Spend a lot of time on the opening headline. It's the first thing people will
see. It's job is to get the reader engaged. So I want you to write at least 50
headlines for every landing page... Yes, I am serious.
Sit, think and write, for at least an hour or more. By the time you write your
30th headline, you'll be in the zone and cranking out some good ones.
I could write an entire chapter on how to write compelling headlines. Come
to think of it, I did. ;-)
Members of my private site, The Dynamic Media Vault, can download my
first two ebooks Nothing but 'Net and Clickin' it Rich and get a complete
course in ad writing. In Nothing but 'Net, search for the word "headline."
Pay particular attention to pages 66 and 87. Here is just a glimpse of what
you'll find in there...
Writing headlines is an art form in itself. The concept is easy. Just include a
feature, a benefit and a power word or two.
A feature is a brand name or generalized something that a product has. A
benefit is "what's in it for me" the end user.
Power words include words like: you, money, save, now, how to, if you,
then, new, love, secret, reveal, discover, guaranteed, latest, powerful. They
are strong words and phrases that evoke subconscious emotions.
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Combine the power words with numbers and you'll have an instant headline.
Take this one from marketing legend Jonathan Mizel, "Discover how to get
paid $150 to $500 every month just for giving your opinion."
There are two classic ways to write a headline. The "if you then" model, or
by telling a story.
A typical "if you then" might go something like, "If you want skin like a super
model, then download this free dermatologist's report to discover this little
known secret." If you desire ____ then ____ take this action to bring it.
Telling a story might go something like, "How I went from 0 to $750,000 in
less than a year, without so much as a business card." This works because
we are story telling creatures.
Before the internet, TV, radio, or access to books, humans sat around poking
sticks in the campfire, or watched ocean waves and told stories to one
another. Stories are like the fabric of time which bind our societies together.
As for the copy that goes on the landing page, here is an excerpt from
Clickin' it Rich, that goes into great detail...
The best way to write effective preselling copy is to appeal directly to the
emotions of the reader. Don't try and convince them that they NEED what
you are selling. Make them WANT what you are selling... by teasing them.
Appeal to their human nature with imagination and emotions. Try to get
them to the point where they've already envisioned themselves owning it.
Just imagine how it will make their lives better or easier, the problems it will
solve, the money it will make, or the time it will save.
Don't say, "If you're fat, click here to lose weight." It won't work. Try
something like, "Losing 10 pounds can be easier than you think. Imagine
how good you'll look and feel. I bet the boys will really take notice again.
This no-diet method really works wonders. Click here to find out more."
The following example is a real live landing page. All I'm trying to do, is get
the reader clicking on my links as quickly as possible. Notice how I evoke the
reader's imagination and emotion.
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Sample Landing Page #1
How to Play the Guitar
Learning how to play the guitar is easy. All you need is a guitar and a chord
chart. It's a little book that shows how to play the most common chords.
Simply learn a few basic chords like E, A, D, and that's it. Most rock, pop and
folk songs contain only three or four chords. While the left hand gets busy
creating the chord, the right hand gets busy doing the picking or strumming.
The rhythmic strumming is often the most difficult part to master. The other
hard part is the speed at which your left hand can make the new chord.
Don't worry, you'll memorize all the basic positions within days.
You might want to choose an electric guitar while you are learning. That
way, you can practice quietly without the amplifier until you become a better
player. If you get a beginners package, you can get a decent amplifier
thrown into the deal.
How long it takes to get good at playing the guitar, depends on how much
you practice. You should be able to pick up basic chords and strumming
patterns within two to six weeks. Girls love it and you'll find yourself very
popular, especially at parties.
Come visit our web site, you'll find everything you need to play the guitar.
Landing Page #1 Analysis
If you were a beginner and thinking about taking up the guitar, would the ad
copy above convince you to try? Would you buy from the destination site if it
was easy to use? What if the link led directly to a guitar page, with a
package deal for beginners, that included an amp?
This page does hundreds of dollars in sales every month. It caters directly to
the emotion of the beginner. I presell by telling the reader that learning to
play the guitar is easy. It will only take a couple of weeks. It will also make
them more popular with girls and at parties.
