Callout assets in Google Ads are a powerful yet often underutilized tool that can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your campaigns. These snippets allow you to highlight key selling points—like free shipping, 24/7 support, or unique product features—directly within your ad, giving potential customers extra reasons to choose your business.
By strategically using callout assets, you can increase your ad's visibility, boost click-through rates (CTR), and stand out from competitors. In this blog post, we’ll explore what makes an effective callout, offer best practices, and provide a real-world example of how you can leverage this feature to maximize your ad performance.
Understanding Callout Assets: What Are They and How Do They Work?
Callout assets are a type of ad feature in Google Ads designed to provide extra information about your products or services in a concise format. Unlike other ad assets, such as sitelinks or structured snippets, callouts are text-only and non-clickable. They appear alongside your ad copy, offering quick, bite-sized details that enhance your ad’s value proposition. For example, phrases like “Free Trial,” “24/7 Support,” or “Money-Back Guarantee” can be added as callouts, helping you communicate key benefits at a glance.
One of the biggest advantages of using callouts is their versatility. They can be tailored to align with various ad groups, campaigns, or even specific product offerings, allowing you to highlight what’s most relevant to your audience. In terms of placement, callouts typically appear underneath your main ad text across both desktop and mobile searches. This additional line of text increases the size of your ad, making it more prominent and visually appealing in search results.
From a strategic standpoint, incorporating callout assets into your Google Ads campaign is a smart move to improve ad performance. They contribute to better Quality Scores by increasing the relevance and usefulness of your ads, which can lead to lower cost-per-click (CPC) rates and higher ad rankings. Understanding how to effectively leverage callout assets, and regularly optimizing them, can ultimately lead to better visibility, more clicks, and a higher return on investment (ROI).
Key Benefits of Using Callout Assets
Callout assets offer a range of benefits that can enhance the performance of your Google Ads campaigns. By adding extra details that highlight your business’s key selling points, callout assets help capture user attention and improve your overall ad effectiveness.
Here are the main benefits, backed by data and industry insights:
Boost Ad Visibility and Click-Through Rates (CTR):
Adding callouts makes your ad larger and more prominent, taking up more space in search results. This additional visibility can directly impact your CTR.
According to Google, utilizing ad assets can significantly increase the visibility of your ads on Search. The more your ad stands out, the higher the chances that users will click on it.
Highlight Value Propositions and Differentiate from Competitors:
In a competitive landscape, callout assets allow you to showcase what makes your business unique. Whether it’s “Same-Day Delivery,” “No Setup Fees,” or “Satisfaction Guaranteed,” these bite-sized benefits can quickly communicate your value proposition and set you apart from others in your industry. Google Ads data shows that users are more likely to engage with ads that clearly convey why a business is a better choice, making these concise callouts an important part of your strategy.
Enhance Ad Quality and Lower Costs:
Google rewards ads that are more relevant and useful to users. By using callouts that closely align with user intent, you can improve your ad’s Quality Score—a key factor that influences your ad rank and cost-per-click (CPC). Higher Quality Scores can lead to a decrease in CPC, making your ads more cost-effective. In fact, Google notes that a one-point increase in Quality Score can result in a 10% decrease in CPC.
Provide Flexibility and Targeted Messaging:
Callouts can be applied at the campaign, ad group, or account level, offering flexibility in tailoring your messaging. For instance, a retail business might emphasize “Free Returns” at the campaign level while customizing ad group-level callouts for specific promotions like “Buy One, Get One Free.” This level of precision allows you to better target user intent, leading to more meaningful engagements and conversions.
Incorporating these benefits into your Google Ads strategy can lead to improved performance metrics across the board. Whether your goal is to increase CTR, reduce costs, or drive more conversions, callout assets are an essential tool in your advertising toolkit.
Best Practices for Crafting Effective Callouts
While callouts can be highly effective, their success depends on how well they are crafted and implemented. Advertisers often have questions and concerns about what makes a good callout asset and how to avoid common pitfalls. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
Keep Callouts Concise and Relevant:
The most effective callouts are clear, concise, and directly relevant to your target audience. Google recommends keeping callouts under 25 characters, as brevity ensures that the information is digestible at a glance. Avoid vague or generic phrases like “Great Service” or “High Quality.” Instead, focus on specifics that add real value, such as “Free Next-Day Delivery” or “Price Match Guarantee.”
Use Action-Oriented and Benefit-Focused Language:
To make your callout assets impactful, use language that is action-oriented and focused on benefits. For example, phrases like “Instant Quotes” or “No Hidden Fees” directly address what customers care about. Highlighting unique selling propositions (USPs) in your callouts ensures that you grab attention and convey the advantages of choosing your business over competitors.
