Language of Conversion

@mrspy
Accidental Innovation:
How we unintentionally decoded the
Language of Conversion
Mike Roberts
President, SpyFu, Inc.
@mrspy

@mrspy
I’m going to tell you a story…

@mrspy
Context: Who is SpyFu?
• Founded 2005; based in Scottsdale
• Spy on your Adwords and SEO
competitors (invented the genre)
• SEO Recon Files
• No Consulting.

@mrspy
So, this project…
Adwords Advisor
Our Best Recommendations for
your PPC Campaign.

@mrspy
Do Three Things Ridiculously Well
1. Specific Buy Recommendations
2. Negative Match Recommendations
And 3…

@mrspy
3. Ad Copy Improvements
• Which ads are doing worse than your
competitors, and what can you do to fix it?

@mrspy
Whoa. That’s actually *really* hard.
• Maybe we can at least do the first part –
“which ads are doing worse than your
competitors”

@mrspy
That’s something we can do.
• Solid data signals: time, coverage, position
• Reverse engineering Quality Score

@mrspy
Pretty good results.
• Works really well for big campaigns; not as
well for small ones.
• Hard to account for bidding strategy and
discipline.

@mrspy
Okay, but, is there anything we can
do about the second part?
• Recommendations to improve your
ad copy?

@mrspy
This isn’t the first time I’ve tried to
solve this problem.
• Some things just *SUCK*.
• Our plan: compile expert advice from the
Internet and look for patterns.

@mrspy
We distilled the Good Things:
Use words that imply a secret is revealed. (“hidden”,
“secret”, “exposed”) Source: http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/
Include credibility indicators (“rated 4 stars”,
“guarantee”)
Source: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/ppc-seo-optimization/ppc-ad-
copy-tested.html
Use the phrase "free shipping."
Source: http://ebaystrategies.blogs.com/ebay_strategies/2009/05/what-matters-
most-to-consumers-free-shipping-low-prices-or-coupons.html
Use the phrase "you need to." Source: http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/
Use the phrase "how to" Source: http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/
Use words to build urgency. (“now”, “today”,
“tomorrow”, “ends”, “hurry”, “limited time”,
“tonight”)
Source: http://www.marketingexperiments.com/ppc-seo-optimization/ppc-ad-
copy-tested.html
Use the word "download." Source: http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/

@mrspy
…and the Bad Things
Avoid repeated words http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/
Avoid misspellings, including dynamic
insertion on misspelled keywords http://www.trada.com/blog/ppc-tips-ad-copy/
Avoid use of the word "buy" http://www.googlelady.com/416/10-killer-headline-adwords-tips/
Avoid company name in your headline
(unless you are major brand) http://www.seohosting.com/blog/search-engine-marketing/7-
mistakes-that-kill-your-ppc-ad-copy/
Use digits instead of spelled-out
numbers http://www.seohosting.com/blog/search-engine-marketing/7-
mistakes-that-kill-your-ppc-ad-copy/

@mrspy
General Rules
• Have a call to action.
• Shorter is better.
• Specificity, specificity, specificity.

@mrspy
These seem pretty smart, but…
1. There’s not very many of them.
2. Do we really *know* they are true?
3. Could they change over time?

@mrspy
Is there any way to *prove* or
*disprove* these “wisdoms”?

@mrspy
What if…
we did what we were doing with individual
campaigns in Adwords Advisor…
…but looked at like a billion ads from a
million advertisers?

@mrspy
Couldn’t we…
Control for bidding strategy and discipline?
Giving us a very clear picture of what *is* a
good ad.

@mrspy
And then…
We could figure out which words and
phrases winning ads have in common?
(proving or disproving those rules)

@mrspy
HOLY YAHTZEE BALLS!!!
(this is exhilarating)

@mrspy
OMG, OMG…
What do I *actually* KNOW?

@mrspy
Audience Participation:
Ads with which phrase get more
clicks?
Free Shipping
vs
Free Overnight Shipping

@mrspy
Free Overnight
Shipping

@mrspy
Not a casual observation
Winner based on 5.3 Million unique
matching ads from 54k advertisers.

