Brand awareness works differently. It’s designed to create a baseline of trust and affinity with a target consumer that compounds over time. So, when it comes time for them to make a purchase, businesses that consistently show up in feeds, forums, inboxes, and articles aren’t starting from scratch. They stand out as the top choice.

AI search only makes brand awareness more important. All of those references from across the web are authority and trust signals that increase your visibility on platforms like ChatGPT and Claude.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover the basics of brand awareness, provide a list of strategies and examples you can use, and share tips from marketing experts to make sure your brand is known and trusted by both customers and the AI search platforms they use.

Contents

• What is brand awareness?
• What are the types of brand awareness?
• What are the benefits of building brand awareness?
• 13 proven brand awareness techniques
• 6 creative brand awareness strategies
• 4 bold brand awareness examples
• How to create a brand awareness strategy
• How to measure brand awareness

What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is the level of familiarity your target audience has with your business, brand, products or services, reputation, and what sets you apart from competitors. It’s the starting point of every purchase decision and one of the biggest drivers of customer trust.

When you recognize a letter font, recall an ad jingle, spot your favorite dish soap on the shelf, or remember seeing a helpful video from a local lawn care business, that’s brand awareness.

When a single letter in a particular font and color suggests the smell of fresh fries, that’s brand awareness.

Want more? Download The Definitive Guide to Brand Awareness: Top Strategies, Examples, & How to Measure Success

What are the types of brand awareness?

Brand awareness exists on a spectrum. It ranges from someone being able to recall your brand when prompted to being the only brand most consumers think of in your category.

The four types of brand awareness include:

1. Brand recall: The ability of customers to remember your brand from memory when prompted by a category or need, without seeing your name or logo first.
2. Brand recognition: The ability of customers to identify your brand when they see it, including aspects like your logo, colors, tagline, or other visual cues.
3. Top-of-mind awareness: When your brand is the first one a customer thinks of in your category, putting you ahead of every competitor before the search even begins.
4. Brand dominance: When your brand is the only one a customer can recall in a category, making you the choice by default.

What are the benefits of building brand awareness?

Brand awareness creates a compounding return that can make finding, engaging, and converting customers easier and less expensive over time.

Here are some of the specific ways building brand awareness will help you grow your business.

Builds early trust

81% of consumers say they need to trust a brand before buying from it, making trust a non-negotiable goal for growing a business.

Awareness does a lot of the heavy lifting in building credibility with buyers long before they make first contact with your business. That helps shorten their decision time and keeps you at the top of their list.

Positive trust signals help build brand awareness. 

“Performance without awareness is fragile,” said Andrew Chernoff, Vice President of Sales and Strategy at LocaliQ. “Short‑term performance tactics degrade quickly without awareness upstream. Intentional awareness campaigns build mental availability, so when consumers (or AI agents) need an answer, your brand is already known, trusted, and preferred.”

Increases performance for all marketing channels

Brand awareness is the rising tide that lifts all marketing boats. Whether it’s SEO, paid ads, email, or social, when people already know who you are, they’re more likely to pay attention and click.

For example, when consumers were asked what would make them more likely to open a cold email, company familiarity came in at 46%, nearly tied with promotional offers (46.2%) and well ahead of an attention-grabbing subject line (42.6%).

“Signal loss from privacy changes, AI-driven auction dynamics, crowded feeds—they all create significant barriers to building a brand in the current landscape,” said Stephanie Asrymbetov, a Senior Product Manager for Media Products at LocaliQ. “The brands winning right now built familiarity before the click. Your brand awareness is what makes every downstream dollar work harder.”

Boosts search and AI visibility

Search engines and AI tools favor brands that are frequently mentioned, searched by name, and discussed online. The more people know you, the more the algorithms notice you, too.

These brand mentions are only becoming more important. As we learn about generative engine optimization (GEO), we’re finding that positive discussions of your brand on places like Reddit and social media have a significant impact on the chance your business gets cited by platforms like AI Overviews and ChatGPT.

Brand awareness campaigns increase your AI and search visibility.

“Brand awareness matters more today because discovery is changing,” said Dennis Wilson, VP of Product Management at LocaliQ. “Users are getting answers without clicks; AI is summarizing options before people ever visit a website. If your brand isn’t trusted, it may never be considered at all.”

Reduces pricing pressure

A strong awareness campaign that highlights your unique selling proposition and establishes you as a trusted solution can also help position your brand as a premium solution, taking the downward spiral of price competition off the table.

There’s actually lots of data to back this up, like:

• 87% of shoppers will pay more for brands they trust.
• Consumers spend 51% more with retailers they trust.
• The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust is now considered equal to price and quality as a purchase consideration.

“Attention is fragmented, and decisions are faster,” said Chadi Irani, Regional Vice President of Advertising at USA TODAY Co. “Whether it’s AI summaries, social feeds, or headlines, people are making quicker choices with less research. If your brand isn’t already familiar, you’re often not even considered. Awareness today is what gets you into the decision set in the first place.”

Turn awareness into revenue! Get 14 Super-Fast Ways to Boost Conversions

13 proven brand awareness techniques

Brand awareness isn’t new; archeologists found 3,000-year-old decorative signs from shops and taverns that told patrons what to expect from a local merchant. Here we’ve gathered up some proven—and slightly more modern—methods of generating awareness for your brand.

1. Create consistent branding

Before you promote your brand to the world, it’s really important to have a cohesive set of essential elements that make your brand unique. Otherwise, you’ll get attention that doesn’t stick.

A branding exercise is a great start. During the work, you’ll review things like your:

• Target audience: This will guide the rest of your decisions here. (Learn how to find your target audience.)
• Your value proposition: This is what you want to be known for. (Get ideas from these value proposition examples.)
• Your mission and values: This outlines what change you want to create in the world.
• Visual branding: This includes your logo, color scheme, font, etc.
• Voice and tone: This describes the personality of your brand.

Think unique! The more differentiated your brand, the easier it will be to stand out and be remembered.

Liquid Death makes its brand memorable with an aggressively funny tone that stands out in its market.

2. Boost your SEO and GEO

Yes, SEO is a brand awareness strategy. It’s actually one of the most powerful awareness plays available because you can do it on a shoestring budget and it’ll provide compounding returns over time.

It works because billions of times each month, people search for information online without yet planning to buy something. When your brand is the one that pops up on the results page, they become aware of it.

People with lawns in South Carolina will find these brands when they search for help.

While the rules of GEO aren’t 100% the same, the result is similar. If AI tools like ChatGPT cite you as a source, you get a chance at being recognized as the brand that solved a future customer’s problem.

Here are some resources to help with SEO and GEO:

• The New SEO Checklist for Content That Ranks
• SEO Keywords: How Better Keyword Research Gets You Better Results
• GEO for SMBs: What It Is & How to Do It Right

3. Launch a referral program

Customer referral programs are a big win for building brand awareness. Not only do you get to reach new potential customers, but it’s in a way that automatically builds genuine trust.

At the very least, make it a habit to ask every customer to leave a review. But you can scale the program quickly by offering incentives and running referral marketing campaigns.

4. Offer something for free

People love free stuff. They also love to show off free stuff and tell others about it.

Free stuff is a great way to share your brand.

There are lots of ways to use freebies to gain brand awareness:

• Give out physical branded swag.
• Hand out free samples at an event.
• Give free quotes or estimates for services.
• Offer a BOGO that’s tied to your referral campaign.
• Provide a basic version of your product or service for free.
• Offer free, limited-time trial access to your online tools.

5. Partner with other brands

This brand awareness strategy lets you multiply your audience quickly. To do it, partner with complementary brands and organize co-hosted events, contests, promotions, etc.

Look for brands that don’t sell what you sell, but that sell to the same people. Your holistic yoga studio would be a great complement to the healthy smoothie shop.

A variation of this strategy is to partner with a non-profit to support a cause while building brand awareness. For example, the TAZO tea company partnered with America’s Forests for a campaign to plant trees.

Another easy option is to either trade leads or mention each other’s business on your social feeds.

6. Collaborate with influencers

Influencer marketing is good for direct selling, but it’s also a great way to quickly introduce your brand to an existing audience.

The key is to find the right influencer. You want someone who:

• Matches your brand’s ethos.
• Has an engaged audience (engagement is more important than audience size).
• Speaks to your target audience.

7. Share your brand on social media

Social media marketing has become a key driver of website traffic, leads, and sales. It’s also a perfect platform to get in front of new people and let them know what your brand is all about.

Any positive exposure is good here. But if you’re able to show up with personality, even better.

Take KFC, for example. Their chicken isn’t the only thing with spice.

Remember to keep your brand consistent. If you’re aiming for “professional guide,” posting on X like KFC will hurt your brand.

8. Invest in display ads

Display ads are often used as a direct marketing tactic where the goal is to get a click. But they can also be really helpful when you’re trying to build brand awareness with a specific audience.

Display ads can put your brand in front of the right people at the right time.

Jeff Book, VP of Sales Operations at USA TODAY Co., explained that display ads can even help grow awareness for your brand with AI search engines.

“Instead of optimizing display design for just CTR [click-through rate], design ads with a clear brand message and business category association,” he said. “Use consistent phrasing, like ‘Brand X, local HVAC expert,’ across all ad units along with matching language on your website. This will allow AI large language models and ranking systems to match brands to business categories and context in relevant queries.”

9. Run social media contests

You can use opt-in social media contests to amplify your brand through network effects. The idea is to ask your followers to tag their friends and like the post as part of the contest.

Not only will you get an instant connection to your followers’ network, but the engagement will motivate the Instagram algorithm to show your post to more people.

10. Share helpful content

Content marketing is a tried-and-true brand awareness strategy. Long before the internet, brands like John Deere published articles helping farmers grow better crops.

The best part of content is that it’s useful for almost any channel, from social media to email to a blog on your website.

You can localize your content to reach people in your target area.

11. Manage remarketing campaigns

Repetition is an important part of brand awareness. Repetition is an important part of brand awareness. Remarketing lets you remind people about your brand after they’ve engaged with it.

It works by tagging people who have visited your site or engaged with your brand, and then showing them display ads on different websites.

To get the most out of this technique, Stephanie suggests connecting several channels.

“A cross-channel remarketing strategy to your site visitors through social, display,  and even email campaigns using your acquired leads with upper-funnel creative can be easily overlooked as a brand play,” she said. “When you serve someone a brand story after they’ve already shown interest, you’re reinforcing recognition without paying to reach a cold audience.”

“You can also use that same data to build lookalike audiences, expanding your brand reach to the people most likely to become customers,” she added.

12. Collect and use user-generated content (UGC)

UGC is content that someone outside of your business creates about your brand or products. It’s often a video or image showing someone using what you sell, but it can be a blog post, too.

UGC is free, authentic marketing that’s often more convincing than anything you could make yourself.

13. Hand out business cards

Business cards are an inexpensive, versatile brand-awareness tool that’s especially useful for service businesses like real estate agents and massage therapists.

There’s nothing “grater” for brand awareness than a clever business card.

Add a QR code to your card so people can scan it and add you to their contacts.

6 creative brand awareness strategies to try

Now that we’ve covered the tried and true options, we’ll dig into a few brand awareness tactics that aren’t as common (meaning, they’ll help you stand out!).

14. Publish branded content

Branded content combines the memorable storytelling of content marketing with the audience reach and targeting of paid ads.

Branded content lets you generate trust and awareness among an existing audience.

With branded content, you can write or record your content and pay to have it published, or you can work with a publisher that helps you plan, produce, and publish it.

“It’s important to own the environment where the story lives, not just buy impressions,” Andrew said. “Brand awareness increases when brands are embedded within trusted editorial content, not layered on top of it. Premium branded content, blogs, and article integrations place brands in moments of high attention and credibility rather than fleeting ad exposure.”

15. Send marketing mailers

Direct mail marketing has the benefit of putting something tangible in your audience’s hands. A well-designed mailer can stick around for days or weeks, especially if it includes a coupon they can use later.

While direct mail used to be a relied-upon tactic, many businesses have ditched it in favor of going digital. But modern direct mail campaigns can actually blend online and offline tactics to help you reach a targeted, personalized audience—making it a great way to engage with your local audience right in their homes.

16. Place print ads

Print ads are one of the original brand awareness plays, and they’ve lasted the test of time because they work. People read publications they trust, and when your ad sits among that content, it gains credibility, too.

It’s important to work with a publisher that has lots of audience data and a large reach to make sure your ad gets in front of the right people.

“One of the most overlooked ways to build brand awareness is consistent presence within trusted environments people already engage with daily,” said Cami Porter, Regional Vice President of Sales at USA TODAY Co. “For us, that means leveraging our platforms not just for campaigns, but for ongoing visibility through recurring content series, sponsorships, and high-impact placements that become familiar over time.”

17. Try guest posting

A guest post is an article you write for another website. It can be a paid placement, but often you trade your expertise for citation, backlink, and exposure to the publication’s audience.

Guest posts let you build your brand as an expert in your field. And there are lots of opportunities. Just use a search phrase on Google like “[niche] + submit a guest post” and see what comes up.

18. Appear on podcasts

The podcast medium has enjoyed consistent audience growth for years. It’s becoming a common way for people to learn while they drive, walk their dog, or cook dinner.

They’re also growing as a creative way to build brand awareness. The number of topics covered rivals subreddits. You can even start your own show if you see a topic gap.

The great thing about podcasts is that they get attention. Over 70% of podcast listeners hear most or all of the episode.

19. Engage with a like-minded community

No matter what you sell, there’s likely a group of people somewhere online talking about it passionately (if you want to join a heated debate about whetstones, head to the subreddit r/sharpening).

As an expert in your field, you’d be a valuable voice in these communities. And with every post, comment, and reply, you’re laying another brick in your brand-awareness foundation.

Find the places people talk about what you sell and show up as a trusted adviser.

Just remember you’re there to help, educate, learn, and share, not sell. Get salesy, and you’ll be moderated out.

An easy way to find your community is to prompt an AI tool. Ask it to “List 10 online communities that discuss [topic].” Or consider starting your own brand community if you have the following to support it.

4 bold brand awareness examples

Let’s take a look at some of the coolest brand awareness campaigns and how you can adapt them to your strategy.

Lean Cuisine: #WeighThis

Lean Cuisine launched the #WeighThis campaign in 2015 as part of a full rebrand, pivoting away from its “diet food” image toward a more sustainable lifestyle brand.

Changing the perception of a legacy brand is a tough job. Lean Cuisine attacked this challenge with:

• A launch video that invited women to step up to a scale, but instead of weighing themselves, they were asked to write on it the things that mattered most to them.
• A branded hashtag (#WeighThis) that let people share their own stories.
• An interactive display at Grand Central Terminal in New York with 244 bathroom scales painted with inspirational messages.

Source

What you can take away from this brand awareness example

You may not be able to take over Grand Central Station, but you can take a counterintuitive stance on something in your industry and create a branded hashtag that encourages people to share that message (and generates some new UGC for your brand).

For example, a lawncare company could encourage the use of clover instead of grass for a more sustainable, drought-resistant lawn and use the hashtag “#nomowbeehappy.”

“Own moments, not just placements,” Chadi advised. “Brands often focus on impressions, but the real impact comes from aligning with high-interest cultural or seasonal moments, like the World Cup, major local events, or tentpole editorial series. When a brand is consistently present around what people care about in real time, it builds relevance faster than standalone campaigns.”

Spotify: Wrapped

Spotify Wrapped is an annual campaign where Spotify gives every user a personalized recap of their listening habits for the year.

Source

It’s incredibly shareable, so millions of Spotify users become enthusiastic (and unpaid) brand ambassadors every December.

What you can take away from this brand awareness example

The core premise behind Spotify Wrapped is that you take data you already have about your customers and turn it into something fun, flattering, and shareable.

Ask yourself, what do you know about your customers? Here are some examples:

• A restaurant or coffee shop: “You were our 47th most loyal customer this year. You ordered our house latte 34 times. That’s 34 good mornings.” A printed card at the end of the year, or an email to loyalty members. Simple and personal.
• A hair salon or barbershop: “In 2024, we gave you 8 cuts, saved you approximately 4 hours of bad hair days, and your most requested style was the taper fade.” Clients would absolutely share that.
• A gym or fitness studio: “You showed up 94 times this year. You burned an estimated 47,000 calories. You never once skipped leg day.” (Even if they did.)
• A veterinary clinic: “Bella had a great year. She visited us 3 times, got her shots, and is officially in the top 10% of our best-behaved patients.” Pet owners would frame that.

