Forget me not: 3 steps to make your PPC ads more memorable

What makes some ads stick in your mind, while others are instantly forgotten and relegated to the trash heap of online noise we’re exposed to every day?

Have the memorable ad creators simply struck it lucky? Have the others taken general advertising principles, done some brainstorming and hoped for the best?

Is there a way we can actually quantify what makes text ads memorable?

The folks at travel research company Phocuswright set to find out as part of a study they conducted with Bing (my employer). They asked participants:

What do you remember most about the travel advertising you saw online?

The results were clear:

This study was designed for the travel industry specifically, but it can be argued the top three elements would be easily transferable for practically any industry. Why?

1. Because we are visual creatures. Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual.

2. We are price-sensitive — or at least value-sensitive.

3. We want things to be all about us.

Let’s break down the three elements to see how we can make the most of each.

[Read the full article on Search Engine Land.]