What does “Updated database offers DIY lovers” mean for you? A list of inflatable adult toys you can make at home, or a mailing list of home improvement enthusiasts? You have to be so careful with language to avoid double meanings or unintended interpretations. This example came in some email offering us mailing lists… but it struck my sense of humour and triggered recall of a recent problem we solved for a client.
Our client had an interesting problem, identified as being a really low CTR and poor conversion rate, much worse than any of their other products. The cause? Unknown. So we investigated. The exact and correct definition of a product that they sold precisely matched a completely different type of service. Even worse, the standard advert copy used by this client, didn’t clearly differentiate between the two types of products. The result was a lower than expected CTR and an even lower conversion rate, as a few confused people clicked on the advert hoping to buy the other service and many of the right segment in the audience failed to identify the advert as relevant.
In this case, the fix was trivial. A few characters to change some statistics into a statue (figure -> figurine) - enough of a change to make the advert CTR rise and the conversions dramatically improve. Disambiguation and segment selection with the advert copy. The highest performance change for a three character advert edit that we’ve ever seen. Kerching!
Precision Marketing is a UK direct marketing magazine. They send me emails offering mailing lists and a strange blog featuring people I don’t know, doing activities I don’t recognise. The magazine is more interesting. Targeting. Hmm. Or is it just that I should get out more?
Geoff Dodd wrote,
You said ’segment selection with the advert copy.’ Do you mean by this, addressing a target group, like.. ‘New York lawyers!’ in a heading? Thanks in anticipation. I enjoy your writing.
Link | November 10th, 2007 at 5:24 am
Jeremy Chatfield wrote,
Hi Geoff - yes, you’ve got it. If you have a keyword like “cheap holidays”, exact matched, and then your advert says “Cheap Holidays In Cancun”, you’ve selected a subsegment, probably closer to decision making in the buying process, who have considered or would consider Cancun. So the CTR will usually be lower than a more general advert, but you may have a higher conversion rate - especially if your site only offers holidays in Cancun :)
The tradeoff between reduced CTR and increased ROAS… well you normally have to try it and see what you can get. Sometimes it is worth while, and other times, the AvCPC to even appear is far too high to sustain reasonable ROAS and make more profit.
Link | November 10th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Michael Silvester wrote,
Hi Mate,
Great post…by the way I love
you blogs theme.
Take Care,
Michael Silvester
Link | December 5th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Matt | affiliate internet marketing tip wrote,
mis interpretation and double meanings can really affect CTR! The challenge even gets larger when you are dealing with different languages, slang and dialect…Great post!
Regards-Matt
Link | February 26th, 2008 at 6:06 am