Here’s an example of a poorly written ad from a very well known company:

Gift Baskets
1-800-FLOWERS Delivers Same-Day
Same-Day Nationwide Delivery
www.1800flowers.com

The copy is just labels – it doesn’t go beyond Same-Day as a selling point. It’s three lines of wasted advertising opportunity. As a customer you would expect that a nationwide company could offer same day delivery through its florists.

* Track your ROI for each ad. Gauging the return on your investment (ROI) is important to getting the most out of your limited advertising dollars. To do this, create a mechanism on your site where you can find out how the customer found you. This can be a very simple survey form or a check box in your shopping module. Include AdWords as one of the responses to “How Did You Learn About This Site?” If you’re selling a product online, you can also put in different Promotion Codes in each ad so you can find out which ad a person used to make a purchase. For example, one can be a promotional code that gets $5 off while the other can be for free shipping.

* Use your keywords in your ads. When you use a keyword it will be highlighted in bold in your ad. Be sure that it’s in at least one, if not two lines of your ad.

* Sell! Sell! Sell! You have a very small space to do the maximum amount of selling. Don’t be shy about making your competitive advantage clear. You only have three lines to get your marketing message out and noticed. This is no time to be coy or lackluster. Hit them hard and make it clear why you’re the one someone wants to give their business to.

* Link to the right page. If you’re selling something, don’t send the person to your home page. Instead, send them directly to your store or the exact product page. Don’t make a person guess where they are supposed to go once they click on the ad.

* Name your price. You can significantly reduce your budget while increasing conversion rates by naming the price in your ad. This will prevent those looking for freebies from clicking on your ad and costing you a pay per click fee.

* Dabble daily. As with any advertising strategy, don’t be afraid to experiment. Once you identify which ad is working best for you, design two more that are similar and test them against one another. This will help you narrow your focus and find the most effective advertising strategy to reach your target audience.