Paid for search marketing offers all advertisers exactly the same creative format; a small text box. What is said in that small box can have a critical effect on campaign success. Text box copywriters have to make it happen with three lines of around 35 characters (give or take the requirements of each individual search engine) or around
15 words in total. Success depends on arranging these basic resources into an effective headline and two compelling lines of copy. All search text boxes have effectively the same call to action.

What are the secret of success?

1) Think before you write - work on your proposition and how well it reflects the attributes of your brand or the benefits your are offering before you start writing.
2) Appeal to a need; consumers are searching because they want to solve a problem. Create copy that anticipates that problem and delivers a relevant solution. Don’t over-promise; consumers don’t like disappointment.
3) Check out the competition, but don’t let them corrupt you; you may want to learn from them, or you may want to steer clear and be startlingly different.
4) Question the value of each individual character and word in your copy; each character and word must be effective selling copy if you are to succeed.
5) Form relevance linkages in your copy - your copy should link through from your keyword to your text box headline and then straight into your landing page copy; Google for one rewards this relevance by prioritising it in search results.

The hard work is worth the effort. Each text box will be accurately tracked and reported. The response you generate for each keyword will be measured as click through rates, conversion rates, cost per click and cost per conversion. Badly written boxes slip straight down the performance reports for all to see.

Recent results based empirical research (’1st Position Isn’t Worth It‘ by Brandt Dainow on www.imediaconnection.com) has shown that the effect of copy may well be far more important that bidding strategies in search marketing. Dainow reached the conclusion that “the text in the ad is more important than the PPC price you’re paying.”

The search text box is in effect a 21st century digital version of the old ad agency copy test. In these tests, aspiring creatives had to “Sell this product in 15 words”. Today’s search specialists face the same challenge. It can be hard work. The best creatives spend hours or even days developing what are in publication often the shortest bits of copy. When thinking about this, I was reminded of an apposite Winston Churchill quote, “If I’d had more time, I’d have written a shorter letter“. Exactly.