Figure 4-10. PPC ads for the search term “Dora Dolls”
When visitors click on an online advertisement, they come with two emotions: hope that they will land on a page relevant to what they are looking for, and worry that the page will be a disappointment. Each of us can count the number of times we clicked on an ad and landed on a page that had nothing to do with the advertisement. Our research indicates that visitors judge the relevancy between the ad and the landing page in less than one second. The lack of continuity causes visitors to lose confidence in your site. Once they lose the scent of what you are trying to get them to do, once they do not see the relevance in your marketing campaigns, you have lost them, possibly forever.
Conversion optimization goes well beyond a single landing page. It is an entire process that includes where the user came from, how the user got to your site, and what you will do to persuade the user to convert. Conversion optimization is about more than placing a button here and some text there; it’s about having a holistic approach to optimizing your online transactions. Continuity is one of the ways to have that holistic approach to and outlook on conversion optimization. To maintain continuity in any type of online advertising, use the same creative elements in both the ad and the landing page. These elements include the headline, keyword, message, and images. Remember, the first step in establishing trust is generating awareness. The ad that you display is the gateway to further awareness about your company.
Figure 4-10 displays the PPC advertisements that appear when you search for the term “Dora Dolls.” What do you think is the user motivation behind this search?
The user could be interested in purchasing a doll.
The user may want to see if these types of dolls exist.
The user may want to find places where these dolls are sold.
The user may want to do some comparison shopping.
Which of the ads in Figure 4-10 does a better job of capturing the attention of users interested in purchasing Dora Dolls? The first ad for Target.com seems the most relevant. The remaining ads bear some relevance to the term, except for the Toys R Us ad: nothing in this ad relates to the search term “Dora Dolls.” The headline reads “Toys R Us Official Site,” and the ad copy reads “World’s Greatest Toy Store. Save big on toys and games.” Perhaps Toys R Us is relying on its well-known brand as opposed to ad scent to convince visitors to click through to its site.
The Amazon.com ad uses a different approach. The headline reads “Dora Figure at Amazon.com.” The ad copy states “Discover Amazon’s new Toy Store Qualified orders over $25 ship free.” The headline uses the word Dora, but the copy does not include the search term. Amazon.com compensates for that by including a free-shipping incentive to entice visitors to click.
Before we look at the actual landing pages, let’s take a look at a different ad that Amazon.com uses. Figure 4-11 shows two different ads for Amazon.com, both for the term “Dora Dolls.” Notice how the second ad flips the search term and displays “Doll Dora” instead of the term we searched for. Both ads use the same incentive of free shipping on orders of $25 or more. The first ad emphasizes an Amazon.com feature: “new Toy Store.” The second ad is more relevant to users by emphasizing low prices.