Want to advertise online? Wouldn’t it be nice to be up and running quickly, get specific about your demographics and fine-tune your ads based on real-time data to make them even more effective? Many businesses choose PPC advertising services and stick with them month after month, year after year.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a powerful digital strategy that helps companies of all sizes increase their online visibility. PPC may seem easy, as you can be up and running in minutes, but you’ll quickly find complex nuances that make it one of the most detailed marketing methods you can invest in. Just when you think you’ve learned it all, a new door will open with more to learn.
So, where do you start?
Start With Your Objectives
Before you create your first digital ad, you’ll have to fully define your objectives and what you hope to achieve with your PPC advertising campaigns. Businesses often choose PPC to:
- Increase traffic to a website or landing page
- Increase visibility to new audiences
- Create brand exposure
- Test new ideas, products or services
Having a clear objective will help you determine your best approach and establish a campaign with a clear focus for optimal results.
A Deep Dive Into PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising is a form of digital advertising that allows users to create ads, place them on various sites and only pay when an ad is clicked by a user. You’re paying for real, targeted visits to your website or landing page.
PPC ads can be text, images, videos or a combination. They can appear on search engines, websites, social media platforms, individual websites and more.
While it may change based on the platform, in general, you:
- Establish the guidelines for your campaign
- Refine settings and demographics
- Create your budget
- Signify a destination URL
- Craft your ad
- Start advertising
With a Campaign in Place, It’s Time for Fine-Tuning
PPC advertising is so approachable that you can easily change and redefine your tactics. Once you make an ad live, watch what happens. Then, work to refine it, creating a stronger and more profitable ad over time.
The best place to start is with ad copy. Craft compelling, relevant ad copy that highlights your unique selling points. Start experimenting with different headlines, descriptions, calls to action and graphics to see which variations resonate better with your target audience. PPC platforms simplify it, offering ways to create A/B testing with a few mouse clicks.
Your ad may work, but your bounce rate will skyrocket once a user clicks on a dead-end landing page without internal links to your website. If that’s the case, put some effort into landing page optimization. Ensure that your landing page aligns with the ad content and provides a seamless user experience to create an easy process for moving a user from the ad to taking action.
Keywords are vitally important. Continuously review and refine your list of keywords to ensure you’re targeting relevant and high-performing keywords related to your product or service. It’s more than finding top-of-mind keywords you’re familiar with. Extensive keyword optimization involves:
- Keyword research: Use research tools to discover new keywords, assess search volume and evaluate competition.
- Keyword match type: Broad match, phrase match and exact match can all help strategically control the reach of your ads.
- Negative keywords: Regularly list negative keywords to prevent ads from appearing in irrelevant searches.
- Long-tail keywords: These are more specific and often have lower competition, potentially attracting more qualified leads.
Ad refinement is an ongoing process that ensures you maximize every dollar spent on a campaign. There are always ways to make each ad you create just a little better.
Targeting Techniques for Increased Return
Think of a “perfect” customer. It might be someone who buys multiple products from you or loves what you do and becomes a great referral resource. You can define “perfect” in any way you choose. Imagine finding dozens, hundreds or thousands of “perfect” customers at your fingertips. That’s the power of PPC advertising.
The more you use PPC, the more you learn about your customers. This gives you more leverage in targeting them, which is crucial for maximizing conversions, revenue and return on investment.
PPC campaigns offer many ways to go about this.
How about audience segmentation? Instead of one ad, divide your target audience into segments based on demographics, interests, behaviors or other relevant criteria. Then, create tailored ad campaigns for each segment to address specific needs.
How about remarketing? Remarketing involves implementing campaigns to re-engage users who have previously visited your website but didn’t convert to a sale or sign-up. You can design personalized ads to remind them of your products and services and encourage them to move forward with specific actions.
Geotargeting, which focuses your ads on specific locations or regions, could also work for you. This method is particularly effective for businesses with local or regional target markets. You can adjust your bid modifiers for different locations based on performance.
Again, this is just your starting point. There are many ways to implement targeting techniques to continuously optimize your PPC campaigns and increase the rate of return on your advertising investment. Regular analysis and adaptation to changing dynamics are key to sustained success.
Are You Ready for PPC Advertising Services?
PPC advertising is a great way to expand your market, hone your marketing message and reach a client base ready for what you have to give.
If you’re new to PPC, now might be the time to see how targeted campaigns can help your business grow. If you’ve tried PPC before, refining your approach might help you increase your business and build a healthier customer base.
While PPC advertising services work well on their own, combining them with an overall digital marketing strategy that helps you maximize your goals and desires is often best. If you’re ready to add PPC advertising to your marketing plan, reach out to InnoVision to learn more about how we can work together.