M&M: Flavor Room

In 2018, M&M’s set up a pop-up in lower Manhattan where fans could vote on the brand’s next flavor. Three immersive rooms were each decorated and scented to match one of three candidates: raspberry, espresso, or mint. Visitors go to try the flavors, take photos, and cast their vote.

Source

What you can take away from this brand awareness example

M&Ms used a pop-up to get the word out, and so can you. These can take the form of a table at a local 5K all the way to a pop-up shop in a busy town center. You get exposure and a chance to actually speak with people. Plus, you can add it to a giveaway to collect leads.

Staples: Social media poll

Not all creative awareness tactics have to be huge and flashy. Take this simple social media poll from office supply retailer Staples.

They stirred the conversational pot by posting a poll that asks about the correct orientation of toilet paper rolls.

What you can take away from this brand awareness example

This awareness strategy is genius because:

• It’s simple: You can post a poll in a minute, and it’s free unless you pay to promote the post.
• It’s versatile: You use this idea on just about any social media platform.
• It has built-in organic distribution: If you choose the right question, lots of people will answer and share it, which will also give it an algorithm boost.

All you need is a question your audience will want to answer.

How to create your brand awareness strategy

As you can see, there are a LOT of brand awareness tactics you can use to build buzz and generate affinity for your business. How do you create a brand awareness strategy for yourself? Start with these steps:

• Define your audience: Get specific about who you’re trying to reach, where they spend their time, and what they actually care about.
• Clarify what makes you different: Nail down the one or two things that set you apart, because awareness without a memorable message is just static.
• Choose your channels: Pick two or three places where your audience already is and focus your energy there instead of spreading it thin everywhere.
• Create consistent, recognizable content: Show up regularly with a look, voice, and message people can start to associate with you.
• Measure and adjust: Track what’s working, cut what isn’t, and double down on the channels and content driving real recognition.

How to measure brand awareness

No marketing strategy is complete without a plan to measure the results. It’ll tell you if your investment was worthwhile, where to double down, and where you can pivot for even more success.

Since brand awareness can have a positive effect across your business, there are several areas to track.

What people are searching

Ideally, once people know your name, they’ll look for it online. So look for:

• Branded search volume: How often people search your business name directly, tracked in Google Search Console.
• Share of voice: How often your brand shows up in search results compared to competitors.

You can use SEO tools to track how often people search for your brand.

“Track brand lift by monitoring branded search volume,” Stephanie said. “When someone types your brand name into Google unprompted, that’s real recall, not a vanity metric. Watch how that volume moves in response to your campaigns over time. That movement is your signal that awareness is actually working.”

How people are engaging

Audience behavior is another signal that your awareness efforts are moving the needle. Track:

• Social media reach and impressions: How many people are your posts actually getting in front of?
• Video views and completion rates: Are people watching, or bouncing?
• Website direct traffic: This measures the number of people who type your URL directly, which is a pure awareness signal.

“I think the biggest pitfall in measuring awareness is yesterday’s metrics,” Dennis said.
“There is no single number that captures impact anymore. Modern brand measurement should combine growth of branded searches, share of answer, share of voice, and sentiment, while also accounting for how AI systems surface and describe your brand.”

What people are saying

If your brand awareness campaign is working, you should see more discussions that include your brand online. You can use social listening and track them by:

• Social mentions and hashtag usage: Look at the volume of conversations about your brand.
• Sentiment: Is the conversation positive, negative, or neutral?
• User-generated content volume: How much are customers posting about you on their own?

Social media management tools help you track conversation volume and sentiment.

What people tell you

One simple way to learn how well your brand awareness campaigns are working is to ask new customers how they heard about you. As you collect their answers, you’ll start to see which tactics have the greatest impact.

You may also be able to automate this. “On the USA TODAY Network, we can measure brand awareness by asking readers via an online survey whether they are aware of a particular brand where we know we delivered them media,” Jeff said. “ Additionally, we further measure their preference, consideration, and intent to call, visit, or purchase from the brand.  Cumulatively, across all these studies we conduct, we can see how much we lift brand awareness for customers.

Generate brand awareness for your business

Brand awareness is no longer something you can afford to do “when there’s time.” It’s an important part of not just converting customers, but of getting found in the first place.

The important part is to right-size your brand awareness strategy for your business. A local house painter can lean heavily on yard signs and business cards. A national daycare will benefit from display ads and a strong social media presence.

From there, just be consistent. Keep showing up, and always look for the little ways you can create a buzz with your audience.

And of course, we’re here to help. Let us show you how our marketing solutions can accelerate your brand awareness, lead generation, and customer conversion success.

The post How to Build Brand Awareness (23 Ideas & Expert Tips) appeared first on WordStream.

Of course, CPC isn’t one-size-fits-all. Costs can vary widely depending on your industry, targeting, and campaign setup—which is why simply knowing the averages isn’t enough.

So beyond the benchmarks, we’re sharing practical, platform-specific ways to lower your costs without sacrificing performance. We spent the time finding the best and most accurate information so you can get the clearest picture of advertising costs and how to manage them.

Contents

• What is the average cost per click…
  • • in Google Ads
    • in Meta Ads
• How to lower your Google Ads cost per click
• How to lower your Facebook Ads cost per click

Average cost per click in Google Ads and Meta Ads

You’ll want to know the overall average cost per click in each platform to see how much lower your average CPC can go.

 Want personalized recommendations to save money in Google Ads? Use our Free Google Ads Grader and get an instant report!

Google Ads average cost per click

Over the past ten years, the average CPC for Google Search ads has ranged from $2.32 – $5.26. 

Historical Google Ads CPCs:

• 2016: $2.32
• 2021: $3.53
• 2022: $4.01
• 2023: $4.22
• 2024: $4.66
• 2025: $5.26

Facebook ads average cost per click

Your Facebook ad costs will vary depending on the campaign objectives you’re using. The average Facebook ads CPC for the leads objective is $1.92, while the average CPC for traffic campaigns is $0.70. Both of these campaign types can be excellent options for your business to increase leads, drive website traffic, and complement your search advertising strategy.

Learn more Facebook ads costs here.

How to lower your cost per click in Google Ads

Google Search is still one of the most effective ways to get in front of new customers. Yet, the cost of running Google Ads still bewilders many. Here are some practical tips to lower your Google Ads cost per click.

Choose your keywords wisely, and don’t just jump for the cheapest one!

Keyword research is a given when it comes to Google Search, but we’re not just talking about ruling out the priciest on average keywords. In fact, don’t jump to ignore any one keyword based on price, but choose based on volume and the types of search queries you want to attract.

For example, if your best converting keyword is also your most expensive, you don’t want to miss out on all those conversions in the name of frugality. But you may want to downsize your keyword list to save on spend elsewhere while you bid on that one high-converting keyword.

Or, a pricier keyword may have a higher average search volume, which could equate to bringing in more clicks to your website—increasing your expected CTR. This improves your Quality Score, which will allow you to pull in more clicks for less in the long run.

In short, you can still choose your keywords based on cost. But be sure to also consider the volume and intent behind those keywords. Having a healthy mix of low-cost keywords and high-reward keywords will ensure that you get the lowest CPC possible without sacrificing conversion quality or quantity.

 Looking for more ways to find high-impact, low-cost keywords? Try our Free Keyword Tool!

Improve your ads and landing pages to raise your Quality Score

Remember, bids are only half the battle when it comes time for you to pay for a click in an auction. For example, an advertiser with a low bid but a high Quality Score could still win the auction and be more likely to pull in a click for cheaper.

Google is willing to make that trade-off because it wants to make as much money as possible off of paid Search ads without sacrificing the searcher’s experience. Google will accept a bid that results in a cheaper click if it means the ad will be of more use to the viewer (in other words, a higher Quality Score).

Aside from expected CTR, your Quality Score also factors in ad relevancy and landing page experience. For your ads, try to carve out time to regularly refresh them and include any newly added keywords. You could also take a look at Google’s suggestions right from within the ads editor section of the platform to see where your current ad strength is and where you could improve.

As for your landing pages, ensure your core keywords are on the page just like you would with your ad copy.

Try out the Search Partner Network

The Google Search Partner Network allows your ads to show on any additional sites with an online search feature that are owned by the Google family. Historically, clicks from Search Partners can trend cheaper since they can be less competitive. You can opt your campaign into these and measure the results compared to Google’s SERP whenever you please—making it a great way to test for cheaper clicks.

Take advantage of lower CPCs on the Google Display Network

Google Display campaigns tend to be cheaper, averaging a much lower CPC of $0.34 compared to the $5.26 search ads CPC I mentioned earlier. You can use this Google Ads campaign type in unison with your search ads campaigns to bring down your account’s overall costs.

What’s even better is that once you start building display ads, you can recycle those assets across other media networks that offer cheaper ad placements outside of Google-owned sites. Media networks across separately-owned sites offer display and video advertising at a cheaper CPC compared to Google search ads as well, so this tip can help your business’s strategy flourish into a full-funnel advertising approach.

This example media ad could double as a Google Display ad. 

Consider other automated Google Ads campaigns

Aside from Google Display campaigns, there are a ton of other Google Ads campaign types that can complement your standard search campaigns in terms of cost per click. Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns allow your business to simultaneously place ads on the search network in addition to other placements, like the Display Network or Gmail, so these campaign types also tend to yield a cheaper cost per click overall. For instance, these automated campaigns have been reported to have CPCs as low as $0.67.

Leverage exclusions

It’s important to use exclusions to save you from spending on pricier clicks that are irrelevant. There are the normal exclusions available to all campaign types, like locations.

On top of those must-have basics, like locations, there are a few other types of Google Ads exclusions you’ll also want to check on, depending on your campaign type:

• Audiences: Are there any additional audiences that you don’t want to show to? For example, your converters or your remarketing audiences.
• Content: Do you want to show on all types of websites, pages, or apps? For example, mobile app games could result in accidental clicks should you feel that placement isn’t the best fit for your business. Excluding mobile app and games placements is a popular strategy for lowering cost per click.

Use Smart Bidding

How much you’re willing to pay per click correlates with how much the platform is willing to take. While competition and other factors help you determine how much to bid manually, you may also want to try Smart Bidding to dynamically edit your max CPC bids.

If you’re on an automated bidding strategy, Google’s algorithm will adjust your bids according to fluctuations such as campaign performance and search behavior, which can be hugely helpful when you’re juggling multiple different campaign budgets.

A/B test your targeting

Along with testing out different ways you can bid to get the lowest bid possible, you can also apply multiple audiences to your campaigns and compare which ones pull in the lowest CPCs. Now, you can approach this similarly to how you would pick keywords for a search campaign.

The audience with the highest reward may not have the lowest CPC. However, you don’t want all of your eggs in one basket. It’s best to try multiple audiences to see which one brings in the best bang for your buck, or to have a healthy balance of a high-reward audience working for you alongside a low-cost audience.

Try Google Shopping ads if you can

Based on our most recent data, the average CPC for Google Shopping ads is $0.66.

If you sell any type of product, see if you can build out a Google Merchant Center and product feed to use Shopping ads. When you do, just be sure all attributes for each product are accurate and match your ideal searcher’s intent.

Enable Google Local Services Ads

If you’re not an ecommerce business, there are lower-cost specialty Google Ads you can take advantage of. Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) are available to businesses in over 70 different service-based industries. These ads allow you to generate leads directly on the search results page.

Businesses running Local Services Ads avoid high CPCs altogether as they’re only charged for valid leads. The Google Local Services Ads average cost per lead is about $60—which is significantly lower than the search ad benchmark average cost per lead of $70.11.

Build negative keyword lists

This tip to lower your Google Ads cost per click is one I would say is most important (and it’s backed by data from over 15,000 accounts!). The core of any strong Google Ads campaign is a healthy negative keyword list. But how can you optimize that list for CPC?

We know heavier competition on the SERP can jack up CPC prices. It may be a good idea to negate big brand competitor names that you don’t feel fit well with your SMB products on the SERP. This way, you’re on a level playing field and not paying for pricier clicks because you’re showing next to big brand products.

How to lower Facebook ads cost per click

Meta Ads are a whole different beast from Google because you can’t show up on a searcher’s command. So, you have to optimize to not only be able to show up while someone is scrolling through Meta apps (this includes Facebook, Instagram Messenger, and WhatsApp), but also to pull in the cheapest click possible.

While it’s not as cookie-cutter as choosing the cheapest keyword, Facebook’s ad platform does allow for interesting tweaks you can do to lower CPC:

A/B test your ad copy

One of the easiest ways to optimize for cheaper clicks on Facebook is to try tweaking your Facebook ad copy. You’d be surprised how two different ads within the same ad set can pull in two completely different average CPCs.

This is due to Facebook’s machine learning ranking your ad before it decides when, where, and how often to show it. If Facebook determines that your ad copy and images won’t drive actions, then you’ll end up paying more for that ad’s click.

To A/B test your Facebook ads, try swapping out images, switching out the CTA buttons, or changing the text to boost your Facebook ad’s CPC health.

Choose your campaign objective wisely

Choosing the wrong objective can be a costly Facebook advertising mistake.

Your Facebook campaign objective determines how your ad will be served. Similar to Google’s automated bidding strategies, certain objectives may result in a higher CPC as they prioritize other actions.

For example, a campaign objective optimized for conversions may choose to show at times when the CPC is higher because you’re more likely to convert. Your best bet is to try a campaign objective out that best aligns with your end goal, and if you’re unsure, then split your campaigns out to test two objectives simultaneously!

Try ad scheduling

Ad scheduling is a money-saving feature that you can apply to ad sets in your Facebook campaigns.

While this feature is only available if you have a lifetime budget set, you can leverage ad scheduling as a way to overall control your Facebook costs and even your CPC because you make the call on when your ads show.

So, if you notice that you’ve been pulling in irrelevant clicks that are driving up your CPC but not converting, you may want to think about what times your audience will value your ad the most. If you’re a breakfast bar and your Facebook ads are showing during dinner time or after hours, then you could be driving up your CPC on wasted clicks!

Customize placements

The average Instagram CPC is $0.40-2.00 across all campaign objectives, so Instagram-only Meta Ads campaigns can be another avenue to keeping your overall costs down.

See more Instagram advertising costs here.

If you’re running Instagram-only ads from Facebook’s platform, then you already know you can customize your placements. However, even within the Instagram placements, there are multiple ways you can show: on stories, feeds, and more. Be sure to select your Instagram placements that best fit with your ad type. You don’t want to waste your clicks from Stories if you only want your Instagram video ad to show on Instagram Reels, and so on.

Be selective with your targeting

With such a saturated platform, it’s vital to be picky about who your ad shows to on Meta. To save yourself from a high CPC, you may not want to cast a wide net. With so many audience options to choose from, don’t be afraid to dial it down by age, location, and interest when setting up your ad set.

Focus on engagement

After you set up your ad set for specific targeting and placements, focus on ad content that will drive engagement. When your ads drive actions like comments, likes, and shares, Instagram’s algorithm will rank you higher.

Not only that, but your ads will be more likely to drive conversions and growth because they’re capturing your audience’s attention. To start, try a media-rich video ad or use the copy of your ad to incentivize your audience to participate in the comments.|

Lower your cost per click on Google and Facebook

We covered a lot in this post about reducing ad costs, so to recap, it really just comes down to basics like your targeting, ad copy, and creative across platforms. There are other little tricks, like audience list exclusions or bidding strategy optimizations, that can also boost your CPC-lowering efforts. For more ways to maximize your search and social ad campaigns, see how our solutions can help!

To lower your CPC in Google Search ads:

• Choose your keywords wisely, and don’t just jump for the cheapest one!
• Improve your ads and landing pages to raise your Quality Score
• Try out the Search Partner Network
• Take advantage of lower CPCs on the Google Display Network
• Consider other automated Google Ads campaigns
• Leverage exclusions
• Use Smart Bidding
• A/B test your targeting
• Try Google Shopping ads if you can
• Enable Google Local Services Ads
• Build negative keyword lists

To lower your CPC in Facebook ads:

• A/B test your ad copy
• Choose your campaign objective wisely
• Try ad scheduling
• Customize placements
• Be selective with your targeting
• Focus on engagement

The post How to Lower Your Cost Per Click in Google Ads & Meta Ads appeared first on WordStream.