The first and last sentences are where I put the hypertext links. In this
example minisite, all I want the reader to do is click my affiliate links.
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So how do we write these emotionally charged paragraphs? By leaving out
the features and focusing solely on benefits.
Just win the reader's heart and their mind will follow. Agree with their pain,
or problem, then offer a solution. If they are lonely, you'll make them more
popular. If they are fat, you'll make them thin. If they are bald, you'll help
them get hair back... you get the idea.
Lets take a look at another sample "direct response" landing page.
Sample Landing Page #2
Welcome to best-big-screen-tv.com
Getting a big screen tv is easy. We ship it right to your door and your
satisfaction is guaranteed.
Turning it on will be one of the greatest thrills of your life. You've never
enjoyed television like this before.
You'll suddenly be a lot more popular. The guys want to come over and
watch the game. The girls want to come over and watch movies.... if you
know what I mean. It's a win win situation.
And man o man, the close ups. When they zoom in on the action, you'll see
things you never even noticed before. Nature and travel shows are just like
being there. When watching the game you can feel the hits and thunderous
crunching action. So what are you waiting for?
Click to shop for your very own big screen television. You'll get...
•
•
•
•
•
Your choice of all major brand names
Award winning customer service
No tax outside our local delivery area
A price matching guarantee
A flexible return & exchange policy.
Yes, it's true. If you're not completely satisfied with your TV, tell us within
60 days and return it for free. We'll arrange for refund or exchange. It's your
choice. We'll even cover the cost of return shipping. There are no re-stocking
fees. You have nothing to lose.
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Click here to get your very own big screen tv, risk free, and be the talk of
the town. But don't blame us if you need to buy a microwave too, for all that
popcorn you'll be making. You're about to make a lot of new friends.
Landing Page #2 Analysis
Emotional words like the ones above, make it easy to engage the
imagination. The prospect goes on a little day dream while reading the ad
copy. Once the mind has imagined owning the TV - how it will increase their
social circle and popularity - the logical mind quickly finds ways to justify the
emotional purchase decision.
But notice how little we talked about the actual TV. No mention of sizes or
specifications. No brand names, or discussions of Plasma vs LCD or
Projection. No features, just benefits. Playing on the emotion of the
demographic, or target audience, in this case, a single male between the
ages of 20 and 35.
We focused on telling him how he would be more popular. How the girls will
want to come over. What a big thrill it will be, "turning it on." We used
descriptive language like, "thunderous crunching action."
The other area we focus on, is how easy it is to get the TV, and return it if
he doesn't like it. We've removed all the risk from the buying process. We've
made it easy for him to imagine owning the TV or sending it back. We've
greased the chute of emotions, and sent him down the slippery slope toward
justifying ownership.
For a hair restoration system, I might lead off with, "Tired of looking 10
years older than you actually are? Tired of the other guy always getting the
girl? Then brand X will fix it by... "
If I was selling prescription drugs I might play on things like: We have
discreet delivery. Plain packaging. No appointment. No embarrassment. No
disapproving looks. No doctor's office. No waiting rooms. Confidential and
secure. All from the comfort of your home!
Oh right, the TV site, I almost forgot. You're wondering how well it works.
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Last I checked, it converted around half a percent, (one out of every 200
visitors made a purchase) with an average PPC (Pay Per Click) price of .12
cents. That's $24 to get one buying customer.
The average sale is $3,100. My commission is 3%. So that's a $93
commission, minus the $24 cost of the PPC ads, which results in a healthy
$69 profit for me.
Average number of sales per month, three. In other words, $207 per month.
Not bad for a one page site that took less than a day to create. See how
easy it can be?
It's all based on math (return on your PPC) and your power to convince
people in an emotional manner. It has nothing to do with organic search
positioning involving SEO or optimizing pages. (But of course, you can
always add them to your marketing mix.)
The best part about a direct response web page like the one above, is that it
goes on autopilot. It keeps converting PPC visitors into sales, day after day.
But you don't have to stop there.
