CTR Experiment - Will the Phrase "Screwing Up" boost your AdWords CTR?
October 11th, 2007 by Mike Read more about Google AdWords TipsA phrase to test for possible CTR Profits
… and a request to share the results of this Click Through Rate experiment.
We were talking with an associate recently and found he was experimenting with some very interesting AdWords phrases. His results have yet to reach statistical significance, but we wanted to poll our readers to see if they had done any similar CTR experiments, or if they’d like to try their luck at this one.
The CTR Phrase:
[Headline]: Is ____ Screwing-Up?
[Ad Text 1]: Why Haven’t _____ Users
[Ad Text 2]: been Told These Facts? Why…?
Example:
Is Ford Screwing-Up?
Why Haven’t Ford Drivers
been Told These Facts? Why…?
Have you experimented with any similar phrases in your field? What were the results? If you haven’t tried anything similar, we invite our readers to experiment with this over the next week and let us know the results. We’ll definitely be adding it to our “CTR Experiment” list. You never know what phrase will be your next big hit, so we recommend using a system like AdWords System Exposed and testing everything possible. Good luck and let us know your results! We’ll share ours when we get them.
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About the Author
Prior to MindValley Media, Mike was the Head of New Ventures Strategy at eBay where he conceived of the strategies that led to the investment in Craigslist, the launch of Kijiji.com and the acquisition of Skype.
Mike has an MBA from Stanford and previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group. He is also a certified Google AdWords Professional.
Check out other posts by Mike
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Vishen Lakhiani
I have been testing the “Screwing-Up” formula above… and have found it works quite well at attracting attention, in very competitive Google AdWords markets.
Here is a variation that’s working even better this week, and includes the word, ‘You’ in the headline (believe it or not, the ad example at the very bottom of my comment is real… and IS being allowed!)…
Is _____ Screwing You?
Why Haven’t _____ Users
been Told These Facts? Why…?
(note the use of dots and the end of the last sentence, which does increase response, as Mike has mentioned in an earlier blog post of his)
Specific Example:
Is AdWords Screwing You?
Why Haven’t AdWords Advertisers
been Told These 37 Facts? Why…?
The above version is getting me about 2-3 times the CTR of the earlier ‘Screwing-Up” version
“Killing” as an attention-getter
Here’s another headline (similar to the above) that is also working well;
“AdWords Killing You?”
As Vishen and Mike have mentioned in previous posts, the word, “Killer” is a proven attention-getter in Google. It also looks like, “Killing” also works well. Short and to the point. And may offer increased flexibility for some ads…
The use of “scam” is a particularly eye-catching word - sometimes, it’s too good, though and picks up the curiosity clickers