Many brand awareness campaigns are long-haul games. It takes days or weeks to see results, and even longer to tailor your campaigns for full efficacy.
If you’re looking to fast-track your brand’s success, pay-per-click (PPC) marketing offers the chance to sprint toward real results.
PPC is an online advertising model in which you pay a fee every time your ad is clicked, likely on social media or search engines (including the Google display network).
In other words, you’re paying for every click that gets a visitor to your website. A strong PPC campaign can be quick, impactful, and if you play your cards right, cost-effective.
PPC marketing can be an excellent partner for your search engine optimization and sales funnel strategies. The question is, how do you execute the best possible PPC strategy?
Let’s dive into the ingredient list for successful PPC strategies.
(1) Clear Campaign Goals
First things first: all search campaigns, including PPC marketing strategies, require a clear objective.
Well-defined PPC goals provide a clear direction and purpose for your entire search engine marketing strategy, ensuring that every aspect aligns with your long-term aspirations.
For instance, if your top goal is to increase website traffic, your PPC campaign can focus on driving clicks to specific landing pages optimized for conversions. On the other hand, if your objective is to boost sales or leads, your campaign should probably prioritize targeting specific keywords and optimizing display ads to encourage action.
Moreover, clear goals enable marketers to establish measurable KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to track the effectiveness of their search ads. These KPIs can include metrics such as…
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Cost-per-click (CPC)
- Conversion rate
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Return on ad spend
By setting specific benchmarks for the success of your advertising campaigns, your marketing team can gauge the performance of your PPC ads and make data-driven decisions to optimize.
In truth, a PPC campaign never stays “perfect” - it can always be improved and tailored to meet new goals.
Ultimately, executing a successful PPC campaign means ensuring your resources are used in a manner that aligns with the overarching business objectives. Set objectives that provide focus, accountability, and a roadmap for success through PPC ads.
(2) Thorough Keyword Research
Careful, purposeful keyword use is the backbone of an effective PPC strategy for several crucial reasons.
Firstly, it ensures that ads are shown to your target audience at the right time, maximizing the chances of attracting qualified leads or customers.
By identifying relevant keywords that align with the products, services, or offerings being promoted, you can ensure your display ads appear in front of users actively searching for those specific keywords.
For example, a company selling running shoes would likely want to target keywords like "best running shoes," "athletic footwear," or "trail running sneakers" to reach users actively seeking such products. Appearing under “beach footwear” won’t do them much good.
Without proper keyword research, your display ads may be displayed to irrelevant or uninterested audiences, wasting your ad spend and lowering your campaign’s conversion rates.
You need to perform keyword research to uncover valuable insights into user intent and behavior, helping them craft more targeted ad copy.
By understanding the types of queries users are searching for, marketers can tailor their search ad messaging to address specific pain points, desires, or needs, increasing the relevance and effectiveness of their PPC ads.
Additionally, thorough research allows marketers to identify long-tail keywords and negative keywords, further refining targeting efforts and minimizing ad spending on irrelevant search queries.
Thorough keyword research also lays the foundation for strategic bid management and budget allocation within an effective PPC campaign. By identifying high-value keywords with strong search volume and conversion potential, marketers can make sure to bid higher for these keywords so their paid ads appear prominently in search results.
Conversely, keywords with low relevance or performance can be identified and excluded from PPC campaigns, preventing wasteful spending and improving overall ROI.
The bottom line: thorough keyword research is essential for optimizing targeting, improving advertising relevance, and maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of PPC advertising.
(3) Truly Compelling Ad Copy
Let’s be frank: today’s customers are overly inundated with paid ads vying for their attention. In fact, estimates indicate that the average adult in a metropolitan area may see anywhere from 50 to 400 advertisements per day.
If you want your PPC ad copy to stand out, you’ll need to address your target audience strategically and powerfully. This means using attention-grabbing headlines, persuasive language, relevant keywords, and enticing calls to action (CTAs).
Truly compelling ad copy effectively communicates the unique value proposition of the product or service you’re promoting, setting it apart from competitors and resonating deeply with your target audience.
Strong PPC ad copy doesn’t just attract clicks - it also sets the stage for a positive user experience and strong brand awareness.
Furthermore, the copy on your PPC ads plays a vital role in improving ad relevance and Quality Scores within PPC platforms like Google Ads. Search engines reward ads with high relevance and engagement by displaying them more prominently in search results and charging lower costs-per-click (CPC).
Trust us when we say a marketing campaign is nothing without good ad copy. This is the key to capturing attention, driving engagement, and maximizing the effectiveness of your PPC strategy.
(4) Strategic Bid Management
Strategic bid management is another critical component of a successful PPC strategy. This directly impacts your ad rank and visibility within search engine results pages (SERPs) and other digital platforms.