Next day, do same thing. Find another hot topic, put up another one page
site, and target another set of keywords with your PPC ads. Pretty soon you
could have dozens of pages making over $200 a month each. Aren't you
anxious to get started?
After 10 years of testing, I can tell you that pages with blue backgrounds
convert better. Opt in forms on the upper right hand part of the screen, with
a compelling call to action on the button, convert better.
Photos of people, particularly women, convert better. Sometimes it's photos
of men, but most often you'll see pictures of women. Video also works well.
Use big buttons and arrows to draw attention to the opt in box. Use phrases
like "instant access" to persuade them to take action.
Put four or five bold bullet points right underneath the headline. Instead of
using the usual • dot, try using big red checkmarks in front of the bullets.
Be sure to test exit pop ups if they're permitted. You might capture a
significant amount of opt ins as they try to leave your page.
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Finally, keep all the important information including the opt in box - if you're
using one - above the fold, meaning that they don't need to scroll at all.
Everything they need to make a decision about the offer is right there on
one screen.
Landing Page URL
Some ad networks show the landing page url, others cloak it. If the url does
get displayed, be sure to test different versions of it. For example, test
putting the www ahead of the url versus taking it out.
For example, test www.greatoffer.com against greatoffer.com. Greg Davis
had one instance - to his surprise - where simply adding the www ahead of
the url, doubled conversions.
Try putting a trailing slash after the landing page url as it can also have an
effect. Test www.greatoffer.com against www.greatoffer.com/ and see which
converts best.
As a general rule, always use the trailing slash if they let you, because
according to Greg, it increases conversions. Also try various capitalization of
keywords in the url as well like GreatOffer.com or GREAToffer.com.
Market Research
This demographics tool on Plenty of Fish (a dating site) offers unique insight
into the lives and personal preferences of several million people. You don't
need to be a member to use the tool. It's open to the public.
Type in any keyword like knitting, camping, BBQ, cooking, piano, etc, and
you'll get a complete demographic breakdown of the people with that
particular interest. It shows income range, age range, education, marital
status, body type, search type and more.
Please note, that it's not extrapolated, synthesized, or conjured up data.
This is REAL information gathered from the profiles of millions of members.
Click over to Quantcast and type in an url like acne.org. You'll discover the
age range, gender, ethnicity, income and education. It will tell you if the site
being researched accepts ads or not.
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Go to the bottom right hand corner of Quantcast. It will show sites that have
similar demographics to the site you're currently researching.
Another source of market intelligence is Google's Ad Planner. It doesn't have
demographic data for as many sites, but it shows audience interests,
keywords searched for, sites also visited, and details about advertising on
that site.
You can get more market research tips by reading "My Top 10 Market
Research Tips" which was originally an article I wrote for my Internet
Marketing Secrets Newsletter.
Part #2 - CPM to CPA Case Study
After working through the PPC Ninja's Traffic Dojo, I choose dating for single
parents as a test. I joined a couple of affiliate networks and picked my
advertisers (offers I wanted to promote). And joined ad networks in the
dating niche, with millions of viewers and affordable advertising rates.
The nice thing about advertising on dating sites, is that they allow you to
target very specific demographics. That means your ad won't fire (show to
the prospect) unless it meets the demographic criteria that you specified.
I researched the demographics of single parents with children, and came to
several conclusions about gender, age, marital status and other habits. For
example, the more educated they are, the less likely it is they have children,
so I don't want to waste impressions where there is no market.
A couple of things to note are the frequency cap and the session depth. The
frequency cap is how many times any one person will see the same ad. The
session depth means how many screen refreshes before your ad won't be
seen anymore.
I learned through testing, that people are more likely to click on an ad
earlier in their session. Usually within the first 10 minutes after logging in.
It's definitely something you'll want to test.
A sample of the demographics settings I used on one ad network are:
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The ad network had a specific ad format, that had to be approved by the
affiliate network, before I could run my ads. The format was 110 x 80 photo,
32 characters max in the headline, and 128 characters max in the ad copy.
The first thing on the agenda was to write a decent ad and start testing the
photos. I put on my writer's hat for this creative and was pleased to see that
the ad did well, and made sales right from the start.