Align Callouts with Your Audience’s Intent:
A key concern for advertisers is whether their callout assets align with what potential customers are searching for. Consider the different stages of the buyer’s journey when creating callouts. For top-of-funnel prospects, callouts that emphasize convenience (“Easy Online Booking”) or customer service (“24/7 Support”) can be effective. For those ready to convert, focus on incentives or guarantees, like “Hassle-Free Returns” or “Risk-Free Trial.”
Avoid Overloading Your Callout Assets:
While it can be tempting to pack in as many callouts as possible, it’s important to avoid information overload. Google allows you to add up to 10 callout assets, but only a few will be shown at once. Prioritize your most compelling value propositions, ensuring that each callout serves a distinct purpose. This focused approach prevents redundancy and helps keep your messaging clear.
Regularly Test and Optimize Your Callouts:
Like any element of your Google Ads strategy, callouts should be regularly tested and optimized. Monitor performance data to see which callouts drive the most engagement and make adjustments based on the results. A/B testing different callout variations can provide valuable insights into what resonates most with your audience. Regular optimization ensures that your callouts remain relevant and continue to enhance your ad performance.
By addressing these common questions and implementing best practices, you can create callout assets that significantly improve your ad campaigns. Thoughtful and strategic use of callouts can lead to higher click-through rates, more conversions, and a better overall return on investment (ROI).
Crafting a Winning Google Ads Callout Asset Strategy
To understand how to implement callout assets effectively, let’s take the example of a Google Ads campaign for a local electronics company. Their key selling points include free shipping, 24-7 customer service, and price matching. By incorporating these specific benefits into their callout assets, they can significantly boost their ad performance.
Here’s how they structured their callout assets:
“Free Shipping”
“24-7 Customer Service”
“Price Matching”
Each of these callouts is concise, relevant, and directly addresses the concerns of potential customers. The callouts also align with the intent of users shopping for new electronic devices — those looking for fast, reliable, and affordable choices. The key takeaway here is that well-crafted callouts can elevate your ad’s appeal, especially when they are tailored to your audience’s needs.
This example illustrates the power of callout assets when they focus on clear, actionable benefits. By strategically positioning these unique selling points within your ad, you can enhance visibility, build trust, and drive more conversions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Callout Assets
While callout assets can enhance your Google Ads campaigns, there are common mistakes that can undermine their effectiveness. Here are a few pitfalls to watch out for:
Using Vague or Generic Phrases
One of the biggest mistakes is using phrases that are too generic or provide little value. Callouts like “Best Service” or “High Quality” don’t offer meaningful insights and are less likely to resonate with users. Focus on specifics that set you apart from competitors and are aligned with what your audience values most.
Overloading Callouts with Too Much Information
It’s easy to fall into the trap of adding too many callouts, which can clutter your messaging and dilute its impact. Google Ads may display only 2-4 callouts at a time, so prioritize the ones that communicate your most compelling benefits. Avoid redundancy and keep your callouts focused and concise.
Neglecting Performance Data
Failing to analyze and optimize your callouts is a missed opportunity. Regularly review your campaign performance to identify which callouts are driving clicks and conversions. Continuously test and refine your assets based on this data to ensure they remain effective. A/B testing different variations can help you determine what resonates best with your audience.
Not Aligning Callouts with Ad Copy and Landing Pages
Consistency is key when using callout assets. Your callouts should align with the messaging in your ad copy and landing pages. If your callouts highlight “No Setup Fees,” but your landing page mentions a setup fee, this inconsistency can lead to mistrust and lower conversion rates. Ensuring all elements are cohesive is crucial for a seamless user experience.
By avoiding these common mistakes and optimizing your strategy, you can make the most out of your callout assets, ultimately enhancing your ad performance and boosting your ROI.
Enhancing Your Google Ads Strategy with Thoughtful Callouts
Callout assets are a simple yet powerful feature in Google Ads that can give your campaigns a competitive edge. By offering concise, value-driven snippets of information, they help your ads stand out and convey key benefits at a glance. Whether it’s boosting visibility, improving click-through rates, or aligning your messaging with customer needs, well-crafted callouts can significantly enhance your ad performance.
The key is to focus on relevancy, clarity, and strategic placement. Avoid common pitfalls like using generic phrases or overcrowding your callouts, and regularly test and optimize your assets based on performance data. When executed effectively, callout assets not only elevate your ads but also drive better engagement and ROI.
Ready to level up your Google Ads campaigns? At CodeMasters, we specialize in creating and optimizing ad strategies that deliver real results. Get in touch today to see how we can help you maximize your ad performance with data-driven insights and best practices.