By carefully and smartly managing bids, marketers can ensure their PPC ads appear in prime positions where they are most likely to be seen by their target audience.
For instance, bidding higher on competitive keywords or during peak times can increase the likelihood of a high ad rank and attract more clicks, ultimately driving greater traffic and potential conversions.
Conversely, strategic bid adjustments can also help control costs and maximize ROI by optimizing bids based on performance data and budget constraints.
Strategic bid management also allows marketers to fine-tune their targeting efforts and optimize campaign performance over time. By analyzing data on keyword performance, conversion rates, and other key metrics, you can identify opportunities to adjust bids for maximum impact.
For example, if certain keywords are driving a high volume of clicks but low conversion rates, you can experiment with bid adjustments to improve the quality of your traffic and drive more meaningful conversions.
Furthermore, strategic bid management is essential for staying competitive in dynamic and ever-changing ad auction environments. With competitors constantly adjusting their bids and tactics, you must monitor performance closely and make timely bid adjustments to maintain or improve ad positioning.
(5) Optimized PPC Landing Pages
Next, let’s talk about your ad’s landing page.
An optimized landing page serves as the bridge between Google PPC ads and the desired action - whether that’s making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a service. Your landing page should ensure a seamless and cohesive user experience, enhancing the likelihood of conversion.
The average landing page conversion rate is less than 6% - but a good conversion rate falls around 10%. The question is, how do you get yours there?
An optimized landing page should closely align with the messaging and intent of the corresponding ads, providing users with the information they need to take the next step in the conversion process.
For example, if an ad promotes a specific product or offer, the landing page should provide detailed information about that product or offer, along with clear CTAs to encourage conversion.
As you tailor your landing page, think about how you can minimize friction and maximize conversion opportunities. This might involve…
- Removing distractions like external links
- Streamlining your form fields
- Being careful about your button placement
- Improving your landing page loading speed
Furthermore, optimized PPC landing pages play a significant role in improving Quality Scores and ad relevance within PPC platforms like Google Ads. Search engines prioritize PPC ads with high-quality landing pages that provide relevant and valuable content to users, resulting in higher ad positions and lower costs per click.
(6) Continuous Monitoring & Adjustments
You need to stay agile, responsive, and proactive in optimizing your campaign’s performance. PPC advertising is dynamic, largely because keyword trends, competition, and user behavior are constantly evolving.
Regular monitoring helps you identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement in real-time, which in turn allows you to make timely adjustments to optimize the effectiveness of your PPC advertising strategies.
For example, monitoring key performance metrics like click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) highlights underperforming PPC campaigns or keywords that require immediate attention.
By analyzing performance metrics and user behavior, you also can gain a deeper understanding of what resonates with your target audience (and what doesn’t), then adjust your PPC campaigns accordingly.
Additionally, continuous monitoring allows marketers to identify and address issues such as ad fatigue, keyword saturation, or seasonality proactively, preventing wasted ad spend and optimizing campaign performance over time.
(7) ROI Tracking
Last, but certainly not least, let’s talk about ROI (Return on Investment) tracking. This is indispensable to a successful PPC strategy for several compelling reasons.
Firstly, it provides marketers with tangible insights into the effectiveness and profitability of their PPC ads. When you can accurately measure the return generated from your ad spend, you can determine which PPC campaigns, keywords, or channels are delivering the highest ROI, then allocate your resources accordingly.
If a particular ad campaign is driving a high volume of clicks but low conversions, ROI tracking can also reveal potential issues with ad messaging, landing page experiences, or targeting.
Another point: ROI tracking is essential for demonstrating the value of PPC advertising to stakeholders and decision-makers within an organization.
By quantifying the return generated from ad spend in terms of revenue, leads, or other key performance indicators (KPIs), marketers can effectively communicate the impact of individual PPC campaigns on business objectives and justify ongoing investment in ads and targeted keywords.
In Summary
PPC advertising can be hugely beneficial for a wide variety of business types - but only if it’s done well. The ingredients we just discussed are crucial to any content marketing strategy but are especially vital when investing in paid ads.
If you’re thinking of investing in PPC ads soon, consider how doing so will boost your presence on search engine results pages and promote stronger brand awareness.
Need a little direction? That’s what we offer!
We’re Here to Help With Your PPC Strategy & Display Ads
At Platinum Consulting, we specialize in search engine marketing strategies, as well as impactful ad placements, researching target keywords, writing winning ad copy, and building brand identities.
PPC strategies don’t come in a one-size-fits-all format, and we’re committed to ensuring our clients benefit from highly tailored approaches that meet their needs. That means creating truly unique and effective PPC ads that align with your search engine and social media goals.
Ready to talk about your PPC strategies, including Google ads campaigns? Schedule a call with our digital marketing team today.