(Keep in mind that I've got over 20 years of experience in sales and
advertising and writing ads like the one below. Not bragging... just saying...
so you won't be surprised if your results are different from mine. ;-)
Single Mom + Single Dad = Happy
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet?
Come join the largest community of single parents.
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Here's why this ad works well. First of all there's the persona, which is a
fancy substitute word that means, your average customer. I don't suggest
going too deep into personas like some would have you believe, because
that can become flawed and backfire quickly.
I suggest picturing your typical customer in mind. Jot down things that you
think are important to that person. Sort them in their order of importance.
Then try to work the ideas into your headline and copy.
First off, study the headline. Note that what I'm selling is the end result they
can expect... happiness.
Look at the way the headline is structured. Search engines don't let you use
symbols like + and = because they make your ad stand out from the rest.
The ad networks don't care. It's not over the top, like all caps, or loaded with
exclamation marks, just subtly different.
Now going back to my list of what's important to this customer, I start
writing the copy. Single parents have children, so safety is a top concern.
They're also busy, so telling them it's safe and easy helps attract clicks.
Finally, I'm telling them that its a large community. So chances are, they will
meet many other single parents, just like themselves.
This ad is now my control piece. I'll use it to test photos and headlines.
The next step is looking through the pre-approved photos, that the
advertiser supplied to the affiliate network. I could use Preview or Photoshop
to crop 110 x 80 photos out of the banners for the ad network, but decide to
make my ads unique.
I clicked to iStock Photo and purchased several shots of single parents like
the ones below.
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After selecting the images, I had to send them to the manager at the
affiliate network to get them approved, because it's part of the affiliate
agreement. It's really just a formality that takes half a day, but if the photos
aren't approved, they might put up a fuss about paying you later.
The winner is the photo below. It got about 40% more clicks than the runner
up. And about 70% more than the one in third place. One photo didn't get
any clicks at all.
Single Mom + Single Dad = Happy
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet?
Come join the largest community of single parents.
Now that the people have voted with their clicks and I know what photo to
run, it's time to test the headline. Since the winning photo was of a male, I
decided to angle the campaign towards single moms looking for single dads.
Below are the top 15 headlines in order of how many clicks they
received. The number beside the headline - in brackets - shows what
percentage of those clicks resulted in sales. Which in this case was
signing up for the CPA offer at the single parent's dating site.
The {age:default} is a wild card provided by the ad network, which in this
case was a dating site. The age was taken from the customer's profile.
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So if the woman doing the search was 31 years old, the headline would read
31 Year Old Moms Wanted. Initially I thought it would be cheesy and obvious
to the customer, but I was totally wrong. That's why we test. ;-)
{age:default} Year Old Moms Wanted (37%)
{age:default} & Divorced with Kids? (10%)
Daddy Looking For Mommy (11%)
Single Mom + Single Dad = Happy (14%)
Dad Sucks at Being a Mom (13%)
Start Off Slow, Watch Love Grow (0%)
Go On a Play Date (16%)
Meet Caring Single Dads (4%)
Looking for Mr. Right ? (18%)
Single Dads are Busy (1%)
Lifetime of Happiness Together (21%)
Meet Single Dads Near You (2%)
No Cheesy Pickup Lines (45%)
Single Parents are Online Now (33%)
Looking for a Safe Way to Meet ? (39%)
By now, you've probably noticed that there's no direct correlation between
the number of clicks and the number of sales. The last three headlines
received few clicks but high sales.
They obviously resonated with certain people, who upon seeing the
message, agreed whole heartedly and went on to complete the application
form at the CPA site.
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My control piece came in fourth place in terms of clicks, but in eighth place
in terms of sales. Can you imagine if I didn't test, how much money I'd be
leaving on the table?
One thing this test has shown me, is that adding a custom field like
{age:default} resulted in the highest clicks and the third highest sales.
There's obviously a lot of inventory (clicks) available for that headline, and it
converts well, so I'll let it continue to let it run, along with any other ad
that's generating more than a 15% sell through ratio.
The reason I chose 15% is because the ad network is based on CPM.
