How to Maximize Online Ad ROI and Engage Customers With Compelling Copy

As a digital marketer, you work hard every day to support your brand's e-commerce efforts. You strive to differentiate and capture the attention of busy consumers, and, of course, you mind your budget. Like any responsible marketer, you sometimes wonder how you can get even more bang for your buck. Savvy digital marketers know that one of the best ways to capture sales is to optimize their digital ad content.

Creating Effective Ad Copy
To position products for success online, the ad copy must stand out, starting with the headline. Think of it like this: You have approximately 10 words to tell the best short story of your life, and every word needs to carry impact.

If the product is on sale for a holiday, name the event in the headline, and be sure to include the product brand name as customers likely will use the term in their search — e.g., "Just in time for Father's Day, Famous Brand's New Widget!"

The body copy in the ad is important too, and for limited-time sales, it pays to highlight the urgency in the call to action. Phrases like "limited time only," "limited quantities" and "offer ends soon" are compelling, as are discount numbers like "20% off" and "$20 off."

Using Display URLs and Landing Pages for Maximum Effect
Display URLs — i.e., the copy that appears in the link to your site — can also be an excellent way to position products. A special page for sales can entice consumers to visit your site for an exclusive deal. The standard format is your regular homepage URL followed by a slash mark and "Holiday Sale," "Annual Sale" or other name that indicates the special occasion.

When site visitors click the display link, it should take them to a dedicated landing page. This is a highly effective technique for a holiday sale, and we've found post-click efforts can have as much impact on your success as the effort to drive that initial click.

Focus your copy on the problem your product can solve and ask yourself, "Why would they buy from you, why from this store, and why right now?" If you can't answer that clearly, well, back to the whiteboard. Try an extended returns period to eliminate traditional barriers. Little tweaks can go a long way. Must-have copy includes discount percentage, dollar amount and free shipping. These are unique options, and uptake will change with the age of your audience. Don't forget the importance of a guest checkout option to capture sensitive first-time shoppers to your site.

Supercharging ROI With Google Sitelinks and Google Shopping
If you're advertising on Google, there are a number of techniques that can help maximize return on investment. Google Sitelinks is a format extension that allows you to enter up to six links to specific pages in each ad. This doubles the vertical space of each unit. I've seen clickthrough rates for ads using Google Sitelinks as much as 30 percent higher than ads without Sitelinks. They're a great way to introduce attractive variations from your main product set and drive shoppers deeper into your site.

Google Shopping is a great acquisition tool, and it allows you to include a product image. This picture is worth a thousand words, so pay attention to this space. It's an easy way to differentiate yourself and augments your paid search ads well. I've found it to be very accretive to our normal search campaigns.

Raise Your Quality Score and it Will Raise Your ROI
Ensuring that your copy and call to action are strongly related to the content on your landing page will inevitably help you increase your ROI. If your ads are more relevant to the associated landing pages, you'll receive a higher Quality Score from the search engines. If you're able to attain a Quality Score of nine or 10, you'll decrease your cost per click. Soon, you can spend less to earn the same results or get more from your current spend. Both will have a positive impact on your campaign ROI and return on ad spend. This is the search engines way of rewarding advertisers that provide useful results for consumers.

Relevance is a major factor for positioning your ads within the search engine results page. It doesn't just help your business, it also helps build credibility for search engines. When users see relevant results to their queries, they'll continue to come back and enter new queries that show the most relevant links for both natural and paid results.

The competition for customer dollars is growing every year, and so are the opportunities to capture them. That's why it's important to make your online ads and content count. Spend your advertising dollars wisely, and use proven copywriting and compelling headline techniques to attract coveted customers.

Brad LaRock is the vice president, client marketing services, at Digital River, a provider of global e-commerce, payments and marketing services.