After running a 4 day test, here are the results:

Highest Conversion:

From a conversion standpoint, this ad outperformed the runner up converter by a rate of 6 to 1.  I was a bit surprised by this, as we’ve been running this ad for quite some time, so I figured there would be a degree of burnout.

Best Click Through:

This ad generated a click through rate that was 27% higher than the second best performer, but the conversion was far below expectations.  To a certain degree, this isn’t surprising, as the ad is written to drive clicks.  The issue though is deciding what the actual value of those clicks are.  If you have a bunch of clicks and they don’t convert, is the traffic worth getting?

The “Top 10″ style ad copy is just tire kicker central.  You’ll get people who are ready to buy, but more often than not, you’re going to get clickers who are more interested in seeing what the Top 10 are than actually looking to buy one of those cues.

As a result of the test, we’ll be maximizing exposure for our “perfect pool cue” ad.  In addition, we’ll be trying additional copy tests with other more targeted keyword campaigns to see if we can further improve our performance.

Yeah, I’ll admit it.  I really dig commercials.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m in the business of trying to convince people to buy things that they may or may not need, but ads drive strong feelings of love or hate for me.  My wife, she pretty much thinks I’m nuts and tunes most of these ads out, but I just can’t get enough of ‘em.  It’s so bad that one of the guys at work even bought me this shirt (which I love and wear all the time):

Anyway, in an effort to come up with a way to force myself to write on a more regular basis, I figured I’d run down a TV or print ad every Friday.  This week’s selection, the Citi “Big Boy” commercial.

This is one that I use all the time in my marketing classes, especially when I’m teaching customer service.  In 30 seconds, the company takes a customer service technology and turns it on it’s ear.  The reason the ad is so effective is that it not only delivers a clear “press zero anytime” message, but it does so in a funny, memorable way.  Being forced to  use some seriously crappy voice recognition technology is something that pretty much everyone can identify with.  Adding a somewhat nebbishy “everyman” to the equation seals the deal.  The company closes the ad with a voice and visual leave behind of “press ‘0′ to talk to a person”, reinforcing the message.

Let me just say that I love my job.  I’ve always been drawn to the small company/entrepreneurial type jobs.  The comradery, the freedom, the ability to do something and actually see it have an impact on the company are all huge parts of why I do this.  Plus, Beer Fridays.  The downside though is I don’t get to spend nearly enough time testing.  Testing ads, testing layouts, testing button changes, you get the idea.

When you work for a small company, there is a degree of squeaky wheel syndrome.  The issues that are squeaking the loudest get the most attention.  The ones that squeak the loudest aren’t necessarily the most important, but they do manage to jump to the top of the priority list and get the most attention.  Now that we’re finally rolling into the slow season (yes, pool does in fact have a distinct selling season), I’m getting back to testing.

The first test I’m running is on our Google Adwords campaign.  And no, this isn’t the first Adwords test I’ve ever run.  It’s just the first I’ve had time to run in a while.  Anyway, I’m going to look at five different ads.  Each has a somewhat different tone and hook.

I set my account to run these ads with equal distribution so in theory, each should get ample opportunity to prove itself.  These just started rolling this morning and given the niche nature of the billiards industry, it will take a few days to get a large enough sample size to make some judgments on results.

Gut feeling? The “Top 10″ ad is going to get the highest click through rate and the “Let PoolDawg Guide You” will get the highest conversion rate.  We shall see…