Meaning that I'm paying per 1,000 impressions of my ad, regardless of
whether anyone clicks or not. It just happens to be the profit line between
what I was bidding for the impressions on the ad network, and the amount
of sales I was getting back on the CPA offer.
The next logical step is to keep the winning photo, and the most profitable
headlines, and test the copy. I won't go into that much detail in this report,
but I will provide you with samples of the copy I wrote. Look for it in the
addendum and the end of this report. It will help give you more insight into
the types of creatives I'm using.
A Whacky Idea
Some people on the ad network were running cartoon figures instead
photos. I thought perhaps a photo could have a negative effect. Afterall,
people may be making judgements about clicking on an ad, because how
they felt about the person in the photo.
I got to thinking and remembered something I read from one of Dr. Robert
Cialdini's books, "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive." A sticky
note can double response on surveys. They get returned more promptly with
more detail and attentive answers.
His conclusion was that sticky notes increase the timeliness and quality of
compliance with your request. Hmm... double response. I wonder if that
works in advertising?
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Advertise and Profit Like Crazy
Single Mom + Single Dad = Happy
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet?
Come join the largest community of single parents.
When this ad was tested against the rest, it bumped off the pack finishing in
first place for raw number of clicks. Plus it pulled in a respectable 18% in
sales. Now there's no prejudice about the photo. I can't wait to try out
different colored backgrounds and new messages.
What's Next?
Right now I'm testing landing pages. I'm looking at warming up the
customer before sending them away to an offer. I'm also trying to capture
email addresses by offering a free report as an incentive.
Early results show almost a 20% increase in sales, over sending someone
direct to a CPA offer. It's also allowing me to build a mailing list in each
niche, and send followup offers for additional revenue.
The testing process is the same as before. Test one element at a time. The
big ones being photos, headlines, bullets and background color.
Beyond CPA
There's nothing inherently wrong with CPA. I've seen many people generate
six figure incomes from it. The only downside, is that you have to keep doing
it, and be relentless at it, if you want continued success.
I tend to look at the ad networks as cheap traffic sources. If they allow me
to target demographics, then it's way more effective than running generic
ads on a search engine.
For example, one of my favorite niches is BBQ. Having been a grill cook and
chef for 10 years before I got into advertising, makes me a natural for it.
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So if I want to send PPC, or CPM traffic to my niche, I get out the
demographics tool like the one at the Plenty of Fish dating site. I type BBQ
and get the results I'm looking for.
I want to target both men and women, between the ages of 25-54. Income
range from 35K to 100K, but only those with some college or associates
degrees. In addition, they must be slightly overweight, or average body
type, social drinkers looking for dating, or long term relationships.
And here's something odd, people who are divorced or separated are 30%
more likely to BBQ than the average person. Huh... who knew? So if I
wanted a really tight target demographic, I'd exclude everyone else.
Now for anther favorite niche, wine... I'd target educated women only,
between 35 to 64, earning more than 75K a year, etc, etc, etc. ;-)
Traffic Sources
In addition to the dating sites, which have highly targeted demographics, a
few of the popular ad networks are Pulse360.com, AdSonar.com, Zedo.com,
DirectCPV.com, TrafficVance.com, GameVance.com, MediaTraffic.com,
AdBrite.com, Advertise.com, etc, etc.
Try doing a few searches for "ad networks" and you'll find an "all you can
eat" advertising buffet. But before you go buying advertising, it's imperative
that you have a sales process in place. One that converts. And has an opt in
form, so you can follow up after the sale.
Conclusion
Doing PPC to CPA, or any affiliate offer, boils down to testing ideas and
tracking results. Once you find something that works, you keep it as your
new control piece and toss the rest. You set up another test and try to beat
your best converting offer.
Once you're happy with the conversion rate, you can do a media buy and
open the floodgates of traffic. Then you can turn your attention to other
mass markets and try to find new new offers to satisfy them.
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Don't rely on JUST direct linking. Set up some landing pages and try to
"warm up" or pre-sell the traffic. Conversions are likely to go up if you do.
