Download the Google ad copy template here.
From 4 years of experience running Google Ads campaigns that have mounted up to £4,350,000+ in ad spend, writing Google ad copy has always been tricky and something I would ALWAYS procrastinate. However, the thing that lacked was insanely simple. Structure by using a Google ad copy template.
Adding structure to what I was writing meant that I never missed anything important in my ads. In turn, increased the quality and performance of my campaigns significantly and also halved the time Google ad copy took to write. It was music to my ears and can be to yours too. First of all, let’s examine why I disliked writing Google ad copy.
There is a lot that goes into creating high-quality Google ad copy in order to persuade users from the search engine page to your website.
Let me list only some here:
- Relevant keywords that match the user’s search
- Product benefits that address the user’s pain points
- Product features that match the user’s preference
- Asking questions to trigger cognitive thinking
- Scarcity to encourage the user to act now
- A guarantee to reverse the risk of buying your product
- Social proofing to create trust
- Humour to stand out amongst other ads
- Facts & figures to demonstrate market knowledge
- Call-to-action to instruct the user on the next steps to take
Long story short, there is a lot you need to include and when you are competing against other advertisers making sure you include all of these assets and emotional triggers is vital to getting people to click on your ad compared to your competitors.
This framework ensures you don’t miss any of these important variables and you can actually create ads so much quicker because you have some structure to follow rather than just winging it until you have just scraped to fill in 15 headlines and 4 descriptions…
Using this framework will actually make you want MORE headlines to fill in because you will have more ideas of great ad copy to include and literally no marketer has ever said that. Lol.
Google Ad Copy Template Tutorial
To start with, I will break down the structure of the Google ad copy template and then use a practical example to demonstrate the framework in action. I recommend pulling the framework up on a separate screen and referencing it as we go.
Download the Google ad copy template here.
Headlines
Within the Google ad copy template, we have 15 headlines to fill with the keywords and psychological elements mentioned in the introduction. The headlines breakdown is as follows:
Headline 1-4: Search keywords
Headline 5: Brand name & service (or product)
Headline 6: Asking a Question
Headline 7-10: Benefits & features
Headline 11-12: Social proofing
Headline 13: Scarcity
Headline 14-15: Call to action (CTA)
That is the structure we will be following so let’s break them down individually with some more details and recommendations at each stage.
Headline 1-4: Search keywords
These headlines within this section of the Google ad copy template should very similar to the keywords we are going to be targeting within that particular ad group. We want to try to pretty much match the exact search the user is putting into Google (and then we back this up with the other persuasive elements in our other headlines).
This is a method called message match which is EXTREMELY important to the success of a Google ad. In short, we want the user’s search to match the keywords in our ad group and then match the copy within our ad and then finally match the copy on our landing page. This ensures we have what the user is looking for and reduces the chances of them not clicking or leaving your site once they arrive as what they find isn’t relevant to what they are looking for.
So in summary of what needs to match within message match:
Users search – Keywords in ad group – ad copy – landing page
Download the Google ad copy template here.
Headline 5: Brand name & service (or product)
This is where we put some identity behind our service or product with the aim of putting authority & branding behind our Google ad. We want the user to remember your name so they think of your company over your competitors for when the time when they need the sort of product/ service you offer.
Headline 6: Asking a Question
This is one of my favourites because not many people do it!
Questions are a brilliant way to encourage a user to think more about your ad and what you offer. Subconsciously they will ask themselves the question they see in your ad and if you ask a question that really stops them in their tracks then they will consciously answer it in their head.
Top tip – I like to ask a question relating to the desired outcome they want from your service/ product or about the pain point they currently have without your product/ service.
Headline 7-10: Benefits & features
This section goes over the benefits of using your product/ service.
In this part headlines 7 & 8 will be the specific benefits of your product/ service. The two best benefits that pour freezing cold water over the user’s scolding pain points they are experiencing.
In headline 9 we viscerally describe the desired outcome the user is after from using your product/ service. You have 30 characters so this may take a few times.
Headline 10 will be your powerful guarantee that is SO important to have. You want a guarantee that removes all of the risk of using your product/ service and puts it back on you. Therefore, giving literally no reason not to buy your product/service.
Headline 11-12: Social proofing
Two headlines are dedicated to social proofing, showing the user that with this particular service, they have had a lot of happy customers because they know exactly what they are doing and do it to a high level.
The user is always thinking of the end result gained from your product/ service and having a list of great reviews to display on your website and advertising fills the user with confidence that they are going to get what they want and therefore have less friction to part with their hard-earned money.
Another interesting point to see here is the initial headlines that were written in blue. They described ‘300+’ and ‘over 1000’. However, I decided against using these and used the very specific number of 5-star reviews (332) and the specific number of emergencies fixed to date (1256). The reason for this is to stand out and be less generic. Social proofing is something that people see a lot of and can be disregarded if it looks generic.
Numbers stand out in ads, the user’s eyes are subconsciously drawn to them and then being specific with the numbers you use in ads stands out even more!
Download the Google ad copy template here.
Headline 13: Scarcity
Headline 13 is dedicated to scarcity. It would be great to have at least 2 headlines for scarcity but we have hit the max 15 headlines available. This is why I love using this framework. Having it segmented into categories gives you structure and takes out the act of filling in headlines for the sake of it.
Scarcity is a psychological tactic used to create a sense of limited supply to the user and therefore to act now rather than later. This is often used with sales which have an end date and therefore get the user to act right now.
