From the SMX West Conference in San Jose, California, March 21-23, 2017. SESSION: The Nine Billion Ads Of Search. PRESENTATION: ETAs: Evolved Text Ads - Given by Mark Irvine, @MarkIrvine89 - WordStream, Senior Data Scientist. #SMX #12B

1. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Tricks for Writing New Ads for the Next Age of Search
TITLE SLIDE –
WRITE A
COMPELLING
HEADLINE
FOR SOCIAL
SHARING
Tricks for Writing New Ads for the Next Age of Search
ETAs:
Evolved Text Ads

2. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Tricks for Writing New Ads for the Next Age of Search
TITLE SLIDE –
WRITE A
COMPELLING
HEADLINE
FOR SOCIAL
SHARING
Tricks for Writing New Ads for the Next Age of Search
ETAs:
Evolved Text Ads

3. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
• Sr Data Scientist at Wordstream in Boston, MA
• Researches industry trends in PPC
• 5 Years of PPC Experience
Meet Mark Irvine

4. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
RIP Standard Text Ads (2000-2016)

5. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Expanded Text Ads

6. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Advertisers see an average CTR boost of 15- 20% when
transitioning to Google’s Expanded Text Ads.
Data is based on a sample of 8,125Wordstream clients, 2016 - 2017

7. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Bing ETAs outperform Google’s

8. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Advertisers see an average CTR boost of 15- 20% when transitioning
to Google’s Expanded Text Ads.
However, 1 in 3 English Speaking advertisers will struggle and see
decreased CTR after transitioning to Expanded Text Ads.
Data is based on a sample of 8,125Wordstream clients, 2016 - 2017

9. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
What’s different between these 2 ads?
THERE IS
NONE!

10. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
2000 – The Digital Stone Age

11. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Our Search Has Evolved
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Share of LongTerm Searches

12. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Our Search Has Evolved
We’ve learned to
search better and
expect more
specific answers.
We search more
frequently
completing the
same task
We’re increasingly
search more
conversationally

13. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
We search for answers to our questions,
Not keywords

14. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
The Most Common Words in English
Rank Word Part of speech
1 the Definite article
2 be Intransitive verb
3 to Preposition
4 of Preposition
5 and Conjunction
6 a Indefinite article
7 in Preposition
8 that Pronoun
9 have Transitive verb
10 I Pronoun
• The most common words your
searchers use and your content
features are not your
keywords.
• In comparison, the most
common words in paid search
ads are search keywords,
nearly all of which are nouns.

15. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Focus on More Than Keywords!
• Keyword relevance is the
LEAST important factor
of quality score!
• A high quality ad & landing
page experience is 4 x
more important!

16. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
We Don’t Need Bigger Ads for More
Keywords

17. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
(Adverb) (Verb) (Pronoun)

18. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Our Search Has Evolved
Graph of increased long tail kw
Write Ads
for your
Audience

19. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
3 Most Powerful Ad Pronouns
#3
#2
#1
“We”

20. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
“We” sells your expertise, not your KWs
CTR: 0.25%
CTR: 4.87%

21. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
#3
#2
#1
“We”
“You”
3 Most Powerful Ad Pronouns

22. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
“You” speaks to your audience
directly
CTR: 7.15%
CTR: 11.86%

23. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Use What Your Know About Your Past
Visitors with Remarketing

24. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Source: 928 Wordstream Clients using remarketing audiences
& proper conversion tracking, January 2015

25. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
#3
#2
#1
“We”
“You”
“Him/Her”
3 Most Powerful Ad Pronouns

26. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Demographic targeting is
available on:
Demographic Targeting
• NEW on Google
Search
• Google Display
Network
• Bing Ads
• Nearly all
social
networks
NEW on Google
Search!

27. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Personalize Your Ads For Your Audience

28. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Personalize Your Ads For Your Audience
Ad shown only to men: Ad shown only to women:
CTR: 7.31%
CVR: 1.82%
CTR: 11.59%
CVR: 4.35%
CTR: 9.25%
CVR: 3.80%
Improved CTR 60%!
Improved CVR 140%!!
Improved CTR 30%!
Improved CVR 110%!!

29. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Mobile Ad Extensions Cater Your Mobile CopyWrite Ads for All of
their Devices

30. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Mobile is increasingly Important
Source: 1,865Wordstream Clients advertising on Google Search on all devices from Jan 2013 to Dec 2016

31. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
But Are Struggling More with Mobile
ETAs released
July 28th
Source: 10,170 Wordstream Clients advertising on Google Search on Mobile in 2016

32. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Mobile Preferred Ads for STAs were Easy!

33. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
But There’s No “Mobile Preferred” ETAs
WHAT ABOUT
MOBILE?

34. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Mobile Ad Copy is Back with IF Functions
• NEW on Google:
IF Statements for
Device & Audience.
• Allows you to serve
different ad copy to
mobile searchers and
remarketing audiences

35. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Mobile Ad Extensions Cater Your Mobile Copy

36. #SMX #12B @MarkIrvine89
Recap
1. People increasingly use longer and more natural
language to search. Your ads should reflect this trend
and read naturally. Avoid keyword stuffing!
2. Write ads for your audience. Write different ads for
remarketing & demographic audiences.
3. Revisit your new ETAs and include IF Statements for
mobile ad copy changes to attract an increasingly
mobile world.