@mrspy
Let’s try another one:
Inexpensive
vs
Value Priced

@mrspy
*Based on 32k unique ads from 1.9k advertisers
Value Priced*

@mrspy
One more confidence builder:
30 day free trial
vs
30 day money back guarantee

@mrspy
*Based on 81k unique ads from 1.4k advertisers
30 day free trial*

@mrspy
Pretty nuanced for warm-ups
Great vs Greatest
Fine vs Finest
You vs Us
Death Lawyer vs Kittens

@mrspy
Give Aways
Put these in order:
Case Study
Ebook
Whitepaper
Report
Newsletter

@mrspy
Answer:
Newsletter
Report
Ebook  Weird?
Case Study
Whitepaper

@mrspy
Check this out:
Newsletter
Report
Ebook
Case Study
Free Ebook <-- BAM!
Whitepaper

@mrspy
But…
Newsletter > Free Newsletter
Report > Free Report
Case Study > Free Case Study
Whitepaper > Free Whitepaper

@mrspy
Let’s at some more:
Webinar
Podcast
Webcast
Video

@mrspy
Answer:
Video
Podcast
Webinar
Webcast

@mrspy
Let’s try that Free thing:
Video vs Free Video
Podcast vs Free Podcast (inconclusive)
Webinar vs Free Webinar
Webcast vs Free Webcast (inconclusive)

@mrspy
Inconclusive Results
• Lots and lots of them.
• Which is kind of healthy.

@mrspy
So, what’s the pattern?
Free helps if it’s meaningful, not as a
reminder.

@mrspy
Free Trials
• We already know “30 day free trial” > “30
day money back guarantee”
• Also, FYI, “free trial” beats “money back
guarantee”.

@mrspy
How about this one?
30 day free trial
vs
try it free for 30 days

@mrspy
Try it free for 30 days

@mrspy
But, check this out…
Free Trial > Try it Free

@mrspy
Specificity, Specificity, Specificity
try it free for > day free trial > free trial

@mrspy
Here’s one more:
Try it Free
vs
Try it for Free

@mrspy
Try it Free
Shorter is better

@mrspy
This isn’t just about Adwords...
…or even limited to the Internet.
Any time you want to cause someone to act:
Landing pages, Emails, Social Media,
Physical signage, Direct mail, etc.

@mrspy
Shipping
We know that:
Free Overnight Shipping > Free Shipping

@mrspy
Put these in order:
Free shipping
Free 2nd day shipping
Free same day shipping
Free next day shipping

@mrspy
Answer:
Free shipping
Free next day shipping
Free 2nd day shipping (likely)
Free Same day shipping

@mrspy
Keep going…
Free same day shipping
Free shipping & free returns
Free shipping and returns
Free shipping and free returns

@mrspy
Answer:
Free Shipping and returns
 Free Same day shipping
Free shipping and free returns
Free shipping & free returns
Note: still nothing better than “Free overnight
shipping”

@mrspy
Don’t act too excited about
shipping!!!!!
free shipping > free shipping!
next day shipping > next day shipping!
overnight shipping > overnight shipping!
free shipping & free returns > free shipping
& free returns!

@mrspy
These things change over time
…and we can watch as it happens.
(pardon me while I gtf out)

@mrspy
So, I’ve talked a lot about Free, but
it turns out…
$0 < Free < No Cost

@mrspy
But, it hasn’t always been that way.

@mrspy
Conversion language isn’t always
much of a lingua-hipster as you are
Monetize > {Make money, profit, profitable}
Utilize > {use, using, choose}

@mrspy
It’s Nov. 5th. I couldn’t *not* do this:
Obama
vs
Romney

@mrspy
Answer:
Inconclusive
(not quite enough data on “Romney”, but results
lean “Obama”)

@mrspy
Final thought.
Life, according to the language of
conversion…

@mrspy
sex > love > marriage > “with
kids”

@mrspy
sex > love > marriage > “with
kids” > divorce

@mrspy
porn > sex > love > marriage >
“with kids” > divorce

@mrspy
porn > sex > love > marriage >
“with kids” > divorce
Thanks > Thank you
mike@spyfu.com @mrspy

@mrspy
Coming Soon…
convertasaurus.com
@convertasaurus

Language of Conversion

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