As digital advertisers, driving strong performance is at the heart of what we do. But, what is the true goal of paid search ad copy? If clicks, conversions, and demand generation are what is most imperative to client success and satisfaction, do you really need fresh ad copy to accomplish these goals?
At first glance, you might think, yes.
Forbes estimated[1] that in 2017, Americans were exposed to 4,000 different forms of ads and brand messaging each day. With ads packed on top of each other, it can sometimes be difficult to fully capture user attention and interest. This idea leads some people to believe that they have to consistently develop and redevelop novel ad copy that breaks through the clutter. While it isn’t wrong to try and separate yourself from competitors within the marketplace, you don’t have to spend too much time creating niche variances in your copy.
Do users actually care about ad copy?
In this highly saturated ecommerce landscape, people aren’t going to spend time reading all of the specifics of your ad copy, regardless of how fascinating it might be. The average user only spends a couple of seconds navigating the SERP[2] after typing in their query, meaning that they’re not going to actively take the time to read all three headlines as well as both description lines. In my experience as a consumer, when I type in a query, I scan the ad’s first two headlines, display URL, and site links before deciding whether or not to click.
To prove this theory of whether users truly care about the wording and actual detail within the ad copy, we ran an A/B test[3] for one