• Publish strong, opinion-led thought leadership to stand out.
• Build tightly focused pages around specific keyword intent.
• Assume the buyer’s understanding forms after they land on your site.

That approach worked because search worked that way. People clicked, compared, read multiple pages, and slowly built their understanding inside your funnel.

But AI changes how that understanding gets built now.

Explanations are now reused and summarized, related questions get merged into one answer, and, in many cases, the first version of your business a prospect encounters is assembled before they ever visit your website.

That doesn’t mean content stopped working. It means the assumptions behind how it works need to be updated.

In this article, we’ll look at three huge ways AI is impacting content strategies and what businesses need to rethink if they want their content to shape decisions instead of reacting to them.

Contents

• 3 ways AI search is impacting content marketing (+What to do about it)
  1. Thought leadership performs worse in AI search
  2. Building and ranking one page per intent no longer holds
  3. Your website is no longer the starting point of explanation
• How these problems compound for worse results in AI search
• How to address these problems for a better content strategy

3 ways AI search is impacting content marketing and what to do about it

Let’s take a deep dive into three issues plaguing content strategies right now and how to fix them to see better results.

1. Thought leadership performs worse in AI search

For years, thought leadership has been the gold standard of content marketing. Have a strong point of view, challenge assumptions, lead with perspective, and you’ll win attention. That model worked extremely well in a click-driven environment. And it still works for brand building. Once someone lands on your site, a sharp perspective helps you stand out and build trust, but AI search changes where the explanation happens.

The issue is not that thought leadership lost value. The issue is that AI systems are not trying to persuade, but to explain.

Why this is the case

AI systems reuse content to build clear explanations, not to win arguments.

When a user asks:

• “How much do dental implants cost?”
• “Should I repair or replace my AC?”
• “What does managed IT support include?”

The system doesn’t surface the boldest take. It pulls from multiple sources and synthesizes one answer whose primary objective is to precisely satisfy the query, with (if possible) zero ambiguity.

To do that reliably, AI has to favor content that provides:

• Clear definitions
• Clear scope
• Clear conditions
• Clear mechanics

Opinion-led content doesn’t offer that. Most thought leadership content follows a familiar pattern:

• Lead with a bold claim
• Critique the industry
• Frame a problem
• Introduce your perspective

The more interpretation a piece requires, the harder it becomes to merge it safely with other sources. And when AI merges information across websites, it avoids statements that might introduce conflict or judgment.

Here’s a simple example that makes this obvious. Compare these two statements about HVAC replacement:

1. “Most HVAC companies push replacements you don’t actually need.”
2. “HVAC replacement is usually recommended when a system is 15 to 20 years old, requires frequent repairs, or when repair costs exceed 50% of the price of a new unit.”

The second version is easier for AI to reuse because it explains when replacement makes sense. It gives conditions and numbers, and, overall, removes ambiguity.

The first version makes a claim, then introduces judgment, and that makes it harder to merge cleanly with other sources.

When AI builds a combined answer from several websites, it defaults to the explanation that aligns cleanly across them. That is why definition-first content gets reused more often, even when opinion-led content ranks well.

Data backs this up:

• A Semrush study analyzing AI Overview-triggered queries found that informational searches were far more likely to generate synthesized summaries instead of click-through behavior. Those summaries heavily favored structured, definition-first content.
• Moz research shows something similar. AI-generated summaries disproportionately pull from pages that provide direct, concise answers within the first 100 to 200 words.

Source

The pattern is consistent: AI prefers a low-ambiguity explanation over perspective.

What the experts are seeing

Maeva Cifuentes, Founder & CEO of Flying Cat Marketing, has seen this shift play out across multiple clients.

“For a long time, the SEO formula was simple: more traffic meant more leads, and you could calculate it almost linearly. AI broke that correlation. It took over the informational layer of search, the research, the synthesis, the ‘what should I think about this’ questions, and started answering them directly,” Maeva said.

That informational layer used to be where thought leadership content lived. It captured researchers, nurtured awareness, and generated top-of-funnel sessions that could later convert.

AI now owns that layer, but that does not mean your content has stopped being used.

As Maeva explains: “What changed technically is that content is still being used, it’s just not generating the value exchange it used to. We see client pages getting cited in AI responses, which means the content was useful enough to reference, but the user got the answer inside the AI and never clicked through. The citation replaced the click.”

That sentence reframes the problem clearly.

The issue is not usefulness, but where the value exchange now happens. Your explanation may still shape understanding, but it may do so without sending traffic.

For a query like this, the searcher may get all the information they need from the AIO, even though expert content was needed to guide the steps listed here.

Claudia Bird, Senior Content Writer at Grizzle.io, adds an important nuance here. She has seen thought leadership content perform well in AI environments, but only under specific conditions.

“One of our enterprise clients got a ton of citations and traffic from content that was only meant to be a thought leadership and sales enablement play. But it spoke directly to a crucial pain point for their audience,” Claudia said.

The format itself was not the deciding factor. Authority and clarity were.

She cautions against oversimplifying the conversation. “It’s not as simple as a standalone format that ‘does or doesn’t work.’ There’s a lot more happening in the background—based on perceived authority—that impacts performance,” she said.

This reinforces the structural issue: Thought leadership is not dead, opinion is not banned, perspective still differentiates, but if explanation is weak, fragmented, or buried beneath commentary, AI will skip it in favor of clearer sources. And when AI skips your explanation layer, it builds the upstream understanding from someone else’s.

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What this means for businesses

If your content strategy leans heavily on opinion-led thought leadership without anchoring it in clear explanation, you risk losing control over how your business is described upstream.

You may still rank, but AI may build its summary from someone else’s clearer explanation.

And that’s a problem because by the time a buyer reaches your site, they already carry a synthesized understanding of what your service includes, what it costs, who it’s for, and how it compares. If your voice didn’t shape that explanation layer, you inherit generic expectations.

How to adjust your strategy

You don’t need to stop publishing perspectives, but you do need to change the order in which you present it.

Start with a plain-language explanation. Define the scope clearly. Explain who the service applies to and who it does not apply to. Walk through the mechanics before you introduce critique. Once the foundation is clear, then layer in your point of view.

For example, instead of opening with a headline like, “Why Most Agencies Waste Your Marketing Budget,” begin by explaining what marketing agencies typically do, how retainers are structured, what affects pricing, and when agency support actually makes sense. Clarify when it does not. After that groundwork is laid, introduce your critique.

That sequence does two important things. It allows AI systems to reuse your explanation safely, and it still gives human readers your differentiated perspective.

Keep explanation and commentary distinct. Anchor your viewpoint in specific scenarios. For small HVAC companies serving one metro area, the economics look different. For dental practices focused on complex implant cases, candidacy rules matter more. For SaaS companies under $5 million in ARR, agency support carries different tradeoffs.

Specificity reduces ambiguity. And ambiguity reduces reuse.

In the AI search environment, explanation earns visibility first. Perspective earns differentiation second.

If you reverse that order, your content may persuade someone who lands on your page, but it may never shape the explanation that brought them there.

Need help understanding the modern rules for SEO? Download our free guide >> How to Do SEO Right—Right Now!

Building and ranking one page per intent no longer holds

For years, good SEO meant discipline. You identified keyword intent, mapped one page to one intent, and built tightly focused content that answered a specific query type.

• If someone searched “what are dental implants,” they landed on a definition page.
• If they searched “dental implant cost,” they landed on a pricing page.
• If they searched “best dental implants,” they landed on a comparison or positioning page.

Each page did one job. That structure made sense in a blue-links environment because the user journey was fragmented by design. A buyer would search, click, return to the SERP, refine the query, click again, compare, and slowly assemble understanding across multiple visits.

But AI doesn’t behave that way. It doesn’t respect your segmentation.

Why this is the case

When someone asks, “Should I replace my 15-year-old AC, and how much would that cost?” the system doesn’t give them three separate answers. It produces one consolidated explanation that blends lifespan expectations, repair thresholds, cost drivers, timelines, and tradeoffs into a single response.

Definition, fit, pricing, and comparison all show up together. That is where the old SEO model quietly starts to break down. This change is not subtle.

SparkToro’s clickstream research shows that nearly 60% of Google searches now result in zero clicks. Since this data is almost two years old, it’s safe to assume that the numbers are even greater now.

Simply put, when AI Overviews appear, that number rises further. Semrush’s research into AI Overview-triggered keywords found that queries experiencing AI summaries saw more zero-click searches than those without an AIO present.

Source

What that means in simple terms is this: More people are forming their understanding before they ever visit your site.

If your site spreads core context across five different URLs, AI merges fragments. And when fragments are merged, nuances are created.

The system pulls the definition from one source, pricing averages from another, eligibility conditions from a third, and general best practices from a fourth. It reconciles them into a safe, consensus-driven explanation.

Consensus tends to flatten differentiation. That flattening is subtle. But for smaller businesses, it’s expensive.

How this impacts businesses

The real issue is not simply that intent collapses. It is what that collapse does to how you compete.

In a traditional search environment, competition happened page by page. If you ranked for “dental implant cost,” you shaped how pricing was understood. If you ranked for “HVAC repair vs replacement,” you influenced how that tradeoff was framed. Each query represented a moment you could control.

AI changes that structure entirely.

When multiple intents are merged into one synthesized answer, you are no longer competing for an individual keyword. You are competing to have your positioning survive inside a compressed summary that blends input from several sources.

And compression rarely preserves nuance.

When AI combines definition, pricing, eligibility, and comparison into a single explanation, it gravitates toward what appears broadly consistent across sites. It does not prioritize edge cases, narrow specialization, or detailed boundaries unless those elements are clearly integrated into the core narrative.

This is where competitive consequences begin to surface.

If your expertise lives in secondary pages, blog posts, or scattered FAQs, it often does not survive synthesis. The model leans toward the middle of the market, not toward the margins where differentiation typically lives.

A practice that focuses on advanced surgical implant cases becomes summarized as a general dental implant provider. An HVAC company that specializes in high-efficiency systems for older homes becomes framed as a standard replacement provider.

The services ChatGPT lists for this dentist are a little different than the services listed on the website.

Over time, this subtle flattening shifts how buyers perceive you before they ever engage.

Instead of competing on specialization, you compete on category averages. Instead of standing out on positioning, you blend into consensus language.

That is the deeper cost of intent collapse. It is not primarily about rankings or traffic. It is about the erosion of differentiation inside the explanation layer that forms upstream.

And once that differentiation erodes, the impact shows up in slower sales cycles, greater price sensitivity, and conversations that begin with generic assumptions rather than informed interest.

That is the competitive consequence most businesses underestimate.

Need help crafting the perfect AI prompts? We’ve got you covered >> 200+ Best AI Prompts Any Business Can Use

How to adjust your strategy

Rethinking page structure is not about adding more content. It’s about changing what a single page is responsible for.

In the past, it made sense to separate definition, pricing, eligibility, comparison, and objections into different URLs. Each page targeted a specific query, and the buyer stitched everything together over time.

That stitching no longer happens the same way.

When AI collapses multiple intents into one answer, it expects your content to hold together as one coherent explanation. If your core service logic is scattered across several thin or loosely connected pages, the model will assemble that logic for you. And when it does, it may rely on outside sources to fill the gaps.

That is why your most important service pages need to operate more like comprehensive decision hubs than isolated keyword targets.

A high-value service page should clearly explain what the service is, who it is for, what affects pricing, what the timeline looks like, what tradeoffs exist, and what alternatives a buyer should consider. It should also surface the objections that consistently appear in real conversations, not hide them in a separate FAQ or blog post.

This service page has a lot of information about emissions testing for prospective customers to read through.

This does not mean writing long, bloated pages. It means accepting that buyers and AI systems now encounter your offering as a complete story, not as a sequence of disconnected answers.

If pricing variability causes confusion in sales calls, that explanation belongs directly in the main narrative. If repair versus replacement is always a decision point, that logic should live inside the core service page. If qualification rules determine fit, they should be explicit and visible.

When the full context lives together, the explanation that gets synthesized is more likely to reflect your real positioning. When context is fragmented, AI reconstructs the story using external averages and generalized advice.

And once your story is reconstructed externally, you are no longer fully shaping how your business is understood.

Your website is no longer the starting point of explanation

In many cases, buyers no longer begin their understanding on your website.

They start by asking AI a broad question and receive a consolidated answer that blends definition, pricing context, comparisons, and tradeoffs. That summary becomes their baseline. By the time they click through to your site, they are not learning from scratch. They are checking whether you match what they already believe.

Stephanie Yoder, Director of Content at Rebrandly, has seen this shift clearly.

“Technical searches, factual queries, and how-to content are migrating rapidly to AI platforms, while commercial searches still largely happen on traditional search engines,” Stephanie said.

This search with purchase intent doesn’t include an AI Overview.

She also notes how compressed research has become. “People who used to spend 15–20 minutes reading multiple articles now get a synthesized answer from AI in under five minutes,” she said.

That compression shifts the order of influence. Your site now operates as validation, not introduction.

When that happens, your messaging is evaluated against an existing frame. If it aligns, conversations move forward. If it conflicts, you spend time correcting assumptions you didn’t create.

The starting point moved. Your content strategy has to account for that.

Why this is the case

Maeva’s team has seen this pattern play out.

“What we noticed first was that traffic dropped but leads didn’t. That was the signal. AI was filtering out the researchers and delivering the buyers. That told us the formula had changed—not broken—changed,” she said.

That distinction is important.

How this impacts businesses

AI absorbs much of the early-stage exploration. It compresses comparison. It filters out some of the casual researchers who once clicked through multiple informational pages.

As a result, fewer visitors may reach your site. But the ones who do are often further along in their decision process.

If you look only at session counts, it may feel like decline. If you look at lead quality, objection patterns, and sales conversations, you see something different.

The funnel hasn’t disappeared. It has just shifted upward.

And once the first layer of understanding happens before the click, your content strategy can no longer assume it controls the opening frame of the conversation.

Now, the buyer’s understanding is being shaped upstream by a synthesized answer that may not reflect your specialization, boundaries, or positioning.

When your website contradicts that pre-assembled explanation, trust wobbles. When it confirms it clearly, trust accelerates.

This shift is subtle because it does not always show up as traffic loss. It shows up as narrative misalignment, and narrative misalignment affects revenue long before it affects rankings.

Looking for more ways to drive people to your site? Free guide >> 25 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website

How to adjust your strategy

At this point, the strategic objective changes. The goal is no longer persuasion first. The goal is confirmation.

If a buyer arrives with a summary already in their head, your page needs to quickly answer: “Is what I read accurate here?”

That means:

• Restating the service clearly at the top.
• Defining scope immediately.
• Making exclusions explicit.
• Aligning pricing language with realistic ranges.
• Addressing common edge cases in structured FAQs.

The first 150–200 words of your core service page now carry disproportionate weight.

If those paragraphs are vague, aspirational, or overly promotional, the system—and the buyer—will default to external framing.

Clarity reduces friction, friction reduction improves alignment, and alignment improves close rates.

How the three problems compound

Each of these shifts on its own is manageable. You can adjust thought leadership structure, rethink page segmentation, and refine your service pages.

But when all three shifts happen at the same time, the effect compounds.

When opinion-heavy content gets skipped in summaries, when intent is fragmented across multiple URLs, and when AI forms the first explanation before the click, something subtle but serious happens: you lose control over how your business is described upstream.

And that’s a problem. Accuracy is everything. Consider:

• If you are a dental practice that specializes in complex surgical cases but AI frames you as a general implant provider, you attract the wrong inquiries.
• If you are an HVAC company focused on high-efficiency systems for older homes, but AI summarizes you using broad national averages, you inherit price objections that do not reflect your positioning.
• If you are a B2B SaaS platform built for mid-market companies, but AI describes you generically as a “small business tool,” your demo requests become misaligned from the start.

How to address these content problems for better AI results

The solution is to rethink what your core pages are responsible for. You need revenue-driving pages that are structurally built for synthesis.

