Google Ads Smart campaigns | Tips for Writing Great Ads
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How do you decide what makes a good ad for your business? Here are three questions that you should always ask yourself before you create your Smart campaigns.
Below, we’ll provide examples and answers from a fictional bicycle shop in California called Betty’s Beach Bikes. We’ve also prepared a worksheet that you can download and print. Feel free to use it to write a practice ad for your own business.
Download the ad-writing worksheet
Question 1: What do I have to offer?
List the products and services you want to promote.
| Ask yourself | Possible answers |
|---|---|
| What does my business offer? |
Bicycle for sale Bicycle for rent |
| What are my key selling points? |
End-of summer discounts Affordable, stylish bicycles Large selection |
| What makes me stand out from other businesses? |
Low prices Friendly, helpful customer services Bicycle trade-in programme |
Question 2: What do I want to accomplish?
Identify your main advertising goals and what you'd like to accomplish with your ads.
| Ask yourself | Possible answers |
|---|---|
|
What action would I like my customers to take? |
Visit website Visit Store Make bike rental reservation online |
|
When should my customers take action? |
End of August (for a limited-time offer or discount) Year-round |
|
How do I want customers to feel about my offerings? |
Affordable Family friendly |
Question 3: Who are my customers?
Describe your customers, breaking them into different groups if you have different customer types with unique goals and needs.
| Ask yourself | Possible answers |
|---|---|
| Who are my customers? |
Locals Families Large groups |
|
What are my customers' needs or values? |
Fun activity Good value Memorable |
|
What are my customers' circumstances? |
Want to shop online or in person In need of quick reservations Very basic knowledge about choosing the right bicycle |
Put it all together
After you’ve answered questions about your products, goals and customers, you can create your text ads. Below you’ll find sample headlines and descriptions from our fictional bicycle shop, Betty’s Beach Bikes. Betty’s headlines and descriptions not only meet all of the guidelines set in About text ads in Smart campaigns, but they can also be used in any combination.
| Text ad components | Examples |
| Headlines (3-15 headlines with fewer than 30 characters each) |
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| Descriptions (two to four descriptions with fewer than 90 characters each) |
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After you enter headlines and descriptions, Google Ads assembles the text into multiple ad combinations in a way that avoids redundancy. In any given ad, a maximum of three headlines and two descriptions will be selected to show in different combinations and orders. Over time, Google Ads will test the most promising ad combinations, and learn which combinations are the most relevant for different queries.
Below are some possible combinations of headlines and descriptions that may be shown to customers searching for Betty’s business or services.
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Ad • example.com Bikes – Betty’s Beach Bikes Sale Now On Low prices and huge selection. Free and fast delivery. Order online today! |
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Ad • example.com Betty's Bike Rentals – 20% Off Rentals for three or More Shop our sale for big savings on bikes and rentals! |
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Ad • example.com Save in Person – 20% off in-store visits Shop our sale for big savings on bikes and rentals! |