Remember that with PPC, you never lose money, you're buying data,
especially in the early stages. (In SEO you'd be wasting time.) So don't
worry if you spend 50-100 bucks to find an ad & offer combo that works.
And finally, always obey the PPC Golden Rule: Buy a little PPC traffic. Test &
track until it converts. Then... and ONLY then... buy more traffic... or build a
full blown web site and do the SEO for it.
(Desire x Persuasion = Conversion) x Advertising = Profit Like Crazy
I hope you have fun with it. Learn a lot. Profit a lot and enjoy the ride.
Take care,
Michael
Questions: askmichael@mac.com
Voicemail: +1 (360) 450-5880
Tweets: http://twitter.com/dmcorp
Clubhouse: http://www.dynamicmedia.com
Free Newsletter: http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com
Michael Campbell has over 20 years experience in advertising, sales and
marketing. He is the author of several pivotal internet marketing books
including Goobert, Clickin' it Rich, Revenge of the Mininet and Nothing but
'Net. He has written the Internet Marketing Secrets Newsletter since 1999
and has a membership site for private one on one coaching and personal
consultations at DynamicMedia.com.
Legal Stuff...
Copyright 2010 Dynamic Media Corporation. All rights reserved world wide. All trademarks and service marks are
property of their respective owners. The information contained in this publication is the opinion of the author based
on his personal observations and years of experience. Neither the author or publisher assume any liability
whatsoever for the use of or inability to use any or all of the information contained in this publication. Use this
information at your own risk. Hypertext links in this publication may be affiliate links whereby the publisher
receives financial consideration if purchase of products or services is made by clicking on said links. Privacy Policy:
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for any reason, whatsoever. Your privacy is respected and well protected.
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Addendum 1
Sample Ad Copy
If you're a single mom, looking for a single dad, then you've come to the
right place. Register now to browse matches for free.
Are you a single parent that's looking for love, dating, chats and more? Sign
up free to meet single parents like you.
Find local single parents near you. Choose from 1000s of photos and
profiles. You'll never know if you don't try. Come join free.
Single Dads are online right now, if you know where to look. Sign up free
with the internet's largest network of single parents.
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet? Register now to meet other single
parents in your neighborhood. It's free to join.
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet other single parents? There's never
been faster or easier way to start. Join free now.
Single Dads are online now and waiting to meet you. Come join us by filling
out this simple form. It's fast, fun, free and easy.
Find single Dads that are looking to date single Moms. Register now and
start browsing for Mr. Right.
Safe and easy dating. Visit the zoo, walk in the park, or go for ice cream.
Come join the largest community of single parents.
After the kids go to bed, Dads go online, looking for dating and relationships.
Come join our single parents network. It's free.
Come find responsible single dads. They're online now and waiting for you.
Sign up to view profiles and browse free.
Are you ready to find your soulmate? Why not go where the single dads are.
View profiles and browse free. Come join us.
Do the math... Single Mom + Single Dad = Happy Family. Register now and
start browsing for Mr. Right.
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Advertise and Profit Like Crazy
Come join the largest community of single parents. Register with us for free
and start browsing for Mr. Right.
If you're a single mom looking for a single dad, come join the internet's
largest community of single parents.
Single mom looking for a single dad? Come register with us and start
browsing for a father, husband and dad.
Single mom looking for dad? Come find him when you register with the
largest network of single parents.
Make your own personal ad as a single parent. Let the world know that
you're ready to date again. Join up now, it's free.
Early Winners
Some ads have already started to outperform the rest of the pack. They
include the control piece below and the six ads after that.
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet? Come join the largest community
of single parents.
Looking for a safe and easy way to meet? Come join the largest community
of single parents. It's fast, fun, free and easy.
Find Single Parents that are Looking to Date other Single Parents. You can
view profiles and browse for free. Come join us now!
Don't wait for love to find you. Go get it. See photos and profiles of single
parents like you. It's free to try. So why not?
Looking for love in all the wrong places? Leaving it to chance? Come join the
largest community of single parents.
1000s of attractive single parents are online right now. Come create a free
profile & start browsing. You never know until you try.
1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online. Come to
where the single parents meet and browse for free.
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