That means pages that explain clearly before offering perspective. Pages that combine related intent instead of isolating it. Pages that define boundaries as explicitly as they define benefits. Pages that can survive being summarized without losing their nuance.

A useful starting point is to audit your most important service pages and ask hard questions.

• Is the service defined plainly in the first section, or does the explanation assume prior knowledge?
• Are fit criteria clearly stated, including who is not a good fit?
• Are exclusions visible, or are they buried?
• Are cost drivers explained in context, rather than isolated on a thin pricing page?
• Are common objections addressed within the main narrative, or pushed to separate content?

Then ask one more uncomfortable question: If an AI system extracted only the first portion of this page and summarized it, would that summary accurately reflect how we want to be positioned?

If the answer is no, the structure needs to change.

AI-proof your content strategy

AI did not eliminate content. It reassigned its responsibility.

In this environment, clarity outperforms cleverness. Explanation must come before differentiation. Accuracy matters more than originality in the first layer of understanding.

Content for small businesses no longer exists only to attract clicks. It exists to shape the explanation that forms before the click ever happens.

If your pages control that explanation layer, traffic becomes less fragile and sales conversations become more aligned. If they don’t, you will spend more time correcting upstream assumptions than moving deals forward.

In a zero-click environment, the business that shapes the explanation shapes the pipeline.

The post 3 Huge Ways AI Impacts Your Content Strategy & How to Pivot appeared first on WordStream.

High-performing CTAs address a pain that’s well-known to their intended audience, and they clearly explain the value of clicking. “Shop now” might be serviceable, but “Run pain-free” will close the deal.

For this guide, I gathered 31 absolutely compelling call-to-action examples and dissected what makes them work. I also tapped a couple of conversion marketing experts to share tips you can use to write your own conversion-ready CTAs.

Contents

• 31 high-converting call-to-action examples for every use case
  • Ecommerce and direct purchase CTAs
  • Urgency and scarcity CTAs
  • Appointment and booking CTAs
  • Engagement and community CTAs
  • Content and education CTAs
  • Referrals and word-of-mouth CTAs
  • Subscription and lead generation CTAs
• 4 tips to create your own call to action examples
• Call to action example FAQs

Ecommerce and direct purchase CTAs

Ecommerce and direct purchase CTAs are the action phrases that appear on product pages, ads, and landing pages to push a ready-to-buy customer over the finish line. “Buy Now,” “Add to Cart,” and “Get Yours Today” are common examples. These CTAs go way beyond common.

1. Get yo’ tickets while they’re hot

Really Good Emails uses a bold and spicy CTA in this ad for its Unspam event.

Why this CTA works

Really Good Emails is known for a funny and sometimes edgy tone. Their CTA keeps that vibe while still making it super clear what clicking that bright red button gets you.

Pro tip: Scrutinize every CTA closely. This one has a misspelling (the “their” should be “they’re”). This is not the time to ding your brand image with a silly mistake.

Want more? Download The 42 Best Call to Action Phrases Ever (& Why They Work)

2. Build a manpack

Speak your customers’ language, and you can get them to do pretty much whatever you want. Case in point: this call-to-action example from the men’s grooming product site Manpacks.

Why this CTA works

By combining imagery that might otherwise be stereotypical (a man in a plaid shirt sawing timber) with strong phrasing (“Build a Manpack”), this company makes putting a male grooming gift box together sound as exciting as building a house—or a cabin in the woods.

Personalizing a CTA to your audience can have a huge impact on conversion. In one study, a personalized CTA converted 202% better than the basic version.

3. Get free card reader

Offering something your prospects really want is a great way to increase conversions, especially if it’s free. If you can manage this, your CTA doesn’t have to be particularly innovative or exciting, as demonstrated by Square’s landing page.

Why this CTA works

This CTA offers something most people want: free stuff. It’s a simple formula that just about any business can use. Just replace “card reader” with whatever free version of your product you offer.

Pro tip: The CTA is the most important copy on your page. Make sure it stands out by using a bold, contrasting color. Square’s CTA could benefit from a little more contrast.

4. Create my resume

My Perfect Resume built a logical workflow that leads right to its CTA.

Why this CTA works

This call-to-action example, by itself, is very simple. However, its positioning alongside the step-by-step graphics above it makes it extraordinarily clickable.

When viewers follow the steps on the page, it’s clear that creating a resume (something that is a real pain in the ass to do) is now easy. And the CTA is the next logical step to complete the process.

5. Claim offer

This CTA from Bark Bright focuses on what you get instead of telling you to shop or buy.

Why this CTA works

Many CTAs tell you to “buy.” That’s not necessarily bad, but it does implant the idea that you’re about to spend money.

This CTA, “claim offer,” has a different connotation. It suggests that by clicking, you’ll get something valuable. Sure, we know we’ll still have to make a purchase, but the subliminal message is more about what we’ll get.

6. Multiple CTAs

Testing is the root of all great copy. Android built A/B (C and D) CTA testing into this clever ad.

Why this CTA works

Each section of the ad is a separate clickable image with a different value proposition and CTA. They all lead to the same landing page. What’s so clever is that Android can now clock which CTAs drove the most clicks.

7. Shop jeans, shop pants

Speaking of multiple CTAs, this Wrangler ad has two to choose from.

Why this CTA works

Any time you can reduce friction, you’ll increase conversions. Wrangler could have used a single “shop now” button, but by splitting it by category, shoppers can more quickly get to the products they want.

Say it with feeling! Get 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing with Emotion

Urgency and scarcity CTAs

Creating a sense of urgency is a tried-and-true copywriting tactic to motivate action. That makes it a perfect play for action buttons.

8. Book by April 30

Iceland Air left no doubt about its booking deadline in this CTA.

Why this CTA works

I love specificity in copy. It’s so much more trustworthy than vague concepts. The airline could have used “book now” here, but they nailed it by giving a hard deadline that travelers need to follow.

9. Lock in your campsite now

Hipcamp leans into the urgency of missing out on a great campsite during the busy camping season in its CTA.

Why this CTA works

Seasonal promotions are time-sensitive by nature. Two aspects of this CTA example work to amplify the urgency. “Lock in” tells anxious planners they’ll have security once they book. And “now” ups the urgency.

Pro tip: Now is a versatile power word in marketing. When we studied top-ranked Google ads, we learned that “now” was one of the most used power words in that high-performing group.

10. Save now

This urgency CTA is perfectly positioned above the sales expiration date.

Why this CTA works

I wanted to show another example of “now” doing work in an urgent CTA. But that’s not all this ad got right. The microcopy sitting underneath the button reminds people that there is a very definite end to this promotion, so you’d better act fast.

Appointment and booking CTAs

If you run a service business or sell software via demo, you need to get bookings on the calendar. These CTAs do that with flair.

11. Book in 90 seconds

This CTA to book lawncare is all about convenience.

Why this CTA works

I can tell this business knows its customers. People don’t just call them for a tidy lawn; they’re looking to make life a little easier. The CTA promises that booking the service will be super simple, too.

12. Request time

Social media ad platforms typically offer a list of preset CTAs. Midas chose a lesser-used option here.

Why this CTA works

If you scroll long enough on social media, you’ll notice that most ads use a sparse few CTAs. “Learn more” is most common since it’s the default if you don’t pick one.

I like that this ad from Midas uses the CTA “Request time,” which stands out against a sea of the same options and feels a little more personal than “Book now.”

13. Prove yourself

The US Air Force generated a strong emotional appeal with just two words.

Why this CTA works

Calling a recruiter is the first step of a very big decision. “Book an appointment” isn’t going to do the job here. But “Prove yourself” is motivational. It’ll connect with the target audience.

Pro tip: Emotional copy is a conversion rate hack (boosting CVRs by 70% or more). Try out some of these emotional copy words for yourself.

14. No, I don’t want to grow my business

This secondary CTA highlights what can happen if you don’t book a demo call.

Why this CTA works

Secondary CTAs can do a lot of heavy lifting in guiding people towards a decision. Here, it positions the alternative as stagnant business growth—not something any app owner wants.

Engagement and community CTAs

CTAs can encourage any action. If you’re trying to grow your social following or get people to join your brand community, here are a few examples to use.

15. Follow HPM on Instagram here

Human Powered Movement manages several active events, like 5Ks and scavenger hunts. The backbone of their business is the local community, so their CTAs are designed to keep them engaged.

Why this CTA works

The first CTA is a matter of fact, which works because it’s the logical step to enter a giveaway. The second button’s copy adds a little personality. If you want people to take two actions, make it fun.

16. Stay informed. Stay competitive.

Fujitsu built three CTAs into this short ad.

Why this CTA works

The ad copy and button CTAs are all aligned to a single narrative that Fujitsu has the expertise, and if you follow them, you will too.

Content and education CTAs

You put a lot of effort into creating helpful content. These creative CTA examples will get more people to download, watch, and read it.

17. Get the guide

Impactdotcom doubled up on CTAs to make sure people downloaded their guide.

Why this CTA works

I mean, if one CTA is good, two is better, right? Actually, yes. The second one has much more contrast and is more explicit than the “download” bar. This is a solid, repeatable tactic for all your social media ads where CTAs are limited.

18. Yes! Give me my PDF

Here’s a strong, positive assertion to use in your next gated content CTA.

Why this CTA works

The “Yes!” is a nice start. It generates some energy. The real selling point is the use of “me my” here. Using a first-person angle gives people a sense of responsibility. Try swapping out “our” with “your” in your CTAs and see how it affects your conversion rates.

19. Yes! Teach me your secrets

This CTA example bundles a few strong tactics in one short phrase.

Why this CTA works

It has energy. It addresses the reader in the first person. There’s an action verb. And there’s a little mystery. And to top it off, there’s a secondary anti-CTA. This is one of my favorites.

20. How do we do that?

Here’s a CTA that uses a question to incite curiosity.

Why this CTA works

Curiosity is a powerful motivator, and the question on the button makes you wonder what’s on the other side. I could see this working for all sorts of solutions. For example, if you clean carpets, you could include an image of a very dirty carpet with one clean strip down the middle and a CTA of “how’d we get it so clean?” I’d want to know.

Pro tip: The curiosity gap is a useful headline writing formula, too.

21. Take me to the blog

In this example, we see the three most recent blog posts on a website’s homepage with a call to action to go to the blog.

Why this CTA works

Instead of “Visit the blog” or “Go to the blog,” “Take me to the blog!” has more pep in its step. It’s also another example of shifting the action to the visitor.

22. Push for fun

Here’s a whimsical little CTA that keeps it light.

Why this CTA works

When taken out of context, this CTA doesn’t feel trustworthy. But since the newsletter is fun and there are specific instructions that tell you to click the “Push For Fun” button, it works.

While I love a great pun and clever copy, just make sure it’s not coming out of left field. If everything else you send is serious, a silly CTA won’t land.

23. Worry less. Roof smarter.

Owens Corning looks to ease the anxiety of reroofing your house.

Why the CTA works

Great copywriting eases pain. That’s what the CTA gets right. It ties the education on the other side of the click to education that’ll demystify the roofing process.

Referrals and word-of-mouth CTAs

A referral marketing program is among the best lead generation sources you can have. The people your best customers bring in will have more trust and knowledge than someone who clicked an ad. These referral CTA examples get clicks by focusing on “What’s in it for me?”

24. Earn up to $5,000

Instead of attracting customers, this dental group uses its CTA to attract new providers.

Why this CTA works

The offer matches the value of the ask. In this case, visitors have to do a little work—and recommend a viable provider—in order to reap the reward. Highlighting the significant payout in the CTA is a smart way to show that it’s worthwhile.

25. Refer a friend

This simple referral CTA is backed by valuable offers.

Why this CTA works

You don’t always need super flashy phrasing on your CTA button. I wanted to give an example of when it’s OK to stick with the old standards. The headline in this copy is so clear and provides such a valuable offer that an overly clever CTA could derail the momentum.

For this one, the copy is straightforward, and the button is placed right where your eyes will go after reading the headline.

26. Start earning

Jackson Hewitt’s referral CTA is a smooth way to say you’re getting paid.

Why this CTA works

The phrasing is immediate. Just click this button, and you’ll start collecting referral cash. It helps that the only ask up front is for your zip code. Requiring more personal data might turn some people away, especially in this early stage of the process.

Subscription and lead generation CTAs

These call-to-action examples stoke curiosity and FOMO to get new subscribers and generate leads.

27. Yes! It takes a village

Mable + Moxie place a risky, but effective, bet on communal comprehension in their CTA.

Why this CTA works

Including axioms that a group of people understands can be a great way to prove your copy is for them. But using one as your CTA is risky because any confusion there can cost you conversions.

I like the use of “it takes a village” here, though. It’s a well-known enough truism, especially among parents, that it shouldn’t push people away. And it serves as a reminder that we could all use some help when it comes to raising kids, which sets up the offer of parenting advice well.

28. Convince people you know what a DSP is

Digiday’s newsletter CTA is a brilliant example of speaking your audience’s language.

Why this CTA works

“Sign up” is on the button, but the real CTA is the header, here. It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of copy that both qualifies the audience and solves a pain they have. If you’re among the group of people who need to sound smart about DSPs (and other technical marketing topics), but you’re not already an expert, Digiday’s newsletter is for you.

29. Get free access to everything

Sleeknote combined a bold headline and CTA to build its email list.

Why this CTA works

I like the grand gesture of offering “free access to everything” here. I’ve seen versions like “get everything, for free, always” that feel so compelling. And the headline sets up the offer nicely by creating a little FOMO.

30. Yes, I’m the best pet parent

This CTA tugs on the heartstrings of pet owners.

Why this CTA works

This is a great example of using psychology in marketing—in particular, the commitment and consistency bias, which says that we make decisions that are in line with who we’ve declared ourselves to be. If you love your pet (and who doesn’t), then not signing up for this newsletter is inconsistent with this self-perception. See what they did there?

31. Calculate payment

When you use free tools as lead magnets, an action-based CTA like this one is a great option.

Why this CTA works

The CTA doesn’t jump out as terribly compelling until you consider an alternative. “Use the calculator,” for example, would be a straightforward option. But “Calculate payment” does a much better job of highlighting the result.

4 expert tips to write incredibly effective calls to action

We’ve seen how other brands use CTAs to get more followers, subscribers, leads, and sales. Let’s break down a few ways you can do the same.

Anchor your CTAs to outcomes

Common wisdom says a CTA needs to tell the viewer what to do next. That’s true, but it also needs to tell them how they’ll benefit by doing it.

“One of my best tips for writing CTAs is to anchor them to clear outcomes,” Cliff Sizemore, senior growth marketing manager at LocaliQ, said. “If I’m promoting a free tool like our Google Ads Grader, I’ll use something specific like ‘Start improving your ad performance.’”

“Click here” or “use the free tool” isn’t nearly as compelling. It puts more emphasis on what the viewer will do, instead of what they get.

Think about what your customer will achieve by taking the next action (like, “reduce foot pain” or “make mowing easier”) and write a CTA around it.

Use value words

CTAs are no time to be humble. What you offer is fantastic, and the person reading your CTA needs to know it.

That’s not just my opinion. In our study of highly rated Google Ads, we learned that more than half included at least one value word. “Free” and “quality” were among the most used.

Try a CTA variation like “Get top advice” instead of “Subscribe” to see how it works with your audience.

Align your CTA with the offer

Cliff said it’s important to “match the strength of the CTA to the intent of the landing page.” Meaning, your CTA should match where your visitor is in their journey. A cold audience needs a low-stakes ask, while someone on your pricing page is ready for a more direct approach.

Say someone lands on a cold awareness page like a general “what is X” explainer blog post. They’re early in their journey, and a hard sell like “Buy Now” or “Request a Demo” is going to feel jarring. The CTA should be low-commitment: “Download the Free Guide,” “See How It Works,” or “Get the Checklist” would be better segues.

Conversely, “Get a quote” or “Start your free trial” is better for a pricing or comparison page.

Add microcopy around the CTA to remove doubt

Fear can keep an otherwise great prospect from taking a leap with your business. You can alleviate their anxiety with a few words just below the CTA.

“Hesitation peaks right before the click,” Oskar Duberg, a freelance writer, content marketer, and brand consultant, recently wrote. “Tiny clarifications at that moment can quietly save conversions.”

