Intentional spelling errors in advertising? Snickers has done just that. The packed-with-peanuts candy brand has gained some press recently by running a paid search campaign that intentionally targeted only spelling errors and misspelled words.
The campaign in question focused on common misspellings of the top 500 search terms on Google and presented searchers with ads directing them to http://yourenotyouwhenyourehungry.com/. This produced over 25,000 keywords and generated in excess of 500,000 clicks. A clever idea and, by all accounts, it has succeeded in generating some solid buzz for Snickers.
Bidding on keyword misspellings is actually a fairly common practice in paid search marketing, though. When executed properly, it can help advertisers grab premium traffic for a reduced cost. (Think: “skiing in Vermont” vs. “skying in Vermont”.) The one thing you need to be mindful of when using intentional spelling errors in advertising is to make sure that you avoid dynamic keyword insertion in the ads. (Dynamic keyword insertion will automatically insert your keyword into the copy of the ad.) Here is a recent example from a major online retailer that is targeting keyword misspellings (“extention cord”), but also using keyword insertion:
While this is a relatively minor example, it helps to illustrate the point that this strategy could undermine a brand’s credibility if it is not rolled out properly. The moral of the story: pay attention to the details when it comes to your search marketing.
