If a potential customer looks at your PPC ad and can’t immediately understand how it benefits them, then you have probably already lost them.
There are too many other results on the search engine results page (SERP) and they won’t spend time investigating your ad and landing page when your competitors are letting them know exactly how clicking on their ad improves their lives.
Users are just greedy – you need to make it all about them and you need to do it quickly.
In this post I am going to take you through 5 PPC ads that I think are great, and critique them through the lens of a user who is saying “what’s in it for me?”
Success Criteria:
For each PPC ad we will apply the What’s in it for me? standard and score it according to 5 criteria for a successful PPC ad:
- What is in it for me? How does this ad positively impact my life?
- Are there concrete examples? Or is the offer something that is too vague for me to understand?
- Is it unique? Is this a benefit that all your competitors can or do offer?
- Does it remove friction? If the offer is so good, what do I have to be willing up to get it? How do you take away any risks I have as a user?
- Is there a call to action that lets me know how to get these benefits? How do I receive what you are offering?
What is the What’s in it for me Rule (WIIFM)?
I would tell you …but what’s in it for me?
Kidding (kind of).
What’s in it for me is a way of looking at your ads (and really your marketing in general) from the viewpoint of the user and asking what is in it for them.
I think the best way to think about it is with concrete examples:
If your marketing message were to say We have been in business since 1912 (as many marketing messages do) then I would ask – what is in that for the user?
Nothing really.
It doesn’t immediately help them or even tell them why it would benefit them to click on that ad and as such, is not a great marketing message. It does not make a user want to take immediate action.
I don’t care how long you have been serving Andover – what’s in it for me?
However, if your marketing message was to say something along the lines of Get a Free Tune Up then that speaks to what the customer gets. The potential customer is well aware of exactly what they receive and that makes it a great marketing message.
If you have a really good WIIFM message, then this interest and goodwill are also carried to your landing page (the page after a user clicks your ad) and get users filling out forms and pulling out their credit cards.
5 Great PPC Ads
You will notice that these ads come from a variety of industries and business verticals. I didn’t look at their brand and they are all basically ads from a file I keep of awesome PPC ads (yes, I am that much of a PPC nerd that I am actually a fan of other PPC ads). These ads are not in any specific order and each factor is ranked 1-10 with 10 being the best.
1. WordStream
Criteria:
a. What’s in it for me?
WordStream does an excellent job of letting me know that I will find the errors in my pay per click campaign.
– Score: 10
b. Is it concrete?
Yes, it lets me know that this will be accomplished in 60 seconds. This is much better than a vague proposition such as just saying find errors.
– Score: 8
c. Is it Unique?
It is unique on the search engine results page, but I feel that there are other competitors that could easily say that they will find the errors. It may have been better if they said they find and fix the errors (if they do).
– Score: 4
d. Does it Remove Friction?
This ad does an excellent job of removing friction. There are only so many friction points and WordStream addresses almost all of them. Is it too expensive? No it is free. Is it too difficult? No it is simple.
– Score: 8 (only because they didn’t provide anything that informs me that they are trustworthy. Could have said something like used by over 45,731 companies)
e. Is there a Call to Action that Tells me How to Get What Is In It For Me?
Yes, it tells me to use their tool to see the errors
– Score: 8.5
2. Stonestreet
Criteria:
a. What’s in it for me?
They do a great job of this. I know that they buy the annuity and what is in it for me is cash.
– Score: 10
b. Are there concrete examples?
They do not have concrete examples. They could say we have bought over $3,233,566.52 annuities or that they buy your annuity with 1 hour.
– Score: 0
c. Is it Unique?
One of the best parts of the ad is how unique it is. There can only be one company that has the highest payouts, and StoneStreet is that company.
– Score 10
d. Does it Remove Friction?
Yes, it removes friction by guaranteeing that it will be the highest payout. That removes all of the risk from the user to submit the information. Guarantees are a great way to remove friction.
– Score 10
e. Is there a Call to Action that Tells me How to Get What Is In It For Me?
No, sadly, and it looks like there was some room to say it. Is there a phone call or a form to fill out coming my way?
– Notes: this ad is really up and down. When it nails it, it absolutely nails it and when it misses it misses big like Baba Booey’s throw to home plate.
3. Hastings Ranch Dental
Criteria:
a. What’s in it for me?
Yes – I know that I will get an exam, cleaning and digital X-Rays.
– Score: 10
b. Are there concrete examples?
I love that it is so concrete with the $59.00 exam, cleaning and digital X-Rays because the headline is so abstract. Affordable dental care really means nothing since affordable is such a vague term.
– Score: 10
c. Is it Unique?
Yes, it is. On the search engine results pages (SERP) it was on, there was nothing else like it at all. Everything else hd marketing messages about how they are dentists to the stars (this is from an LA search) which doesn’t tell the user WHAT IS IN IT FOR THEM!
– Score: 8.1 because theoretically someone could copy this. I also have no idea if this actually is a good deal though I assume that it is.
d. Does it Remove Friction?
Yes, because you know the price you know exactly what you are getting.
– Score: 9
e. Is there a Call to Action that Tells me How to Get What Is In It For Me?
Schedule an appointment today is a great call to action, it lets me know exactly what is expected from me as well as when I am expected to perform the action.
– Score: 10
4. Sales Genie
Criteria:
a. What’s in it for me?
This is the best one that tells you what you get targeted and high quality leads.
– Score: 10
b. Are there concrete examples?
By saying that you get 150 leads, rather than get some leads or just get leads it moves the offer into the concrete.
– Score: 10
c. Is it Unique?
Not really, but on the search engine results page I pulled this from none of the other ads were offering that many leads.
– Score: 6
d. Does it Remove Friction?
This does an excellent job of removing friction from the end user. Because it is a free trial the user essentially has no risk. I am not sure of what kind of free trial, but it would be even less friction if it were a free trial and there was no credit card required.
– Score: 10
e. Is there a Call to Action that Tells me How to Get What Is In It For Me?
Yes, it tells you that to get the 150 leads you have to sign up for the free trial.
– Score: 10
Overall: 9.6
5. Rainwater
Criteria:
a. What’s in it for me?
You get a free consultation and help with your case.
– Score: 8
b. Are there concrete examples?
Yes, you know that the consultation is free, though I think that they should have said how long the free consultation is to make it more concrete. They could have said something like Free 90 minute phone consultation.
– Score: 8
c. Is it Unique?
No. It just isn’t. Most of the lawyers that I see and that I work with offer a free consultation. In fact, if you don’t it causes a real problem with the click through rates of ads that I have seen.
– Score: 0
d. Does it Remove Friction?
This is where I feel the ad is the strongest. Stating no fees unless we win takes the risk off of the user entirely. Additionally, they use the review extensions well to show that they are a reputable company. They have a 10/10 AVVO rating and were rated the best of the best. These both demonstrate that they can be trusted and that removes risk as a potential client.
– Score: 11 (if Spinal Tap can do it, then why can’t I)?
e. Is there a Call to Action that Tells me How to Get What Is In It For Me?
Yes, they say get help now. This is something that as a potential legal client I want. My pain is acute, and I would need the help at that exact moment.
Conclusions:
Each one of these ads is strong in its own right and are from companies that are probably A/B testing ads for statistical significance in order to find what works best.
They all answer the question as to what is in it for the end user, and because of that they are all worth learning from.
How have you told the user what is in it for them?