Oskar suggests adding bits of copy that address time, risk, effort, privacy, and what happens next. For example:

• Takes less than 2 minutes
• Get a reply within 24 hours
• No credit card required

Call to action example FAQs

Let’s cover a few CTA basics with these frequently asked questions.

What is acall to action?

A call to action, or CTA, is a word, phrase, or button that tells your audience exactly what to do next—like “Buy Now,” “Download the Guide,” or “Get a Free Quote.”

Why are CTAs important?

CTAs increase conversion rates by giving visitors clear directions and compelling reasons to take whatever action you’ve designated as the next step in their journey with your business.

Where can you use a CTA?

CTAs can be used virtually anywhere you’re communicating with a customer. That includes ads, emails, landing pages, social media posts, blog posts, videos, direct mail, and even receipts or product packaging.

Get more conversions with these call-to-action examples

If your ad, email, or webpage isn’t converting, it may not be your offer or product. It might simply be that your CTA hasn’t grabbed attention, provided a clear solution to a known pain, or made the value of clicking clear enough.

Writing these types of uber-compelling CTAs isn’t always easy. But you have two things in your corner. First, these examples show a variety of ways to write high-converting CTAs. And second, A/B testing CTAs is a quick and conclusive way to know which ones work best.

There are dozens of factors that influence audience growth, lead generation, and conversion rates. We’re here to help! Let us show you how our solutions work to get your business found over and over again.

The post 31 Call to Action Examples + How to Write Your Own appeared first on WordStream.

Google Ads brand guidelines aren’t necessarily a centralized set of controls, but they can help you rein in how your ads will look. With these new controls, you can now rest (more) assured that your company won’t be shown in ways that are incongruous with your branding.

For this article, let’s go through all the ways you can influence brand guidelines in the Google Ads interface.

Contents

• Business name and logos
• Brand colors
• Fonts
• Ad copy tone and messaging signals

Every type of Google Ads brand guidelines you can apply to your campaigns

Brand guidelines are settings you can input within the Google Ads platform that guide how automated campaigns curate your ads. Here are all four options of these brand controls for ads, which campaigns they can apply to, and how to use them.

 Are your Google Ads aligned with your brand for maximized performance? Find out, and get ideas to optimize further, using our free Google Ads Grader!

The post How to Use Google Ads Brand Guidelines for Cleaner Automated Assets appeared first on WordStream.

But, as we’ve seen with the rise of AI, words alone are not the answer. LLMs still can’t replace good judgment—knowing which sentence to keep, which one to cut, and where a reader is likely to hesitate. Conversions don’t happen because text exists. They happen when the right sentence meets the right reader at the right moment—with the right amount of clarity, confidence, and “okay, I get it.”

These 15 tiny tweaks keep performing. I return to them daily because they keep working regardless of tools. They rely on pattern recognition from thousands of real-world pages and data points. Think of them as your “last mile” work—the part where a page stops sounding like copy and starts feeling more like something a real person would say, believe, and ultimately act on.

Contents

• Copy tweaks to boost conversions
  1. Make your copy about “you” (not “we”)
  2. Put the outcome before the feature
  3. Upgrade your CTA from generic to specific
  4. Use microcopy around the CTA to remove doubt
  5. Remove friction words, add ease words
  6. Have your headlines do the heavy lifting
  7. Say who it’s for in one clear line
  8. Reduce cognitive load and get to the point
  9. Make your promise(s) painfully specific
  10. Handle key objections in single sentences
  11. Lower the bar for conversion
  12. Fix your message match
  13. Add a proof point near your main promise
  14. Remove empty adjectives
  15. Add occasional power words for emotional punch
• Why these tiny tweaks keep working

The tiny copy fixes that boost conversions

You can apply most of these to landing pages, ads, emails, product pages, articles, reports, and even “boring” things like forms and confirmation screens. Sure, you won’t always need all 15 for a single piece of content, but it can act as a decent checklist. Try it out, and see what sticks.

1. Make your copy about “you” (not “we”)

Most websites sound like companies talking to themselves. When copy is based around “we,” readers have to translate that into their own reality. That extra mental step costs attention and momentum. “You”-first copy removes that friction and has been shown to make people feel personally responsible for the problem being described, increasing the likelihood that they’ll act.

Want copywriting psychology insights? Download our free guide >> 25+ Brilliant Ways to Use Psychology in Your Copywriting

2. Put the outcome before the feature

Features don’t convert on their own. Outcomes do. When value is buried behind explanations, readers lose interest before they understand why they should care.

3. Upgrade your CTA from generic to specific

People skim everything—even buttons. If someone reads nothing but your headline and your CTAs, they should still understand what happens next.

 Free guide download >> The 42 Best Call to Action Phrases Ever (& Why They Work)

4. Use microcopy around the CTA to remove doubt

Hesitation peaks right before a click. Tiny clarifications at that moment can quietly save conversions.

5. Remove friction words, add ease words

Some words feel heavier than others. They add emotional resistance to already fragile decisions—and research into plain language consistently shows that simpler, more familiar wording helps people understand and complete tasks more easily.

Source

6. Have your headlines do the heavy lifting

Headlines aren’t decoration. They’re the clarity layer of the page. If they’re vague, the whole page feels vague.

Get headline formulas to help you get unstuck here.

7. Say who it’s for in one clear line

Most visitors spend the first few seconds deciding whether a page is relevant to them.

Source

8. Reduce cognitive load and get to the point

Extra thinking kills conversions. Overexplaining, long sentences, and throat-clearing intros slow people down.

9. Make your promise(s) painfully specific

Vague promises feel cheap. Specific promises feel credible, even when the numbers are small.

10. Handle key objections in single sentences

Every offer triggers a default objection. Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away.

11. Lower the bar for conversion

Not everyone is ready for a sales call. High-commitment CTAs push away early-stage or cautious visitors. Adding smaller, safer steps in addition to your preferred CTA helps you capture people who would otherwise leave without taking any action at all.

Source

12. Fix your message match

If the promise that brought someone to the page isn’t reflected on the page itself, something feels off—even if the copy is good.

13. Add a proof point near your main promise

Trust accelerates conversions—especially when people can see clear social proof, which research consistently shows is one of the strongest signals behind a purchase decision.

14. Remove empty adjectives

Buzzwords don’t persuade. They dilute the meaning and make your copy sound generic. If you can delete an adjective without changing the meaning of the sentence, it’s probably filler.

15. Add occasional power words for emotional punch

Some words exist to add personality, honesty, and edge. Like this. And this. But probably not this. I don’t see these as fillers, but “lifters.” Used once in a while, they humanize your copy. They’re often referred to as “power words” because they trigger emotional responses even when they don’t add informational value.

Want a jumpstart on the best power words to use in your marketing copy? Free download: 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing with Emotion

Why these tiny tweaks keep working

These small improvements compound because they’re grounded in how people actually read, hesitate, and decide—not in templates or best-practice checklists. They focus on clarity, relevance, and the subtle trust gaps that determine whether someone clicks, scrolls, or leaves.

And let’s be honest: no one applies every one of these perfectly every time. But after editing thousands of landing pages, onboarding flows, emails, ads, and articles, certain patterns become hard to ignore. You start to see where people reliably get bored, where they get confused, where they hesitate—and which small changes consistently move them forward. These tweaks aren’t rules; they’re a reliable baseline for you to explore.

Boost conversions through human-driven decisions

If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: You don’t need a redesign or a full rewrite to improve conversions. Most of the time, the biggest gains come from making a handful of small things better—clearer headlines, more specific promises, easier next steps, and fewer words that make people stop and think.

Fix one page, then the next. Over time, the difference between copy that looks good and copy that actually works becomes very obvious. Not because of big changes, but because the small ones add up where it counts.

The post 15 Tiny Copy Tweaks That Immediately Improve Conversions appeared first on WordStream.

TikTok has evolved from a place for dance challenges to a platform of product discovery. 82% of the app’s users say they’ve discovered a small or medium-sized business there before hearing about it elsewhere. Now, dentists from Detroit to handymen in Houston find new customers on TikTok.

If you’re considering investing in this marketing channel, one of the most important questions is, “How much do TikTok ads cost?”

We pulled data from TikTok ad accounts we manage for our customers and reviewed other large-scale studies to find the most accurate answer to that question. We also explain how the TikTok bidding process works and offer up tips to optimize each campaign so you get more out of every dollar you spend there.

Contents

• How much do TikTok ads cost in 2026?
• TikTok ads cost by ad type
• What are the TikTok ads minimum budget requirements?
• How does TikTok ads bidding work?
• What influences TikTok ads cost?
• 6 ways to optimize your TikTok ads budget

How much do TikTok Ads cost in 2026?

TikTok ads cost between $0.30 and $1.50 per click, between $4 and $10 per 1,000 impressions, and between $0.01 to $0.07 per view.

Let’s break these down.

Stumped on how to get started on social media? Download The Definitive Guide to Social Media Marketing (Simplified!)

TikTok ads cost per click

There is a big range in the CPC of ads on TikTok, between $0.30 and $1.50. This means you’ll pay this amount each time someone clicks on your ad.

For paid ads, TikTok only counts a click when someone taps your call-to-action (CTA) button, profile picture, nickname, or “Learn More” link to reach a destination. Which means you won’t pay when someone taps like or clicks to comment on an ad for CPC campaigns.

TikTok ads have an “Ad” label to differentiate them from organic content.

Ad clicks are a pretty valuable action to target, since they’re drawing users off the TikTok platform and to your sales pages.

TikTok ads cost per thousand impressions

The cost per one thousand impressions from a TikTok ad ranges between $4 and $10 for medium to high-performing campaigns.

TikTok measures ad impressions by the total number of times an ad is displayed on users’ screens.

Impressions are a good measure of brand visibility, which makes them a popular option to introduce your brand to a large group of people.

TikTok ads cost per view

The average cost per view of a TikTok ad averages between $0.01 and $0.07.

TikTok has a specific definition of this metric. It considers a view to occur as soon as a video starts playing on the screen. Other social platforms may require the ad to play for several seconds before counting it as a view.

TikTok counts a “view” as soon as a video ad starts playing on a screen.

TikTok ads cost by ad type

TikTok offers a bunch of different ad types, and the one you choose will affect the price. The ad type you choose will depend on your budget and goals, since some are great for tight targeting and others will get you in front of a huge audience.

Here are the main TikTok ad types with common costs:

• In-Feed Ads: These are the standard video ads that appear natively in the For You Page. Their CPM typically runs between $4 and $8.
• TopView Ads: This is the first full-screen ad many users see when they open the app. Costs are sold as a flat daily rate, typically starting around $50,000 per day, making it a great play for national brands.
• Branded Hashtag Challenge: This ad type is where brands create a challenge and invite users to participate and post their own videos using a unique hashtag. It delivers big on organic amplification, but it comes with a steep entry point of typically $150,000 or more for a six-day campaign.
• Branded Effects: These are custom AR filters, stickers, or effects users can apply to their own videos. They’re usually used alongside another campaign, and costs generally start around $45,000, depending on complexity.
• Spark Ads: This ad type lets brands boost existing organic content, either their own posts or creator posts (with permission). They use the same CPM model as In-Feed Ads, typically costing around $4 to $8, but can perform better because they look and feel fully native.
• Shopping Ads: These ads are tied to TikTok Shop and can include Video Shopping Ads, Catalog Listing Ads, and LIVE Shopping Ads. Costs vary widely based on bidding strategy and product category, but CPMs are generally in line with In-Feed Ads.
• Search Ads: These ads appear in TikTok search results when users search specific keywords. They’re priced on a CPC model, often ranging from $0.10 to $0.30 per click, though competitive keywords can run higher.

TikTok Search Ads are great for targeting customer behaviors.

Not sure who your TikTok ads should target? Get this free resource >> How to Find Your Target Audience

What are the TikTok ads’ minimum budget requirements?

TikTok ads have a minimum daily budget requirement of $20 at the ad group level and a minimum daily budget requirement of $50 at the ad group level. If you choose the lifetime budget option, the minimum is calculated by multiplying the number of days the campaign will run by $20. So for a 10-day campaign, the minimum lifetime budget would be $200.

While these are the required minimums set by TikTok, they may not be enough to make your campaigns successful.

As a guideline, expect to spend about $50 to $150 per day in the testing phase. That’ll give the algorithm time to optimize for different creatives. Then, once the best options are clear, plan on spending around $200 to $500 per day to scale your results.

How does TikTok ads bidding work?

TikTok ads use an auction-based bidding system where advertisers compete for ad placements in real time.

When a user opens the app, TikTok runs an instant auction among all eligible ads and determines which one to show based on three factors:

• Your bid amount
• Your ad quality and relevance
• Your estimated action rate (how likely a user is to engage with your ad).

An ad for vehicle warranties may be more likely to show up for TikTok users who recently searched for car repair advice.

The highest overall score wins the placement. That means a lower bid with a highly relevant, engaging ad can outperform a higher bid with poor creative.

Bidding strategies

There are three core bidding strategies to use based on your goals.

• Lowest Cost: Lets TikTok automatically set your bids to get the most results possible within your total budget.
• Cost Cap: You set a target cost per result, and TikTok tries to keep your average at or below that threshold.
• Bid Cap: You set a maximum bid per auction, giving you tighter control over spend but requiring more manual management.

The choice really comes down to how much control you want versus how much you want TikTok to take the wheel. This guide to TikTok ads bidding strategies will help you win more premium placements more often.

Bidding methods

Bidding methods determine how you pay for your TikTok ads. They set what action or event triggers a charge to your account.

There are four bidding methods for TikTok ads:

• oCPM (Optimized Cost Per Mille): TikTok automatically targets users most likely to take a specific action, like a purchase or sign-up, while charging per 1,000 impressions.
• CPM (Cost Per Mille): You pay per 1,000 impressions regardless of clicks or actions, best for campaigns focused on brand awareness and reach.
• CPC (Cost Per Click): You pay only when someone clicks your ad, making it a good fit for campaigns focused on driving traffic to a website or landing page.
• CPV (Cost Per View): You pay each time a user watches your video for a set duration, typically six seconds, making it ideal for video-first campaigns focused on engagement.

If you’re bidding on clicks, make sure you have a clear CTA, like “Join today.”

What influences TikTok Ads cost?

It’s great to go into TikTok advertising knowing the average cost of ads. But it’s also good to know which variables will lead to the actual price you pay in your unique position.

Here are the factors that’ll affect your ad costs:

• Targeting: The more specific and competitive your audience, the higher the cost. Narrow demographics or high-demand interests drive bids up. (Read this guide to learn how to refine your TikTok ads targeting.)
• Ad format: Premium placements like TopView cost significantly more than standard In-Feed Ads. The format you choose sets the pricing floor.
• Bidding strategy: How you bid directly affects cost. Manual bid caps give you control but can limit delivery; automatic bidding can drive up spend chasing results.
• Campaign objective: Conversion-focused objectives (like purchases) typically cost more than awareness objectives (like reach or views) because you’re paying for higher-intent actions.
• Ad quality and relevance: TikTok rewards well-performing creative with better placement at a lower cost. Poor quality ads pay more for worse results.

Higher quality ads can win placements, even against higher bids.

• Competition: More advertisers targeting the same audience means higher auction prices. Heavily contested niches like finance, insurance, and retail tend to cost more.
• Seasonality: Costs spike during high-demand periods like Q4, holidays, and major shopping events like Black Friday. The same campaign may cost more in December than in February.
• Timing: Day of week and time of day affect competition in the auction, which affects what you pay per impression or click. (Check out this guide to learn the best times to post on TikTok)
• Geographic location: Targeting users in the U.S. and other high-value markets costs more than targeting lower-competition regions.

You’ll likely pay when more targeting a market like the US or New York City, but if that’s where your customers are, you’ll need to do it.

6 ways to optimize your TikTok ads budget

There’s a strategy to TikTok ads. It combines the right content with smart audience targeting and a little bidding savvy. Let’s unpack what that means with these budget-saving TikTok ads tips.

Create content that feels native to TikTok

TikTok users aren’t there to be sold to. If your ad looks like an ad, they’ll scroll on by. But if it vibes with the organic content people love, it’ll keep their attention so your message gets across.

