Everyone makes decisions rationally, right? People weigh the pros and cons, consider their values and priorities, and maximize benefits while minimizing costs. People balance risks and rewards, and get better over time as they learn from their experiences.
That doesn’t sound like anybody I know. The truth is, all people make decisions emotionally, in their guts. They justify those decisions using logic, but the part of the brain that can handle matrices and cost-benefit analyses is just slower than the part that acts out of fear and greed. Before they consciously ponder, that old reptile brain decides instantly whether someone is friend or foe, prey or predator. The AdWords ad heightens the emotional aspect of decision making because\ the rational brain has very little to go on: three lines of text and a Web
address. Marketing consultant David Bullock, of www.davidbullock.com, puts it this way:
How do you connect to the “right” click?
One second is all that you have to get the attention of your online visitor.
That’s it. The fastest way to meet your revenue goal is to figure out what to say, write,
or display in this little 1-inch space to get, hold, and motivate the viewer to
click your AdWords ad.
Simply, the idea is to develop a stunning emotional appeal that gets the “right” click.
By definition, emotional appeal is the mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence,
hate, and love.
As you boil it down, most of the decisions people make are based on fear and desire. All emotional states arise from one of these two states. We are either moving toward something or away from some situation.
Your ad has to hit the visitor/searcher right between the eyes, make an instantaneous connection and move the visitor to spontaneously gravitate towards your offer. It is not a matter of logic. Your visitor has no time tothink about not clicking your AdWords ad. Your goal is to get them to your landing page and move forward in your customer-acquisition process. Either you hit the mark or you are off. You either get the click or you don’t. Period. End of story.
Your four lines must focus on emotions first and logic second. Your prospect will use logic to construct a search strategy (choosing keywords, searching for information, refining the search to longer and most specific keywords, and so on), but moves toward and away from search results and Web sites based on a subconscious emotional response.
To write effective ads, you have to understand the conversation that just took place inside the head of your prospect as he typed the keyword that brought him ad to them. What is his story? What is he telling himself about his situation and how to improve it?
And I mean story quite literally. Go check out a book of fairy tales, or rent a couple of Disney movies to remind yourself what a story contains: a hero (that’s them), a problem, a trigger to action, obstacles and villains, and a happy ending. If your ad can connect to the right place in their story, you can grab their attention and lead them the rest of the way.
Figure shows the top ten ads for the keyword home based business. Which ads plug into compelling stories?
Home-based business offers tap into the business opportunity market, which is actually several different markets, each with its own set of motivations and internal stories. Examine the first four ads to identify what they’re up to:
Home Business: A no-nonsense ad that uses words like legitimate and serious to emphasize the soberness of this opportunity. The syntax implies that the entrepreneur in question is already doing this, making it by definition do-able. The ad connects with the prospect whose story is, “I don’t believe in something for nothing. If I want to be successful, I have to be willing to work for it. (But not too hard, I hope.)”
I Was Scammed 37 Times: This ad allows the reader to bond with Danny over his misfortunes, and to feel superior to him even as they take his advice. The word scammed appears three times, tying into the cynicism
of the serial opportunity seeker who too has felt scammed yet keeps hoping that the perfect business opportunity is just around the corner. The word absolute is a powerful emotional trigger, making the tone one
of righteous indignation. Prospects who subconsciously want a protector will be drawn to this ad.
Home Based Business — Free: The emotionally laden phrase in this ad is, “You won’t get rich.” The word realistic and the modest income claims support the notion that this opportunity, unlike others, is achievably modest. It’s designed to give hope to those who have been burned or turned off by big promises. This ad connects with the story, “If something’s too good to be true, it probably is.” The URL reflects the theme of realistic expectations by calling it a project and promising a payday rather than a windfall
Don’t Lose $49 Bucks: This ad is similar to the second one, but speaks directly to the prospect’s fear of loss by concretizing and quantifying the risk. Even without knowing how they might lose this $49, the prospect for this ad is suspicious enough to want to find out. The ad appeals to “cautious risk-takers” who believe that having inside information can make them safe. Their story goes like this: “The world is a dangerous place for suckers, but I will be rewarded for my educated boldness.”
frustrated employee of a large company who envies and probably resents the CEO. The word passport attracts prospects who view exotic travel as market of success. They crave movement and excitement over security.
An old marketing acronym, AIDA, names the four states that have to occur, in order, in your prospect before you can make a sale:
? Attention: Attention is compelled by a headline that names the prospects or their pain, or connects with one of the big three motivators: greed, fear, or curiosity.
? Interest: Interest is raised by naming features and benefits (price, free shipping, options, works in zero gravity, you know the drill).
? Desire: The desire is the happy ending, or a promised step in that direction. (They can’t slay the dragon until they find the enchanted sword.)
? Action: The action is the click, to go from the Google results page to your landing page.
