Hey guys something I've been really trying to work on is getting my CPC prices down for my banner ads.
Any tips on doing this? What do you think is the most important aspect in getting a higher CTR?
I know conversions are the most important thing, but even if you have a hot converting banner, if the CTR is so low you still end up paying too much that doesnt work either.
Any help is appreciated.
Fake players / play buttons still generate huge CTR on adult! Traffic is more "redirect" quality though. But if your lander is good, you can make it to a decent conversion rate.
Your banner has to be really good to get a higher CTR.. I suggest avoid using too much of text and too many images which may overcrowd it.Use a readable font and the right combination of colours. Most important of all is to have a catchy call to action.An advice would be to not focus much on the CPC but on improvising your banner in such a way that the conversions (CTR's) will increase.
There are basically two approaches to this :
1. misleading way
2. non-misleading way
Now more to each of them :
1. Misleading : perfect example of this would be what "ivocado" mentioned : put a play button on an adult banner and your CTR will go up, because people will think its a video screenshot and it will start playing when they click on it. Obviously, large part of the visitor will realize they were tricked into clicking it and will close the LP intermediately. Similar techniques would be to imitate system messages, various chat windows, facebook like banners etc ... whatever that will look familiar to the surfers so they click on it and expect some action they are used to.
2. Non-misleading : you improve the key elements of a banner : let me use an adult example since it was brought up, the most obvious change is to change the woman on the banner, that can do wonders. And its the same with whatever vertical, if there is a large image of something on the banner, replace it to get better CTR - it can be bigger, more detailed, more clear, photo-shopped, have reverted colors ... Next is to play with the CTA, that can have huge impcat too, just as "krishparmar83" suggested. Make it clear, large, catchy ... test several button styles, or just plain text, move it around on the banner, try static vs animated ... Then there is a ton more small changes you can try but I didnt find them to have big impact : borders, background colors and stuff like that. Definitely most important are the main image and CTA.
3. Borderline : there is also one more way to do it, but its only doable when targeting particular sites : you can make banners that somehow blend with the site - using the same font/color/buttons as the site does. This way you are using the trust factor of the returning visitors - since they are used to come to that site, they will think the ad is part of the site or some sub-section and will tend to trust it more. Its a bit misleading, but not too much and it will help the CTRs too.