'Research' vs 'strategy' wording in PPC ads: -62% clickthrough
Test run byMarketingExperimentsResearch publisher
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA PPC ad built around the word 'research' got 62% fewer clicks than the same ad built around 'strategy'.
The MECLABS team (MarketingExperiments) ran the test on ads for its sister company MarketingSherpa, and published it on the MarketingExperiments blog.
It was an early step before a live test at a 2014 summit.
- Clickthrough rate: the research ad was 62% lower than the strategy ad. A clear loss for the research wording.
- Impressions, clicks and confidence were not shared.
- A follow-up test among strategy ads found the 'first' value claim won, lifting clickthrough by 37%.
Control
A pay-per-click ad for MarketingSherpa framed around 'strategy' wording.
Variant
The same ad reworded around 'research' instead of 'strategy'.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Keyword research showed the two groups used different words for the same need. Searchers in this audience reached for strategy terms.
- For many marketers, 'research' may sound academic, while 'strategy' promises something they can use.
- Ad copy that echoes the words in a search usually earns more clicks.
Caveats: The ads appear only as images in the post, and no impressions, clicks or confidence were shared. This measures clicks, not leads or sales.
Who ran it
MarketingExperiments ran this test and published the results (MarketingExperiments). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on MarketingExperiments →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we write our PPC ad in the terms our searchers use, then clickthrough will rise because the ad matches what they typed.
- Primary metric
- Ad clickthrough rate
- Guardrails
- Landing page conversion rate
- Cost per lead
- Lead quality
- Who should test it
- Lead-gen and B2B content businesses running search ads to a new audience. It fits when you have keyword data showing two vocabularies; it matters less if your terms are fixed product names.
Questions
Do single words really change PPC clickthrough?
They can. Here one framing word cut clicks by 62%, because it no longer matched how the audience described what they wanted.
How do I pick words to test in ads?
Look at the search terms that already bring visitors to your site and group them by theme.
Test one theme against another with everything else the same.
Is a higher clickthrough rate always better?
No. Check that the extra clicks turn into leads at a similar rate, or you may just pay for more traffic.