The world of digital marketing is full of easily measurable metrics, but there is one that reigns supreme above all, and that is the click-through rate. It is also one of the most simple – how many people clicked on your advert?
What makes it so powerful is that a high click-through rate can kick off a very profitable virtuous cycle. The more people that click on an advert or website, the more helpful and relevant those all-powerful search algorithms deem it to be. So they rank it higher, meaning even more people see it and click on it.
Here are some proven tips that will help make sure your advert gets as many clicks as possible.
- Keep it short: Everybody tries to skip or ignore ads nowadays. You probably do it yourself. As an advertiser, this means you’ve only got precious seconds, maybe even microseconds, to explain what problem you are solving and why you are better than the competition. Try to do this within five words, then use this as the headline text on your ad. Including a number can be helpful too.
A great example from the days when digital marketing was still in its infancy was Apple’s tagline for the original iPod: “1000 songs in your pocket.”
- Target specific groups: Something online advertising shares with traditional methods such as TV and radio is that the return on investment is negative when ads are exposed to people with no need for the product.
It is just as important to know who your customers are when you are advertising online. You need to know what websites they use, when they use them, what they are using them for, and how to interest them. The advantage of advertising online is that it is easy to target very specific market segments effectively.
- Make use of experts: Within the field of digital marketing, there are numerous specialties. Agencies such as King Kong typically have experts who focus on specific parts of the customer journey. Some focus on optimising the click-through rate, while others focus on optimising the number of click-throughs who actually buy something.
As well as being able to advise on aspects like marketing strategy, ad design, and segmentation, these specialists also keep up to date with any tactics or bugs on platforms which can be exploited to help attract more people to your ad.
It is possible for any business to dramatically improve the click-through rate of its online ads. Besides what you might expect, such as eye-catching visuals and keywords, all it takes is some good research, punchy text, and a bit of expert knowledge.