No matter what type of ad campaign you are running, click through rates are an important step in measuring the success of a campaign. Having a high click through rate on ad platforms such as Facebook and Google Adwords will not only lower your costs per click, but can also increase your ad volume. Increasing your click through rates for links on your web site or blog is also important, as it usually will lead to more revenue.

I wrote up a few tips for increasing the click performance of ad campaigns. These are not focused on any one specific marketing method, but written to make your think twice about your campaigns and how you can improve them.

Tempting Your Readers
Instead of telling your viewer what a product, or service is… instead grab their attention and get them wanting to know more. When you see an awesome movie trailer, aren’t you just dieing to see the full movie? You can do the same thing with your advertising.

TEMPTING: “I Found This Amazing New Weight Loss Formula”
NOT TEMPING: “Product X Will Help You Lose Weight”

What’s the Benefit of Clicking
No matter what you are  doing online, there is always an end goal or purpose. Usually people are looking for information, or simply to be entertained. Either way, if you are lucky enough to have someone take a few seconds to look at your ad, you want to make it clear to them what they are getting, in response to clicking your ad.

BENEFIT: “Click Here for Money Savings Tips”
NO BENEFIT: “Click Here to Visit My Site”

Advertising Works Best, When It’s Not Advertising
Nobody wants to see an advertisement, it’s a distraction from a users experience. Making your advertising more relevant and obtrusive to your site visitor is a major part of your sites success. This has been one of the most well known and successful methods for web sites to make money with Google Adsense. Instead of placing advertisements on your site that try and stand right out to the user, try blending in your ad copy with your articles and web content.

EFFECTIVE: “Text Placement with Content, or Side Menus”
NOT EFFECTIVE: “Big Red & Yellow 468×60 Flashing Banner Ad”

Setting Limitations on Your Offers
We’ve all seen late night infomercials, and I’ve always found it humorous when they say, “call in the next five minutes to save…“. It may seem funny, but they still wouldn’t be doing it if it didn’t work. People want to make the call within the next five minutes, because they think they are getting an extra value if they act now. Add something to your ad copy to make the user want to take action now.

LIMITED: “Today Only: Save 25% on All Orders before Midnight!”
NOT LIMITED: “Save 25% on Your Next Purchase”

Matching Up Ads with Relevant Content
Showing your advertisements along side related content is almost a no brainer. Unfortunately, so many web sites still completely ignore this issue. How many times have you visited a web site, reading an article, then you see completely non-relevant advertisements on the site. Sure, it will take more time and effort to place relevant advertisements, but in the long run, your readers interaction with the ads will increase heavily.

RELEVANT: “Insurance Ads on a Health/Finance Site”
NOT RELEVANT: “Insurance Ads on a Teen Gaming Site”

These are just a few methods you should be using to increase your click through rates. I will cover more tips in a future post.