Improve Your PPC Ads: Use Precise Numbers

12/12/18

The Technique

In a previous post, I showed you how telling your customers how many have converted unlocks the principle of social proof and is helpful in persuading more people to take action.  In that test, I simply replaced a fairly generic introductory text in an ad designed to attract subscribers on Facebook to include the phrase “Join 26,000+ subscribers.”  By using this principle, I was able to improve metrics across the board; including improving Cost Per Subscription by -49%!

Well, I was at Confluence Conference recently and picked up a new tip that takes this principle to the next level.  Tom Shapiro shared in his presentation 35 Crazy Effective Methods For Increasing Your Conversions that tests have shown using precise numbers is more influential than using round numbers.

The reason this is the case is because precise numbers are more believable.  It’s not just the case with the number of subscribers or customers you have either.  It’s also applicable to things like prices.

We’ve all been exposed to this in one way or another; whether it be seeing the “only X number of tickets left at this price,” the rolling number on the TV screen of a particular item being sold on a home shopping network, or pricing something at $499.97 instead of $500.  The bottom line is being precise communicates to the audience more authenticity.  So make sure the number is real!

The Test

Here were the attributes of the test…

 

 

Since my winning ad from the previous test now had a round number in it, I decided to try this principle here.  Instead of saying “Join 42,000+ subscribers,” I changed it to “Join 42,629 subscribers,” since that’s the exact number of subscribers we had when I started the test.

 

The Results

Well, here’s what happened…

 

Click to enlarge

 

The challenging ad won in every major metric category, including a +7% better Conversion Rate and -15% better Cost Per Lead.

So, if you use round numbers anywhere in your marketing efforts, test out using precise numbers instead.  It’s likely you’ll see better results.

Granular Headshot

Mike Fleming

Mike Fleming is a Director of Paid Media at Granular, and has been managing PPC accounts of all kinds for over 10 years; with a strong emphasis in Analytics and Conversion Optimization. He’s a respected digital marketing blogger and speaker whose articles can be found on industry blogs like SEMRush.com and SearchEngineGuide.com. He also contributed to a published book called The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period!. Mike enjoys playing, writing and recording music, playing basketball and investing. He resides in Canton, Ohio with a girl who threw a snowball at him one day…then married him.