On TikTok, that means using ad content that:

• Is less polished and a little rough around the edges
• Is formatted for vertical video
• Is shorter in length
• Has captions, so the message isn’t lost on mute

Ads that feel helpful and not overly polished do well on TikTok.

Pro tip: Use the TikTok ads library to see successful ads from other brands in your market.

Tighten your targeting

Audience targeting is a balance between being broad enough to reach a large audience and being tight enough to avoid wasting budget on those who would never buy.

Here’s a stepped process that’ll help you find that sweet spot:

1. Cast a wide net: Start with broader targeting than feels comfortable to give TikTok’s algorithm enough data to learn who actually responds to your ads.
2. Let it run: Resist the urge to optimize too early; give the campaign a few weeks and a few hundred interactions before drawing any conclusions.
3. Look for patterns: Review performance data to identify which age ranges, interests, or behaviors are driving the most engagement and conversions.
4. Narrow your targeting: Exclude underperforming audiences and concentrate your budget on the segments that are actually delivering results.
5. Use lookalike audiences: Let TikTok find more people who behave like your best converters, expanding your reach without starting from scratch.
6. Scale what works: Once you’ve identified your winning audience, increase budget confidently knowing it’s backed by real performance data.

Test multiple creatives before scaling

Success in TikTok ads is all about testing small and investing in the winners. This is very true for your ad creative.

Ideally, run three to five different ad options using modest budgets for each. Make one change to each version if possible so it’s easy to see what made the difference. For example, try one with a different offer, one with a different hook (then music, format, etc.).

Check your click-through rate, view-through rate, and cost per click of each. Put the bulk of your budget behind the winner. Then repeat the process so you’re always refining to find even better ad creative.

Pro tip: Scale your budget gradually after the testing phase. Try increasing your spend by 20% or so every few days instead of dumping it all in overnight. That’ll help stabilize performance and give you time to react if things don’t keep improving.

If you use a static image carousel, try using different lead images to see which one catches the most attention.

Time your campaigns strategically

There’s no one best time to run your TikTok ad campaigns. It’ll depend a lot on your budget and goals.

For tight budgets and high impressions, run ads at off-peak times of the day and seasons of the year. There’s no reason to pay Black Friday ad prices if your goal is to gain long-term brand awareness with a large number of people.

For time-sensitive conversion campaigns, run ads when they’ll have the greatest impact. As a florist, you need people to see your ad a week before Mother’s Day, even if the competition and cost-per-action is higher then.

Boost your best organic posts with Spark Ads

Sparks Ads are almost a sneaky little TikTok marketing hack that many smaller brands aren’t using yet. They let you amplify the reach of an organic post by putting some ad budget behind it.

What’s really cool here is that you can wait to see which content gets the most engagement and views organically before you spend money on it. It’s like a free A/B test and ready-made ad creative that’s going to look like organic content because it is.

Pro tip: Use Spark Ads to promote content from other creators who mention your brand or products (with their permission). It’s an affordable way to get into influencer marketing on TikTok.

You can use Spark Ads to boost creator content as long as you have permission.

Automate budget optimization

There are tools available, both in the TikTok ad platform and externally, that will help allocate budget to ads, campaigns, and even platforms with the highest return.

TikTok offers a few such tools:

• Smart Budget Allocation: Automatically shifts spend toward your best-performing ad groups in real time, so you’re not manually moving budget around while a campaign is live.
• Automated Creative Optimization (ACO): Continuously tests combinations of your videos, copy, and CTAs and routes budget toward whatever mix is driving the best results.
• Smart+: TikTok’s fully automated campaign type that handles targeting, bidding, and creative optimization all at once — you set the goal and budget, and it manages the rest.

Optimize your TikTok ads cost

TikTok continues to gain steam as a channel for discovery. It’s very likely your audience is there right now, ready to learn about your brand and what you sell. And TikTok ads are a shortcut to meeting them.

The trick is to make sure the money you invest in TikTok ads is delivering the best return possible. That starts with setting achievable benchmarks, and then systematically testing and adapting to improve that return. The data and tips we’ve provided in this guide are a great place to start.

If you’d like to understand and optimize ad costs in other popular platforms, these free resources will help:

• How Much Does Google Ads Cost?
• How Much Do Facebook Ads Cost?
• How Do Instagram Ads Cost?

Want to get more from TikTok and all your digital advertising? We’re here for you! Check out our digital marketing solutions.

The post How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost in 2026? appeared first on WordStream.

So in this post, I’m supplying you with nearly 100 free, easy, and creative May marketing ideas so you can connect with current and potential customers in meaningful and memorable ways.

Contents

Month-long observances in May

In May, we celebrate, appreciate, and raise awareness for quite a lot. Here’s what we’re working with:

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Want marketing ideas for every month of the year beyond just May? Free guide >> The Mega Must-Have Marketing Calendar

Week-long May observances

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Holidays and observances in May

There’s a complete list of May holidays and observances at the bottom of this post, but here are some highlights:

• National Loyalty Day – every May 1
• National Lumpy Rug Day – every May 3
• Star Wars Day – every May 4
• Kentucky Derby – May 2
• Cinco de Mayo – every May 5
• Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the first full week in May
• Mother’s Day – May 10
• Limerick Day – every May 12
• Peace Officer’s Memorial Day – May 15
• Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day – every May 16
• Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
• Armed Forces Day – third Saturday in May
• Endangered Species Day – every May 20
• Geek Pride Day – every May 25
• National Burger Day – every May 28
• Memorial Day – last Monday of May

Diversity, equity, and inclusion marketing ideas in May

We all hear about diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in marketing but what does that look like? Let’s take a look.

National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day

This holiday, celebrated every May 16, was created by Chase Brexton Health Care, an LGBT health resource center. It is focused on honoring protestors, supporters, doctors, politicians, influencers, and others who blazed the trail with the LGBT movement.

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Here are some ways to honor them:

• Do some research and identify LGBT trailblazers in your geographic or industrial niche and write a blog post or social media fun fact post about them.
• Ask your audience to share older LGBT mentors and thought leaders in their lives.
• Raise awareness about the importance of taking care of LGBT elders who may still lack the care and support they need.

Jewish, Haitian, Asian & Pacific Island Heritage Month

In May, we celebrate individuals of Jewish, Haitian, Asian, or Pacific Island descent. Here are some ways to do just that:

• Consider learning about each of these groups and sharing your findings in a blog post or on social media.
• Interview a coworker, client, or friend who identifies with one of these groups on a topic relevant to your audience.
• Put a request out there to your network for individuals within those groups to write a guest post or share their experience about something with a dedicated hashtag.

National Foster Care Month

Contrary to what we often see in sitcoms or novels, most people grow up with varying family dynamics. National Foster Care Month is meant to recognize “the important role that members from all parts of child welfare play in supporting children, youth, and families.”

• Update your marketing copy to be more inclusive. For example, instead of promoting a sale for moms and dads, you may want to extend your offer to caretakers, grandparents, or guardians as well.
• Post foster care facts on social media to inspire your audience to take action. For example, did you know that foster youth are seven times more likely to have depression, and five times more likely to have anxiety? There are tons of interesting (and eye-opening) statistics like this on the current state of the foster care system that your followers could find both interesting and action-worthy. This will show that your business truly cares for the cause.
• Connect with local foster care organizations to find ways you and your audience could donate or volunteer. For example, many foster care parents and case workers share Amazon wish lists and more on social media to allow people to support foster children or former foster youth.

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National Silence the Shame Day

This day is observed every May 5 and is dedicated to erasing the shame and stigma around mental health challenges and disorders. Consider these ideas:

• Share eye-opening stats about mental illness in the United States (or the world).
• Share a few resources for those who are struggling with anxiety, depression, and other symptoms.
• Participate in #silencetheshame textathons and fundraisers like the one below.

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National Barrier Awareness Day

Every May 7, National Barrier Awareness Day encourages us to advocate for and educate others about breaking down barriers—visible and invisible—that prevent individuals with disabilities from living independent, fulfilled lives.

To participate in this day:

• Use the #nationalbarrierawarenessday hashtag to post information, resources, and stats.
• Do an Instagram Story takeover by someone with a disability so they can share a day in the life.
• Ask your audience about their experiences with barriers and how they overcame them.

Additional observances in May that help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion include:

• National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May
• Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
• National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
• International Being You Day – annually on May 22

May marketing ideas for national weeks

We’ve got loads of ideas for you for May—for Facebook and Instagram posts, blog posts, events, promotions, and more. We’ve organized them by themes and holidays, but you can find industry-specific ideas within each theme.

National Small Business Week

First and foremost, National Small Business Week happens annually every first week of May. Dedicated to raising awareness about small businesses and celebrating the hard-working owners behind them, this week will be packed with ample marketing opportunities. Here are some ways to make the best of National Small Business Week:

• Run a deal-a-day for the week, promoting different products/services each day. Or, run an online sale with a link to your landing or product page in your Instagram bio.

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• Get return customers: Give out coupons with purchases this week, which can only be redeemed on an upcoming holiday or on the last day of Small Business Week.
• Get more leads: Offer a downloadable, small business-themed piece of content that is of value to your target audience in exchange for their email addresses. You could also create a guide outlining the specials offered by other small businesses in your neighborhood. This is a great way to connect and network with nearby businesses and strengthen your ties to the community.
• Promote your promotions: Write a blog post with a schedule of the deals, events, and contests you’re running and include it in your emails and social media posts.
• Increase your exposure: Use #nationalsmallbusinessweek and #nationalsmallbusinessweek[your location] and other relevant hashtags in your social media posts and promotions.

• Run an Instagram giveaway for a free product or service. Entrants post a photo to Instagram of themselves at your business, using a custom hashtag. Announce the winner at the end of the week.
• Connect: Don’t forget that educating yourself about small businesses and networking with other small business owners is important for your marketing success as well. Attend local events, SBA events, or follow along via live streams.
• Build community and expand your reach: Team up with other complementary small businesses and create an event.
• Give back: Make an extra effort to give back to your community by shopping at, posting reviews, and engaging in social media with other small businesses during the week.

Want more ways you can take advantage of Small Business Week? Download our free guide to The 30+ Best Ways to Promote Your Business.

Public Service Recognition Week

For Public Service Recognition Week, post a thank you to the men and women who make our lives better by devoting their days to public service professions. Public service employees range from police officers to county clerks to city bus drivers. Say thank you!

Women’s Health Week

During Women’s Health Week, get creative about how you show appreciation for your female consumers and think of fun ways to engage them with your shop and on Instagram.

This influencer partnered with integrative health providers to share women’s health educational content and resources:

This fitness center took its spin class outdoors to shake things up a bit. This is a great idea, especially during the pandemic. If lugging out equipment isn’t an option, go for a yoga class, dance class, or boot camp. This is also a great way to show potential customers how awesome your classes are.

May marketing ideas for national days and holidays

There are plenty of holidays and observances in May that can fuel your marketing plan.

Kentucky Derby

Use the Kentucky Derby in your May marketing efforts. Get creative with derby fashion or horse-themed decorations, promotions, contests, and events. For example,

• Change up your storefront with a derby theme to grab attention and attract customers.
• A blog about derby fashion and outfits for men and women.
• Throw a derby party with derby hat contests and mint juleps.
• Host a cooking or cocktail-making class.
• Run a derby hat contest on Instagram or Facebook.
• Use derby hashtags such as #kyderby, or your own custom hashtag (like #derbyatjoes) so that people can find you and follow along.

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Cinco de Mayo

There are many ways to infuse the spirit of Cinco de Mayo into your marketing. For example:

• Food or fitness businesses can post recipes or videos of recipes on social media.
• Give out coupons the day before or a few days before, redeemable on Cinco de Mayo.
• Share a festive discount “code word” on social media, and customers who mention the code in-store get 15% off.

• Use a triumph or underdog theme. This holiday comes from Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla. Give your customers the victory over high prices, long lines, slow service, and more with particular deals.
• Use the number five in your promotions, such as: get the fifth one free, $5 specials, 5% off, 5 for 5, etc.
• Throw a party or cooking class revolving around Mexican food and culture.
• Consider offering your followers information about where to enjoy Cinco de Mayo. Remember, not everything you post should be in an effort to make a sale. Providing useful information gives your followers another reason to keep watching you on social media.

Teacher Appreciation Day

May 5 is Teacher Appreciation Day—a perfect time for preschools to market themselves to new parents in anticipation of the new school year.

• Throw a party for teachers or have students write thank you letters to show off on your blog, in email newsletters to parents, or on social media.
• Update your website content with new teacher bios and pictures.
• Did anyone receive a new degree or have a teacher accomplishment to share? This is the perfect time to showcase them on an “About Us” page on your website. Doing so not only highlights your teaching staff, but it can also improve your SEO.

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is prime time for any business, not just the flower shops, salons, and spas (although it is advantageous!). We have a whole post on Mother’s Day marketing ideas, but here are a few:

• Flower shops and bakeries can offer special Mother’s Day products and discounts for Mother’s Day gift-givers, either on this day or the day before as well.
• Salons and spas can create Mother’s Day-themed gift certificates or offer 2-for-1 deals for mothers and daughters celebrating together.
• Combine products and/or services into attractive gift packages that make gift-giving easy.
• Post on Instagram using any of these Mother’s Day Instagram captions.
• Businesses that get a spike in traffic on Mother’s Day can hand out coupons with purchases that are redeemable at a later time (ideally, a time when business typically gets slow).
• Preschools can have their little ones create Mother’s Day cards or crafts to send home. Make sure to post the pictures on social media or follow up with a blog post or email newsletter to communicate with parents!
• Run a Mother’s Day photo contest on Facebook.

Memorial Day

Here are some ways to show your patriotism and love for the good ol’ USA through your business marketing on Memorial Day.

• Show your respect with these Memorial Day Instagram captions.
• Promote red, white, and blue-themed recipes, outfits, flower arrangements, jewelry, and other products, and promote them on Pinterest and Instagram.
• Host a BBQ or picnic for your community, and give out branded swag like sunglasses or water bottles.
• Participate in or sponsor a local event.
• Use quotes, images, and other posts on social media to show your support for those who have lost their lives for our country.
• Run a charity race or ride to remember our troops and veterans.
• Memorial Day is often celebrated with gatherings, and Groupon will feature seasonal deals on its site. Try running a Groupon deal geared toward families and groups. You could offer winter and spring products and services at a discount or even introduce your summer deals.
• Run long weekend deals that encourage others to check out your business during their mini-vacay.

Find even more Memorial Day messages you can use in your marketing.

Star Wars Day

Star Wars Day simply can’t be ignored with its rising popularity. Run a webinar or live stream on this day to help add some creativity to your copy.

Or, organize a live or virtual Star Wars trivia night or contest. The prize could be discounts on future purchases or even a small cash prize for the winning team to share.

Bike to Work Day

Perhaps a surprise to most, Bike to Work Day is kind of a big deal in most major cities. Many metro areas have websites to register for the day and to organize large bike-riding groups. Look for information regarding your local Bike to Work Day activities and post useful information for your followers.

Geek Pride Day

Geek Pride Day offers you the opportunity to geek out over anything you think is the bee’s knees (a technical geek term). Geek out over a topic in your industry that you’re passionate about, or ask your employees about what they geek out on. Or, ask your social media followers questions related to the day.

ALS

Not only is it important to support worthy causes, but statistically, people are more apt to do business with companies that share their values. This restaurant got a repost from an ALS-focused organization to help drive customers to their fundraiser:

You could also post infographics that educate the public:

Peace Officer’s Memorial Day

As a part of Public Service Recognition Week, we have Peace Officers’ Memorial Day on May 15. In addition to our troops and veterans, no one deserves our admiration more than those who serve and protect our cities. Take a moment to give a big thank you to your town’s protectors and even offer up specials specifically for Peace Officers.

More May marketing themes and ideas

Want marketing ideas beyond holidays? We’ve got you covered there, too!

May-themed direct mail

I know what you’re thinking, “direct mail isn’t as effective as digital channels in 2026,” but this May marketing idea is still quite viable in 2026! In fact, 94% of businesses say that direct mail enhances engagement and conversions.  Send direct mailers to potential customers in your region and frame them as a “Happy May” festive card that includes coupons, sales promotions, and other contact information about your business.

