According to advertising statistics compiled by Semrush, more people discover new brands, products, and services via social media ads than any of the following:
- Brand and product websites
- Customer review sites
- Word-of-mouth recommendations
Let’s face it – if your business isn’t creating ad campaigns on social media and capitalizing on the rise of mobile apps, it’s missing out on reaching its target audience and generating higher profits. So, if you want to find more customers and boost conversion rates, look no further than ad extensions.
Ad extensions are a powerful tool. They improve ad performance and increase engagement. How can ad extensions contribute to increasing user engagement?
Read on to find out the best tips and tricks from the experts here at EraserFarm.
Understanding Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are additional pieces of information you add to your ads to give users more context and options. They enhance the ad’s quality and functionality, giving potential customers more reasons to click on them. With this additional information, your ads become more appealing and informative. Thus, users can make more informed decisions, which increases user engagement.
When you invest in search advertising, ad extensions are vital because they make your ad more compelling, engaging, and informative. Search engines consider ad extensions when determining ad rank and quality scores.
Also, since ad extensions take up more space on the search engine results page (SERP), your competitors’ ads and organic listings appear further down than your ad. This increases your visibility. However, it’s important to note that while ad extensions enhance your position on the search page, they do not directly improve your search engine optimization (SEO).
In the realm of pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, Google’s dominant market share makes Google ad extensions particularly prevalent. Nonetheless, ad extensions are versatile and can be effectively utilized across various social media platforms. For example, Facebook ad extensions also enjoy widespread use due to the platform’s extensive user base.
You can add extensions to different types of ads, such as:
- Display ad extensions
- Search ad extensions
- Video ad extensions
In addition, if your business has a mobile device application, you can use app extensions to display a link to the app in your text ads.
Now, let’s look at some types of ad extensions you can work into your overall digital advertising and marketing strategy.
Sitelink Extensions
Sitelink extensions allow you to include additional links to specific pages on your website. These are ideal for promoting specific products, product categories, or service offerings.
Use customized Sitelink extensions that direct users to specific pages on your website so users can find exactly what they’re looking for.
Call Extensions
Call extensions let users call your business directly from the ad. Potential customers no longer need to note down your phone number. Instead, they can click the ad and, voilà, call your business! These ad extensions are best for businesses that rely on phone calls for conversions.
Location Extensions
Using a location extension, you can display your business address and location. This is ideal for businesses with a physical location or targeting local customers.
Callout Extensions
You use callout extensions to stand out from competitors or highlight time-sensitive information, as these extensions highlight special offers (promotion extensions) like:
- Discounts (price extensions)
- Free shipping
- Unique selling points
Similarly, dynamic structured snippet extensions highlight a specific product or service by displaying a list of items under the ad text.
How Can Ad Extensions Contribute to Increasing User Engagement?
There are many ways ad extensions contribute to higher engagement. We detail five of them below.
Visual Appeal
Simply put, ad extensions make your ads more attractive. Including more information allows for a richer user experience.
If psychology in advertising tells us anything, it’s that people often make buying decisions based on emotion. A visually appealing advertisement that captures users’ attention is more likely to get your business more sales than an ad without extensions.
Relevance
Ad extensions improve your ad’s relevance to users. If an ad doesn’t have relevant information for those viewing it, they will simply skip over it. Relevance is among the most critical factors determining whether users will engage with an ad.
Improve User Experience
If you’re running a Google ad campaign, you have a lot of competition with others in your industry. Therefore, it’s imperative to use ad extensions to provide easy access to essential information.
Customers have a better user experience when they can quickly access the necessary information. You’re meeting their expectations and encouraging viewers to explore your website further.
Create a Sense of Urgency
Callout extensions specifically create urgency because you’re promoting limited-time offers. The urgency often leads to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Higher Click-Through Rates
With an ad that is more attractive, informative, and relevant (thanks to ad extensions), you will see higher click-through rates (CTR). Users are more likely to engage with ads that offer easy access to information and are visually appealing.
Best Practices for Using Ad Extensions
Although ad extensions are beneficial in many ways, there are some best practices you’ll want to follow. They include the following:
- Choose relevant ad extensions: Only add valuable information that will align with users’ search queries
- Test variations: Create and test variations of your ad extension and use the one that performs best
- Monitor and optimize: Monitor metrics like CTRs, conversion rates, and engagement rates, then adjust the extensions as necessary
- Align with your landing page: The information in your ad extension must align with the content on your landing page to create a seamless experience and increase conversion
When you follow these best practices, your ad extensions will reach their maximum impact, and your business will reap the benefits.
Build Your Marketing Strategy with EraserFarm
So, how can ad extensions contribute to increasing user engagement? They do so in several ways! Ad extensions provide relevant information in a visually appealing way to improve the user experience and, thus, boost engagement.
Does your business need help optimizing its digital marketing strategy? Let’s have a chat! Our team of skilled marketers is ready to help take your business to the next level with our expert marketing capabilities.