Power In The Details

Recently, we started integrating promo-related sitelinks on our client’s core terms to boost performance and combat competitor messaging. Every week we get an email with all the new promotions and we craft eye-catching (or so we think) sitelinks to improve our CTR and transaction count. Because I am relatively new to the digital world, I enjoy getting to geek-out at what story the numbers tell us after we test our ideas… hence why I am writing this blog post. Now I get the opportunity to share the insights I have gathered after pulling the data on our promo-related sitelink test.

Before we get into the results, let’s review what exactly was tested. The control and test sitelinks are listed below.

The main difference between the two sitelinks is found in the headline and Line 1 of the ad copy. In the headline, we wanted to include the word ‘sale’ to imply urgency. By putting an inferred time limit on things people assume they should book today to avoid missing out on a beachin’ vacay.

The second major component that changed was Line 1. Here, we included the exact dollar amount customers could save by booking with us. We added this detail for 2 reasons: 1) As I mentioned earlier, we had aggressive competitor messaging appear on our core terms, so we starting uploading promo-specific ad copy to outshine competitor messaging. 2) Our strategy when writing ad copy is to provide customers with as much ammo as possible to pull the trigger and book in a timely manner.

One interesting point to note is that the landing page on both sitelinks was exactly the same. The deals on the page may vary week-to-week depending on inventory, but CheapCaribbean always has a discounted price available on a selection of their all inclusive packages.

Now comes the fun part: the data. Initially, the results show that there was not a drastic shift in CTR like I originally expected (the control CTR was 56% vs. 54% in our test copy). With the change in ad copy we also saw higher transaction volume, but this could be influenced by the current sale that was offered during the sitelink testing period. In general, the test was pretty neck-in-neck but moving forward I would use promo-specific messaging.

Overall, our promo sitelink test may not have moved the needle much, but if you have the opportunity to get details about upcoming promotions from your client I urge you to extract it. By doing so, you can mimic that special feeling you experience after you buy something on sale—it’s almost like you forget the fact that you just spent money because all you think about is the money you SAVED (how’s that for reverse psychology?). In conclusion, if you can arm your customers with as much detail as possible it gives you a competitive edge and it may just be the tipping point that helps the customer convert.