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Brand or domain names in ad headlines
It seems that 90% search ads have their own brand name or website domain name in 3rd headline.
It makes sense for big corporations and very well known brands but for companies who are looking to expand their reach with advertising and attract new customers who will not recognize their name this seems like a waste of headline ad space.
What do you guys think about this?
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5 Replies
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I think having your brand name in a headline legitimizes your ad. For example, if I see an add with no brand name I’m hesitant to click on it because it feels slightly spammy.
I’ll typically put the brand name in headline 1 for branded campaigns. For non-brand searches I’ll put the brand name in headline 2 or 3.
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Just had a discussion about this. Most people don’t know your brand anyway so it doesn’t provide much value. Especially since the point of a headline is getting users to click on the ad.
Instead, we’ve used that headline to put another customer benefit or USP (unique selling prop). It’s made our ads much stronger.
If the ads look spammy without a brand name, then hopefully the landing page can convince them otherwise. But if you have strong ad copy in the first place, people will be more willing to click.
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It can depend on a number of things, such as industry and ad type. For a generic service search, I leave the brand name out. For products and retail, I add the brand name in. Sometimes you may have competitors you want to differentiate from or if they are running community ads such as pennysaver, it could help adding the brand for recognition. So you have to keep a couple things in mind – and if you’re not sure… TEST!
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Most experienced advertisers have both brand and generic campaigns in their account. There are two reasons why you need to have the brand name in your ad copy.
1. Relevance – if you are running a brand campaign you will bid on your brand keyword so you will need it in your ad copy and on your landing page to increase quality score;
2. Acquisition – there are different stages in the acquisition of new customers. At the beginning of their search journey the user identifies a need, then he researches for information, then he evaluates decisions ( compare prices, options, all available vendors), finally they commit to a purchase decision. Your brand name/domain is there to make it easier for users to remember you. When they’re going to be ready to purchase they’re just going to type your brand name. -
Google automatically puts the brand/website name in H3 for a lot of the searches I see, at least in my niche.
I’ve confirmed this myself by triggering our own ads and seeing it (when we don’t use it in H3) and by reaching out to a Google rep (proper rep, not outsourced). When I asked how many times they actually use the assigned H3 vs not showing it or adding in the website name/brand they said that’s confidential.
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