Why is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising an effective marketing strategy?
When implementing PPC campaigns, you should have a better understanding of what does and does not resonate with your audience. Moreover, you should use it for the specific type of conversion you’re aiming to achieve. This might be adding an item to the cart for one business owner, while another could prioritize form submissions instead. Regardless, it’s important that you measure your conversion percentages.
Your PPC campaigns should also focus on reaching a broader audience; this is particularly important if you’re a new brand without a big audience. Other metrics you can measure with PPC campaigns are ad profitability and your overall visibility.
How does a paid search campaign work?
Each paid search campaign will be different; however, there will be some connecting lines. First and foremost, you must understand what you’re trying to achieve with your paid search campaign. Besides thinking just about the ads you’ll display, you also want to understand how they tie in with your broader business objectives.
Once you know your goals for both the campaign and your business, make sure that you segment your ads accordingly. You need to meet your audience where they are, which you can do with keyword research; look for keywords that they’re already using.
Segmenting your paid search campaigns needs to go pretty deep. You’ll need to think about these factors:
- Language
- Targeted location(s)
- Your budget
- Your bidding strategy
It’s then time to start developing the ads for your paid search campaign. Once you know which audience you’re trying to target, start developing copy for your advertisements. When doing this, you must showcase why they should click on your ad; think carefully about the benefits for them.
You should also create multiple ads. A/B test these to determine what you need to change and whether you’re getting the return on investment (ROI) that you want.
Example:
A clothing store selling outdoor winter jackets might create ads groups for ski jackets, puffer jackets, and other products. You should then write down who you’ll target these for. It could be skiers, hiking enthusiasts, and people living in cold regions, for example.
What are paid search models?
Paid search models are also known as PPC, and in essence, you pay the search engine when a user clicks through on an ad.
You will measure your results based on the average CPC, though it’s worth remembering that these can fluctuate.
How does paid search work with search engines?
First, a business will place a bid; your place in search engines will depend on how much you bidded. The top spot is the most desirable, but it’s also the most expensive.
When a user clicks on your ad, a payment is then triggered on your part.
What are the benefits of paid search?
Before implementing a paid search campaign, you need to consider numerous factors. Here are some of those.
- Visibility: Paid ads will appear straight away in search engines, compared to organic results which take months; however, you should also note that traffic might be short-term.
- Reach: You should use paid search ads to target your audience as specifically as possible. Think about your audience’s interests and demographic information; check the tools for whichever search engine you’re advertising in.
- Quantifiable Results: Use the analytics derived from your campaigns to measure your ads. Look at conversions and your clickthrough rate. Then, consider how you should optimize your campaigns (and even your products/services).
- Brand Recognition: Use paid advertising to get your brand name in front of other people. Some visitors will need to interact with your brand multiple times before they purchase, and paid search engine advertising is one way to consider doing this.
- Financial Investment: The money you invest for organic and paid search will be different. Organic search requires you to invest in content production, whereas paid ads are about promoting what’s on your website and spending money on ad space.
- Competition: Look at your industry and think about how competitive your target keywords will be. Base your campaign budget on this information.
How much does PPC cost?
PPC advertising campaigns can differ depending on:
- The search engine/platform
- The keywords you’re bidding for
- Which countries you’re targeting with your ads
- Your industry
- Your ad quality
If you use Microsoft Ads, your PPC campaign may cost $1-$5 per click. On the other hand, Google Ads clicks normally costs $1-$2. Start off small to determine whether you think you should invest more money into your paid search traffic before then making the adjustments you feel are necessary.
How to optimize paid search campaigns?
Optimizing paid search campaigns typically involves making iterative adjustments and refinements over time. You will also need to consider multiple angles, such as:
- Changing keywords if necessary
- Altering your campaign settings if required
- Analyzing ad performance
Make sure you add positive and negative keywords; both are important for filtering your traffic. It’s also important that you change bids depending on your current results, and that you split-test different types of ad copy. If you think that it’s worth doing so, you should also consider utilizing AI where possible for your ads.
Conclusion
Paid search advertising is one consideration for brands to make when looking at ways to increase their web traffic. However, it’s important to look at it from all angles before starting to develop campaigns. Understanding which keywords you should bid for is important, and so is segmenting your audience accordingly.
It’s also important to set reasonable budgets and understand why users interact with your ads the way that they do. Monitor metrics like your clickthrough and conversion rates, and iterate over time. Ideally, you should use paid search ads alongside organic SEO strategies and not instead of them.