This example describes that the business has limited callouts available and if you’re in an emergency situation, acting immediately is very important. This will further impact the user’s need for immediate action as they definitely don’t want to miss out on a callout driver.
Headline 14-15: Call-to-action (CTA)
A call to action is directing the user on what they should do when they are on your website or reading your advertisement. You would think it’s kind of obvious what to do and therefore not necessary to include this but damn would you be wrong.
Without clear instructions, the user will have to figure it out and having to figure it out themselves could lead to potential confusion and potential confusion then leads to frustration and ultimately clicking off your website and going to a competitor’s website.
I would recommend being as clear as possible with a CTA and limiting it to only 1 type of CTA in your advertising. This limits confusion and therefore increases the chance of the user to convert as they know exactly what they need to do to get in contact/ purchase.
Remember this acronym: KISS – Keep It, Simple, Stupid.
With 2 headlines available for this it gives you a chance to experiment, therefore, make your 2 CTAs as different as possible like I did in this example. Then after we collect some data we can see which performed better and expand on the variations of that particular CTA.
This is the basis of creative testing which is an integral part of growing and improving your marketing campaigns. I made a blog about creative testing which includes another framework you can download for free here.
In this example, I changed the final CTA to ‘Call The Hotline Now’, rather than ‘Call Now’. This was a simple scarcity tactic done to create a sense of demand and ultimately scarce supply so the user acts now.
Google Ad Copy Template – Descriptions
Now we’re done with the headlines section of the Google ad copy template, it’s onto the descriptions where we now have 90 characters to try to fill in with highly persuasive and keyword-rich text. However, luckily we have a structure to follow for these too, yay!
In a single sentence summary of the approach to descriptions: they are split into 2 parts and include 2 different psychological categories that complement each other with the aim to get the user to click through to the website.
There is little difference to the approach with descriptions with the only difference being we have more characters to say a longer sentence that we couldn’t display within our headlines.
The breakdown of descriptions of the Google ad copy template is as follows:
Description 1: Defining our offer and backing it up with scarcity
Description 2: Identifying our key benefits & features and social proof
Description 3: Defining our value proposition and leading onto a CTA
Description 4: Explaining our powerful guarantee and leading onto a CTA
Description 1: Defining your offer & scarcity
The first half of description 1 defines our attractive offer to the user and then is backed up with some scarcity.
Your offer as a business is incredibly important. The easiest way to improve your efficiency with Google ads is not to do with fancy tweaks in your campaign settings. It is to make the offer to your customers more attractive.
The aim is to make your offer irresistible. An offer that a user would be stupid not to take up.
The second half of this description is added scarcity that we talked about in the headlines section. However, this time we have more characters to play with and fill with quality copy. Yay.
Description 2: Key features/ benefits & social proofing
This description talks about the primary benefit/s of your product or service and then uses the main feature/s to complement the benefit you are talking about.
The second half of this description is made up of social proofing which will back up our first statement of features/ benefits.
Description 3: Value Proposition & CTA
The value proposition half of this description is where we specifically talk about the value the user will gain from using your product or service. This has little to do with the product/ service itself, it’s best to think about the end result the user has in mind. Their desired outcome, the image they have in their head when looking to solve their problem.
The second half is then a call to action. In this example, I wanted to use the ‘call the hotline’ CTA I used previously in my headlines. However, this didn’t work with the 90-character limit. When this happens, which it will, a lot then you need to get creative and prioritise the important aspects of the description. In this example the value proposition took priority.
Description 4: Product guarantee & CTA
Onto our final description. Here the second half is another CTA but we are starting off with our product/ service guarantee.
Similar to our offer, having a great guarantee and showing it off in our advertising is another easy way to improve the performance of our campaign.
I refer to your guarantee as the ‘cherry on the top’, It’s not the main point of the marketing but boy, does it make it look great. The job of the guarantee is to take away the risk the user has and put it back on the business, typically this is monetary ££. If what we promise to users in our offer doesn’t happen then we refund their money.
The reason this works so well is that every single purchase happens only when the perceived value of that item is greater than the monetary value advertised to buy. Every purchase is an investment and naturally, a user wants a positive ROI. If we promise to achieve their ROI or their money back then we leave them will little reason not to buy.
A good guarantee becomes more important with the higher cost of the item. Think about this, would you buy a brand-new car without a 3-year warranty? No, because it’s too much of a financial risk if the car needs repairs.
If you take away the risk the user is taking with a good guarantee, then there is little reason not to purchase.
Google Ad Copy Template Conclusion
So in summary of the Google Ad Copy Template, the headlines are structured as follows:
Headline 1-4: Search keywords
Headline 5: Brand name & service (or product)
Headline 6: Asking a Question
Headline 7-10: Benefits & features
Headline 11-12: Social proofing
Headline 13: Scarcity
Headline 14-15: Call to action (CTA)
The descriptions are structured as follows:
Description 1: Defining our offer and backing it up with scarcity
Description 2: Identifying our key benefits & features and social proof
Description 3: Defining the value proposition and leading onto a CTA
Description 4: Showing our powerful guarantee and leading onto a CTA
Writing Google ad copy is not easy but with the use of this framework, you should be able to include all of the psychological elements which increase the chance of the user clicking through to your website. Your next job will be to make sure these psychological elements are also on the landing page the user is sent to. However, that’s for another blog post.
The final point to mention is that this is a framework and won’t be fitting for every single industry or product. However, it is up to you to take the understanding of the framework and tailor it to your industry.