Run print ads for May

Along with your direct mail marketing in May, you could run print ads in popular newspapers, industry publications, and more to increase brand awareness this month. Direct mail content and creative can easily be recycled into print ads, and this is another lower-cost channel that brings huge payouts to businesses in 2026. For example, 82% of consumers trust print ads when making purchasing decisions.

Consider display networks beyond Google and Microsoft Ads

You’re probably already running display ads on your core search platforms, such as Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. But, did you know you can seamlessly run display ads on sites beyond just what’s included in, say, the Google Display Network? For example, many major sites offer display slots on their own pages, and these can be a cheaper, but equally effective, alternative to your traditional Display ad campaigns.

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Warm weather/spring cleaning

Take advantage of the warmer weather and provide information and helpful tips to your customers in accordance with your business.

• Contractors, landscaping companies, and painters should boost their May marketing efforts to get new clients for the spring and summer months. Try sending out postcards encouraging homeowners to get their homes and gardens in top shape for summer.

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• Now’s the time to run that gutter cleaning sale or post pictures on Facebook of your most recent outdoor paint job. Build your content authority with SEO-optimized blog posts about seasonal maintenance.

Speaking of spring cleaning, why not do a little of your own by going through your website, ad campaigns, social media profiles, and listings to make sure information is up to date, photos are relevant to the season, and links are working properly? You may want to refresh some of the evergreen May content from last year that performed well around this time.

• Gather up your top reviews from last year and share them on social media. These make for enjoyable Tweets with no pressure to click a link or read more. You might also share success stories with before-and-after photos to get clients excited about the warm weather.
• What better time to get the chatter going about your business when people are getting excited about the warm weather? Word-of-mouth marketing is important for small businesses. Offer existing clients a discount or incentive for each new client they refer who becomes a paying customer.

Flowers

April showers bring May flowers. If you own a flower shop, May marketing is your time to shine! (If you don’t, there are still opportunities!).

• Host that flower-arranging workshop you’ve been thinking about.
• Start a Pinterest board to see if Pinterest is right for your business, or grow your Pinterest following with your creations linked to your online store or blog.
• You don’t have to be a florist to use flowers in your marketing. Spruce up your office, restaurant, or storefront with flowers. Nothing says “spring” like fresh-cut flowers that add a pop of color to your business space.
• Buy flowers from a local florist and introduce yourself. Supporting other small business owners is the first step to getting more word-of-mouth referrals.

Weddings

May is the start of wedding season and a perfect time to market your business to new people who are in town. Unless, of course, you’re hosting a virtual wedding this year due to the pandemic. Here are some wedding-based marketing ideas for both live and virtual weddings.

• Caterers, event planners, DJs, photographers, bakeries, and other wedding-friendly services: Use social media to engage customers as much as possible. Whether you’re hosting the bachelorette party at your restaurant, baking the wedding cupcakes at your bakery, or photographing the event, be sure to take pictures and share them on Facebook and other social media platforms. You may also want to ask and see if you can use the special custom hashtag for the event. This is a great way to put a name to the features of the wedding that stick out to guests (who can become or refer you to new customers) and their social media audiences.
• Landscapers can capitalize on wedding venue owners looking to perfect their property.
• Or perhaps you want to run a virtual wedding planning campaign, through organic content or paid ads.
• Fitness and nutrition businesses can provide workouts, recipes, blog posts, and tips on getting to your healthiest and best version of yourself in time for these heavily photographed events.

Refer to your marketing calendar

To properly treat each day in the month of May with a touch of on-brand marketing for your business, be sure to use a marketing calendar, like the example below. This will help ensure you have cohesive and consistent May promotions that align with one another all month long.

Customize your marketing AI prompts for May

Another way you can tailor your marketing approach to align with the month of May is in your AI strategy. You’re likely already using AI for some parts of your marketing, but instead of sticking with your “old reliable” AI tasks, consider how you could rework your AI prompts for May. For instance, you could have AI adjust your ad copy or creative to be more May-focused.

More May marketing magic

Show how busy your business has been by simply providing some updates for the month of May. You could frame it as “May mayhem” to showcase to your audience how your business is rapidly progressing. You might:

• Check your business listings for anything that needs updating, like adding more images, new seasonal hours, etc.
• Share a customer testimonial video of a standout product or service offering you completed in May.
• And more!

Final tips for your May marketing

Whatever you decide to do to promote your business in May, be sure to recap your events, promotions, and festivities in your next email newsletter or blog post so that those who missed out will want to join in the fun next year. Also, be sure to send follow-up emails to any new leads for your business. And during your campaigns, post real-time photos and user-generated content to encourage more participation.

Couldn’t get enough? We’ve got lots more May social media holidays and ideas here! Plus, check out these May newsletter ideas and May content ideas! Lastly, to take your May marketing to the next level, see how our solutions can help you maximize your seasonal campaigns every month of the year!

Not May? Here’s our full series of monthly marketing ideas

• January Marketing Ideas to Start the New Year with a Bang
• Fabulous (and Affordable) February Marketing Ideas
• Creative and Cost-Friendly March Marketing Ideas
• Free April Marketing Ideas to Freshen Up Your Content Calendar
• Free June Marketing Ideas for Sizzlin’ Hot Campaigns
• Free and Creative July Marketing Ideas (With Examples!)
• Easy & Engaging August Marketing Ideas (With Examples!)
• Free and Creative September Marketing Ideas
• Free and Effective October Marketing Ideas
• Simple Yet Superb November Marketing Ideas (with Examples)
• Super-Festive December Marketing Ideas

Full list of May holidays and observances

Thank you, as always, to National Day Calendar for supplying these days and dates!

May 1

• Law Day
• May Day
• National Chocolate Parfait Day
• National Loyalty Day
• National Mother Goose Day
• School Principals’ Day
• Silver Star Service Banner Day
• National Space Day – first Friday in May
• School Lunch Hero Day – first Friday in May

May 2

• National Life Insurance Day
• National Truffle Day
• National Bombshells’ Day – first Saturday in May
• National Fitness Day – first Saturday in May
• National Homebrew Day – first Saturday in May
• National Play Outside Day – first Saturday of Every Month
• National Scrapbook Day – first Saturday in May
• Join Hands Day – first Saturday in May
• Kentucky Derby – first Saturday in May
• National Start Seeing Monarchs Day – first Saturday in May
• Free Comic Book Day – first Saturday in May

May 3

• National Chocolate Custard Day
• National Garden Meditation Day
• National Lumpy Rug Day
• National Montana Day
• National Paranormal Day
• National Raspberry Popover Day
• National SAN Architect Day
• National Specially-Able Pets Day
• National Textiles Day
• National Two Different Colored Shoes Day
• National Infertility Survival Day – Sunday Before Mother’s Day

May 4

• Bird Day
• National Candied Orange Peel Day
• National Orange Juice Day
• National Renewal Day
• National Star Wars Day
• National Weather Observers Day
• Melanoma Monday – first Monday in May

May 5

• Cinco de Mayo
• National Astronaut Day
• National Cartoonists Day
• National Hoagie Day
• National Silence the Shame Day
• National Totally Chipotle Day
• National Teacher Appreciation Day – Tuesday of the First Full Week in May
• National Foster Care Day – first Tuesday in May

May 6

• National Beverage Day
• National Crepe Suzette Day
• National Nurses Day
• National Skilled Trades Day – first Wednesday in May
• National Interpreter Appreciation Day – first Wednesday in May

May 7

• National Barrier Awareness Day
• National Packaging Design Day
• National Paste-Up Day
• National Roast Leg of Lamb Day
• National Day of Prayer – first Thursday in May
• National Day of Reason – first Thursday in May
• World Password Day – first Thursday in May

May 8

• National Coconut Cream Pie Day
• National Have a Coke Day
• National Student Nurse Day
• National Military Spouse Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day
• National Provider Appreciation Day – Friday Before Mother’s Day

May 9

• National Home Front Heroes Day
• National Alphabet Magnet Day
• National Butterscotch Brownie Day
• National Lost Sock Memorial Day
• National Moscato Day
• National Sleepover Day
• National Babysitter’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
• National Birth Mother’s Day – Saturday before Mother’s Day
• Cornelia De Lange Syndrome Awareness Day – second Saturday in May
• National Archery Day – second Saturday in May
• National Dog Mom’s Day – second Saturday in May
• National Miniature Golf Day – second Saturday in May
• Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Day – second Saturday in May

May 10

• National Clean Up Your Room Day
• National Lipid Day
• National Shrimp Day
• National Washington Day
• Mother’s Day

May 11

• National Eat What You Want Day
• National Foam Rolling Day
• National Twilight Zone Day
• National Women’s Checkup Day – Second Monday in May

May 12

• National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day
• National Limerick Day
• National Nutty Fudge Day
• National Odometer Day

May 13

• National Apple Pie Day
• National Crouton Day
• National Frog Jumping Day
• National Fruit Cocktail Day

May 14

• National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
• National Dance Like a Chicken Day
• National Decency Day
• National Underground America Day
• National Receptionists’ Day – Second Wednesday in May
• National Third Shift Workers Day – Second Wednesday in May

May 15

• National Chocolate Chip Day
• National Nylon Stocking Day
• Peace Officers Memorial Day
• NASCAR Day – third Friday in May
• National Bike to Work Day – third Friday in May
• National Pizza Party Day – third Friday in May
• National Defense Transportation Day – third Friday in May
• National Endangered Species Day – third Friday in May

May 16

• Honor Our LGBT Elders Day
• National Barbecue Day
• National Biographer’s Day
• National Coquilles Saint Jacques Day
• National Do Something Good for Your Neighbor Day
• National Love a Tree Day
• National Mimosa Day
• National Piercing Day
• National Sea Monkey Day

May 17

• National Cherry Cobbler Day
• National Graduation Tassel Day
• National Idaho Day
• National Pack Rat Day
• National Walnut Day

May 18

• National Cheese Soufflé Day
• National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day
• National No Dirty Dishes Day
• National Visit Your Relatives Day

May 19

• National Devil’s Food Cake Day
• National May Ray Day

May 20

• International Red Sneakers Day
• National Be a Millionaire Day
• National Pick Strawberries Day
• National Quiche Lorraine Day
• National Rescue Dog Day
• National Streaming Day

May 21

• National American Red Cross Founder’s Day
• National Memo Day
• National Strawberries and Cream Day
• National Waitstaff Day

May 22

• International Being You Day
• National Buy a Musical Instrument Day
• National Craft Distillery Day
• National Maritime Day
• National Solitaire Day
• National Vanilla Pudding Day
• World Paloma Day
• National Cooler Day – Friday before Memorial Day
• National Don’t Fry Day – Friday before Memorial Day
• National Road Trip Day – Friday before Memorial Day

May 23

• National Lucky Penny Day
• National Taffy Day

May 24

• Brother’s Day
• National Aviation Maintenance Technician Day
• National Escargot Day
• National Scavenger Hunt Day
• National Wyoming Day
• National Yucatan Shrimp Day

May 25

• National Brown-Bag It Day
• National Missing Children’s Day
• National Tap Dance Day
• National Wine Day
• Towel Day
• Memorial Day – last Monday in May

May 26

• National Blueberry Cheesecake Day
• National Paper Airplane Day

May 27

• National Cellophane Tape Day
• National Grape Popsicle Day
• National Senior Health & Fitness Day – last Wednesday in May

May 28

• National Beef Burger Day
• National Brisket Day
• National Hamburger Day

May 29

• National 529 Day
• National Coq Au Vin Day
• National Paperclip Day

May 30

• Loomis Day
• National Creativity Day
• National Hole In My Bucket Day
• National Mint Julep Day
• National Water a Flower Day
• World Multiple Sclerosis Day

May 31

• Autonomous Vehicle Day
• National Macaroon Day
• National Save Your Hearing Day
• National Smile Day
• National Speak in Sentences Day
• National Utah Day

The post 90+ May Marketing Ideas & Examples for Any Budget appeared first on WordStream.

That’s what we’re here to talk about today. Let’s leave the theories at home and run through five easy, yet definitive SEO A/B tests that you can leverage now to drive more traffic to your website.  

Contents

• What is SEO A/B testing?
• 5 SEO A/B tests you can run right now
  1. Title tag variation test
  2. AI Overview content optimization test
  3. Internal link placement test
  4. Content length and depth test
  5. Schema markup implementation test

What is SEO A/B testing?

SEO A/B testing is the process of testing changes to pages (titles, meta, content, etc.) in isolation to measure impact on organic search traffic.

The purpose? To help you understand what’s working–and what’s not–when it comes to your SEO strategy.

Because Google’s algorithm is somewhat of a black box, and because Google changes its algorithm daily, SEO A/B testing can be somewhat of a hit-or-miss proposition. The results are also far from immediate. But within the right framework, and with the right tests and tracking, running SEO A/B tests can be a serious boon to your top-line traffic, conversions, and even revenue.

Let’s run through the tests.

5 SEO A/B tests you can run right now

Shared SEO knowledge is a great starting point, but these SEO tests take you beyond theory to learn what gets your unique website higher rankings and more traffic.

1. Title tag variation

CTR (click-through rate) has a major influence on rankings. Small changes can lead to big wins. A recent study by Backlinko, analyzing over 4 million Google search results, found the following average CTRs for the top organic positions:

• Position 1: 27.6%
• Position 2: 15.8%
• Position 3: 11.0%
• Position 10: 2.4%

Now, I know what you’re thinking. That CTR dip is caused by the page being lower in the SERP (search engine results page), right?

To a certain extent, yes. Pages lower in the SERP are naturally going to have lower CTR because they’re lower on the page.

But that doesn’t mean that an unenticing title cannot have a really negative impact on CTR. And it does mean that having a great title can help push your page above your competitors and generate traffic by virtue of a higher ranking and a great title.

Title tags have a huge impact on CTR. 

Here’s how to run a title tag a/b test.

Pick a page group (control + variant)

Select a set of semantically similar pages with enough traffic to test meaningfully. These could be product pages, blog posts, category pages, pillar pages—there’s really no wrong answer here.

Then, divide them into two statistically similar groups:

• Control Group: No change to the title tags.
• Variant Group: You’ll change the title tags here.

Create your title variations

Change only the title tags in the variant group. For example:

• Original: Buy Red Sneakers | BrandName
• Variant: Red Sneakers for Sale – Free Shipping | BrandName

One thing to keep in mind is that your new title should still target the primary keyword.

Measure performance

Generally speaking, you want to wait at least 2–4 weeks to collect enough data. SEO takes time. You want to give the experiment enough time to generate meaningful data.

For performance analysis, I like to use Google Search Console to track pre-click metrics like CTR, impressions, and clicks. GA4 is going to give you useful post-click metrics like traffic and conversion rate, but for pure rank and CTR improvement, which is really what we’re trying to track with this test, everything you need is in Search Console.

Iterate

Compare CTR and clicks between the control and variant groups. What did you learn? What sentiments or phrases worked? What didn’t? Is there anything else that could have affected the results, such as seasonality or rank changes?

Once you answer these questions, you can decide whether it’s worth rolling out new titles to other relevant pages.

Note: Google will often rewrite your title tag itself, which can create some data discrepancies when running this test–so keep that in mind.

2. AI Overview content optimization test

You’ve no doubt heard a lot about AI Overviews. This Google feature uses generative AI to summarize answers directly on the search engine results page (SERP). That means instead of just showing the typical list of blue links, Google now provides a synthesized answer at the top of the page for a ton of queries.

This can be a bit of a double-edged sword for online businesses. If you’re not optimized for Overviews, you risk losing organic visibility, even if you rank #1 traditionally. But if you are? You gain massive exposure at the top of the SERP, and, if you’re lucky, can capture clicks directly from the summary.

Here’s how to run the test.

Choose a page type and query set

Like the last test, you want to start with a group of pages that target similar search intent. Try to pick pages with somewhat stable organic traffic and rankings in the top 20.

Then, just like the last test, split the pages into a control group and a variable group. Try to have at least 20–30 URLs in each group for meaningful results.

