Your Guide to Successful PPC Campaign Management
Want to start running PPC campaigns that get mind-blowing results? You need to read this expert guide to successful PPC campaign management.
Hosting a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign is an efficient way to reach your target audience. We’ll give you a bit of a rundown, in case you’re not familiar with the process.
Essentially, you bid on an ad that will show up when a person searches for a specific keyword. If a browser clicks on your ad, you pay for that viewer. The goal is to find keywords that your consumers are searching for and then to create copy that persuades them to follow through.
It’s not enough to merely bid on ad space and hope for the best. You’ve got to do your research to know what is and isn’t leading to successful conversions. Here’s what to know about PPC campaign management.
Keyword Selection
Let’s start at the very beginning: keyword research. You need to be careful in your selection, as having a low search volume will plummet your efforts. So, how do you ensure you’re using the right verbiage?
There are plenty of tools out there that find optimal words and phrases, but we recommend Google Keyword Planner. This SEO tool is about as simple as it gets, all while delivering incomparable results.
Come up with a list of buzzwords that interests your audience and then test them out. Keyword Planner will tell you how many people are searching for those phrases, as well as their AdWord performance. You’ll also find out how much you’d need to spend on that keyword.
AdWords is the tool you’d likely use to schedule your campaigns. You need a high Ad Rank score and bid offering to get featured in your desired ad space. Keyword Planner lays the groundwork on what you need to know to beat out your competitors.
Optimizing Copy
Another essential element of a successful PPC campaign is well thought-out ad copy. In the marketing realm, we refer to this as ‘unique selling proposition’ or USP. A strong USP establishes your relevance in the marketplace, by highlighting your strengths.
You may already have an idea of how you stand out amongst your competitors. If you don’t, you can conduct a SWOT analysis to identify both your talents and pain points.
The challenging part comes after you hone in on your strengths. Now, you’ve got to create ad copy that communicates the message you’re trying to send.
Be as informative as possible, and use up that 30-character limit. This will make your ad far more persuasive. Also, you’ve got to have an understanding of how your customers view you.
Let’s say you’re a local fast food joint. You’re up against big players, such as McDonald’s, so most customers won’t see you as a low-price leader. You should emphasize another strength over these competitors, such as quality or locality.
Tracking Conversions
As with any marketing effort, it’s critical you track the success of your PPC campaign. This allows you to focus on keywords that contribute to conversions and weed out the ones that don’t.
AdWords has a built-in analysis tool that tracks the performance of your ad campaigns. It helps monitor your campaign sales, pointing out where your dollars are going. From here, you can pick out if and what keywords you wish to drop.
Bid Optimization
Some keywords will outperform others, and those deserve priority. When tracking conversions, pay special attention to the ones that are most profitable. In other words, look for the keywords in your budget that drive the best results.
When evaluating your conversion rates, there are a few things to keep in mind. You’ll ultimately want to decide how much you’re willing to spend on a conversion, which is variable.
First and foremost, you need to determine what you consider a conversion (scheduling a demo, making a sale, etc.). Another large component is deciding the value of each conversion. Once you decide its value, you can determine how much you’re willing to continue spending on that keyword.
Pruning
Cutting out the poor-performing keywords is just as important as emphasizing the good ones. This is what we refer to as ‘pruning’.
AdWords can help you identify which keywords need the boot, under the ‘Search terms’ tab. You should look for a variety of performance-based indicators, such as unprofitable conversions.
Often times, keywords drive click-throughs, but no follow-up. If your keyword is getting people to click, but not convert, it’s got to go. The Quality Score of your keyword will identify that kind of behavior.
Other PPC Campaign Management Factors to Consider
It’s important you know how to target within your PPC campaign. Everything from the device your audience is on to where they’re located will play a difference.
If your audience is more prone to mobile use, you’re going to see lower conversion rates. It may be worthwhile to cut out some of your mobile spending, as these keywords are less likely to be profitable.
Location-based keywords are something you’ll want to dabble in. You can also monitor which locations are performing better than others in terms of keyword conversion. Use these metrics to track how you should be using your budget.
Let’s Wrap This Up
The world of Google and digital advertising is ever-changing, but it pays to stay in the loop. Companies who run PPC campaigns see a large ROA (return on ad spend).
If you’re looking for someone to take on your PPC campaign management, look no further. We’ll help maximize traffic and revenue for your online business while minimizing cost. Contact us today to get started.
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