Make structured content changes (variant only)

Then, in your variant group, you’re going to want to add the following elements:

• Quick answer box: Add a concise, direct summary at the top of the page (2–3 sentences under an H2 heading).
• FAQ section: Include natural question/answer pairs, ideally marked up with FAQ schema.
• Clean HTML structure: Use semantic tags like <h2>, <h3>, and <p> to help LLMs parse content easily.
• Factual, neutral tone: Write in a clear, unbiased tone that aligns with how Google’s AI summarizes content.

Monitor performance

Same step as last time. You’re going to want to use Search Console to gauge results. Did the variant group appear in AI Overviews more often? Did CTR improve compared to control? Any ranking or traffic loss?

With the proliferation of Overviews in today’s SERPs, running this test can have significant dividends.

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3. Internal link placement test

Because external links get the glory when it comes to building domain authority, internal links are too often overlooked. But the fact remains: if you don’t link internally between semantically similar pieces of content, using accurate anchor text, it is essentially impossible to build topical authority on a given subject and enjoy strong rankings.

The good news is, you can test internal links just like you can test anything else on your site. And as you guessed it, the first step in running this test is collecting a group of pages with consistent traffic/rankings, and splitting them up into control and variant groups.

Then, you’re going to want to add links to your variant group pages from high-authority or relevant pages on your site. How do you know which pages are high authority? Sort by page authority in an SEO tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush (Use the UR metric in Ahrefs).

Try adding three to five new internal links pointing to your variant pages from relevant pages. Make sure your anchor text is optimized, meaning keyword-rich and natural-sounding, and try to place links higher up in content or near related sections.

Wait another two to four weeks, and if you’ve built strong links, you should see rankings and clicks start to improve on your variant pages.

4. Content length and depth test

While it’s true that search engines reward relevance and completeness, longer isn’t always better. That said, longer, more robust content generally correlates with higher rankings because it is often more in-depth and higher quality.

Use logical structure, subheadings, and bullet points to make long posts more scannable for humans, algorithms, and AI systems.

Google rewards quality and credibility above all. That means that if there are blog posts or product pages on your site with thin content, or places where it would make sense for you to add depth, these are great opportunities for a split test.

For this test, choose a set of evergreen blog posts that are on the thinner side in terms of word count (under 1.5k words). If all of your content is already fairly robust (not a problem most businesses have), this is still a test worth running. Even beefing up robust content can improve traffic and rankings.

In your variant group, expand on content with FAQs, visuals, and expert quotes. Add new sections targeting ancillary keywords with volume. Add graphs, infographics, statistics, and anything else that will increase engagement signals. Above all, think quality. The more you can increase the quality of your content, the better chance you have of seeing results.

Wait the prescribed two to four weeks, and watch as your newly beefed-up content racks up impressions and clicks.

Because it’s a bit more technical in nature, schema markup is often overlooked as a growth technique. But the fact remains that adding schema markup, or structured data, to pages can significantly improve visibility and drive increases in organic CTR.

For this test, you’re going to want to select a group of pages that would benefit from schema and are structured enough to support it. These could be product pages, how-to content, service pages, recipes—you get the picture.

Schema is what lets your search results have sitelines like ones shown here.

Depending on your CMS, you may need some plugins to help with this. I told you it was going to be a bit more technical!

Schema can be added via:

• CMS plugins (like Yoast, Rank Math)
• Manual JSON-LD
• Google Tag Manager

Let’s run through each method.

Add manually using JSON-LD

This is the most direct and flexible approach. Simply identify the schema type (FAQ, Product, Article, etc.) from schema.org, create the markup in JSON-LD format, and paste the code into the <head> or <body> of the page (Google recommends the <head> if possible).

Use a CMS plugin

If you’re using WordPress, you can use plugins like Yoast, Rank Math, or Schema Pro to add schema. On Shopify, you can modify your theme directly or use an app like Smart SEO or JSON-LD for SEO. On Wix or Squarespace, you’re going to get limited built-in support, but there are custom code blocks you can add if advanced schema is needed.

Add via Google Tag Manager

This is very similar to option one, except you are adding the code to an HTML tag in Tag Manager and setting the tag to fire across your website. This is a good lower-code option for large sites or non-dev teams.

To gauge the results of your structure snippet test, you can monitor all the typical metrics in Search Console. But you also want to check the SERP to see whether Google is now directly displaying your rich features (stars, FAQs, etc.) and whether you’re seeing a spike in CTR from those enhancements.

Turn insights into traffic with SEO A/B testing

SEO A/B testing isn’t just for enterprise sites. It’s one of the most effective ways to grow organic traffic with confidence. So don’t think that if you’re an SMB, these strategies aren’t for you.

By running controlled experiments like optimizing title tags, improving internal links, and adding schema markup, you can discover exactly what moves the needle for your site. And what’s more important, you can inform your decisions with data, not blind theories or opinions.

Start with one test, monitor results closely, and iterate based on what works. Happy testing!

The post SEO A/B Testing: 5 Easy Experiments to Drive Traffic appeared first on WordStream.

The fix? A brand voice and tone guide built specifically for AI use. Think of it as a cheat sheet that tells AI tools exactly how your brand sounds, what words you use (and avoid), and what your content should feel like tone-wise.

I’ve been teaching my clients how to do this so they get better content outputs that require less editing. And I’m sharing my secrets with you here!

Contents

• Getting started with a brand voice and tone document
• Exactly what to include in your AI-ready brand voice guide
• How to actually use this guide with AI tools for better results
• A ready-to-use AI brand guidelines checklist so you can start building yours today

Start with a brand voice and tone document

You might already have some loose guidelines you could call a “brand style guide.” This often includes something your designer put together with your logo specs, color palette, and a few notes about the brand voice and tone. Or maybe you don’t have anything formally documented yet.

An example from TikTok’s brand guidelines document.

This approach works well when you’re just sharing with other humans because you can talk through the nuances and context of your brand voice person-to-person.

However, AI tools don’t have that luxury.

When a human writer sees “our tone is friendly and approachable,” they can infer a lot: shorter sentences, contractions, maybe a joke here and there. An AI tool takes that instruction far more literally and fills in the gaps with its default patterns, which tend to be bland, overly formal, and riddled with phrases like “in today’s digital landscape.”

A brand voice guide built for AI needs to be more explicit, more example-heavy, and more specific than what you’d hand to a human writer. Instead of describing your voice in abstract terms, you’re showing the AI exactly what good looks like (and what doesn’t).

The fix: create a “voice and tone snapshot” document that distills your full brand guide into two to three pages of the most critical, actionable elements. This becomes your go-to reference document for every AI writing session, so you can produce things like quality blog posts, emails, and LinkedIn updates in far less time.

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What to include in your AI-ready brand guidelines

Here’s where we get tactical. Below are the sections I’d recommend including, along with examples to help you fill them in for your own business.

1. Core voice attributes (with definitions)

Don’t just list adjectives. Define what each one actually means for your brand. AI tools thrive on specificity, so instead of saying “our voice is conversational,” tell the tool what conversational looks like in practice.

For example:

Do this	Not this
“Conversational means we write like we’re explaining something to a friend over coffee, not presenting to a board of directors.”	“Our voice is conversational.”
“Authoritative means we cite specific data and real examples, not vague claims.”	“Our voice is authoritative.”

See the difference? The left column gives the AI a concrete mental model to work with. The right column leaves it guessing.

2. Your brand’s personality

If your brand were a person, who would they be? This might sound like a fluffy branding exercise, but it’s surprisingly useful for AI tools. Giving the tool a persona to embody helps it make consistent choices about word selection, humor, and formality.

Wendy’s is a great example of a brand with a strong voice and personality.

See how they use a very informal, slang-ridden tone on platforms like Twitter? This voice carries across all their social channels to create a brand personality that’s fun, conversational, and laid back.

For a neighborhood bakery, that persona might be: “We’re the enthusiastic friend who just pulled a perfect sourdough out of the oven and can’t wait to tell you about it. We’re warm, a little nerdy about our craft, and never pretentious.”

For an accounting firm, it might be: “We’re the calm, approachable advisor who makes complicated tax stuff feel manageable. We’re clear, reassuring, and respectful of your time.”

Need help articulating what makes your business special? Get the guide >> How to Create a Unique Value Proposition From the Ground Up

3. “Do this, not that” examples

This is the single most valuable section of your entire guide. AI tools learn best from concrete comparisons, and this is where you train the tool on the difference between on-brand and off-brand writing.

Cover three key areas:

1. Word choice: List specific swaps. For example, we say “helps you” not “enables you to.” We say “complicated,” not “complex.” We say “figure out,” not “ascertain.” And list words you never want to see, like “leverage,” “synergy,” “utilize,” or “best-in-class.”
2. Sentence structure: Show a good version and a bad version side by side. For instance: “You can automate this in three simple steps” vs. “Automation of this process can be achieved through a three-step methodology.” Same information, completely different energy.
3. Tone by context: Your brand might sound slightly different when explaining a technical concept, addressing a customer pain point, or making a pitch. Write two-to-three sentence examples for each scenario so the AI can calibrate.

4. Sentence length and formatting preferences

This is the kind of detail that humans can intuit, but AI needs spelled out. These small details add up fast. When an AI tool knows you prefer em dashes over parentheses and contractions over formal phrasing, the output immediately feels more “you.”

Include guidelines like:

• Average sentence length (e.g., 15–20 words).
• Whether you use short sentences for emphasis. Like this.
• Punctuation preferences (em dashes vs. parentheses, Oxford commas, contractions).
• Formatting preferences (bold for emphasis vs. italics, sentence case vs. title case for headers).
• Whether you use emojis, and if so, where (social posts? blog content? emails?).

5. Themes and points of view

Every brand has a handful of recurring themes, including core beliefs and perspectives that appear across its content. Documenting these gives AI tools the confidence to write with a strong point of view rather than producing wishy-washy, fence-sitting content.

Take a look at the values for brands you already know, like Nike, Google, and National Geographic, to see what this looks like in action. Nike leans hard on determination, Google leans into innovation, and National Geographic focuses on adventure and exploration.

Now let’s scale this down to a small business context. For a small marketing agency, those themes might include: “We believe small businesses deserve the same quality marketing as big brands,” or “We think most marketing advice is overcomplicated for no reason.”

For a local gym: “We believe consistency beats intensity every time” or “Fitness should fit into your life, not take over it.”

Bonus: If there are industry debates where your brand takes a clear side, note those too. This helps AI tools write with the kind of authentic perspective that makes content actually interesting to read.

6. Language guidelines

This is a quick but important section. Cover things like the lingo you use and avoid (e.g., “sales rep” instead of “salesman”), and your general policy on industry jargon.

For jargon specifically, it helps to break these into three buckets and list out the specific words for each:

1. Jargon we use freely (terms our audience already knows).
2. Jargon we avoid entirely (and why).
3. Jargon we use but always define on first mention (with a brief explanation or analogy).

7. Content structure preferences

Tell the AI how you like your content organized. This is especially helpful for blog posts, emails, and landing pages where structure directly impacts readability.

Include guidance like:

• Start with a hook (a question, a surprising stat, or a bold statement).
• Get to the point within the first 100 words.
• Use subheadings every 200–300 words.
• Include at least one specific example per major section.
• End with a clear, actionable takeaway, not a generic “in conclusion” wrap-up.

8. Hard boundaries (the “never do this” list)

Be explicit about your non-negotiables. AI tools are surprisingly good at respecting hard rules when you state them clearly. Some examples:

• Never start a sentence with “So,” or “Well.”
• Never use phrases like “in today’s digital landscape” or “in an increasingly competitive market.”
• Never include generic inspirational quotes.
• Never use exclamation points in blog content (social posts are fine).

Your list will be unique to your brand. The point is to catch the AI’s most common bad habits before they show up in your first draft.

9. Full comparison examples

This is the most powerful training tool of them all. Write two to three full paragraphs in different styles and label them clearly:

• This is our voice
• Too formal/corporate
• Too casual/sloppy
• Too generic/AI-sounding

This gives the AI a clear reference point for calibration. It’s the difference between telling someone what your house looks like and actually showing them a photo.

10. Audience context

Finally, tell the AI who you’re writing for, and be specific. Don’t just say “small business owners.” Get granular with something like: “Owners of local service businesses (plumbers, landscapers, dentists) with 5–25 employees. They’re busy, skeptical of marketing jargon, and want practical advice they can act on this week, not abstract strategy.”

Also include what your audience already knows (so the AI doesn’t over-explain basics) and what they need from your content (tactical how-to advice vs. big-picture strategy, specific tool recommendations vs. general frameworks).

Want to understand who you should be targeting with your marketing? Download the guide >> How to Find Your Target Audience [Simple Steps!]

How to actually use your guide with AI tools

Creating the guide is step one. Using it effectively is where the real magic happens. Here’s how to put it to work.

Upload it and reference it explicitly

Most AI tools let you upload documents as context. But don’t just attach the file and start prompting. Tell the tool to use it. Try something like: “I’ve uploaded our brand voice and tone guide. Review it carefully, then draft an email campaign about [topic] that follows these voice principles.”

The explicit instruction makes a meaningful difference in output quality.

Get ready-to-use AI prompts for email marketing, social media, content creation, and more >> 200+ Best AI Prompts Any Business Can Use

Build a library of your best examples

Beyond your style guide, nothing trains an AI tool better than showing it real examples of your strongest content. Curate a small library of 10–15 pieces that showcase your brand voice at its best: blog posts, emails, social captions, landing pages, whatever formats you create most often.

Choose the pieces that performed well with your audience and best represent how you want your brand to sound. The more relevant the example is to the task at hand, the better your output will be.

Pro tip: If you don’t have a voice guide yet, you can reverse-engineer one from your best content. Upload your top-performing pieces and use a prompt like: “Analyze the voice, structure, and style of these pieces, then summarize those patterns into key points I can use as a brand voice guide.” It’s a surprisingly effective shortcut.

Front-load your context

Before asking for any content, give the AI as much relevant background as possible. This might include detailed audience information, competitor articles you want to differentiate from, or internal knowledge like customer research, case study data, or product documentation.

The more specific and proprietary the information you share, the more differentiated your content will be. Generic inputs will always produce generic outputs.

Treat it as a living document

Your AI brand voice guide isn’t something you create once and file away. As your brand evolves, your audience shifts, and you learn what works (and what doesn’t) with AI tools, your guide should evolve too.

A few maintenance habits that make a real difference:

• Update your examples library monthly with new top performers.
• Revise your guidelines when you notice the AI consistently missing the mark on new voice elements.
• Keep your audience personas and product positioning current.
• Save your most effective prompts, so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time.

The bottom line: Specificity is everything

Here’s the thing about AI writing tools: they’re genuinely useful. They can produce strong content outputs that need only light editing rather than complete rewrites. But only if they have the context they need to do good work.

The key to getting AI content that actually sounds like your brand comes down to one word: specificity. Instead of telling an AI tool to “be conversational,” show it exactly what conversational looks like for your brand, with real before-and-after examples. Instead of listing adjectives, define what those adjectives mean in practice.

The upfront investment of building this guide pays for itself many times over. Every blog post, email, social caption, and landing page you create with AI tools will be better for it—and you’ll spend a lot less time editing.

Your brand voice guide checklist

Ready to build your AI-ready brand voice guide? Use this checklist to make sure you’ve covered all the essentials.

• Define 3–5 core voice attributes with specific definitions (not just adjectives).
• Write a 2–3 sentence brand personality description (“If our brand were a person…”).
• Create “do this, not that” examples for word choice, sentence structure, and tone.
• Document sentence length, punctuation, and formatting preferences.
• List 5–10 recurring brand themes and points of view.
• Include language and inclusivity guidelines.
• Outline jargon policy (embrace, avoid, or define-on-first-use).
• Add content structure preferences (hooks, subheading frequency, CTAs).
• Write your “never do this” list of hard boundaries.
• Create 2–3 full comparison paragraphs labeled by style.
• Write a detailed audience description with knowledge level and needs.
• Curate a library of 10–15 of your best content examples.
• Set a monthly reminder to review and update your guide.

Make AI work for you with an AI brand guideline

The more work you put into your AI brand voice guide upfront, the less time you’ll spend wrestling with AI outputs that don’t sound like you. And that’s the whole point: making AI tools work for your brand, not the other way around.

The post AI Brand Guidelines: The Key to Better Prompts & Outputs appeared first on WordStream.