Let’s face it, PPC advertising has been a successful marketing tactic for at least the past twenty years. Whether selling physical products or digital goods and services, PPC campaigns are a powerful tool for driving traffic to your website.
But after twenty years of PPC success, does it still hold value in today’s ever-evolving digital market?
The short answer is yes. PPC campaigns remain a valuable marketing strategy. And even though Facebook, Google, and Amazon have all changed their algorithms over the past few years, PPC marketing continues to be an effective way to reach new customers.
You’ll find all you need to know to help you create the perfect PPC campaign. So let’s dive in and discover how to get your business in front of more potential customers this year.
What is PPC Marketing?
We all want our businesses to feature at the top of a Google search. But SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a long game. Keyword research, site speed, building external and internal links – the list continues.
Pay Per Click marketing offers another way to reach the top of the SERPS (Search Engine Results Page). For a cost, you can pay for high-ranking keywords within your advertisement, meaning you’re given priority over organic search and are more likely to hit the top of the search charts.
What’s more, it’s not just Google offering PPC advertising options. Social media and video platforms are also part of the PPC gang. Making it easier to create an omnichannel PPC strategy to reach your ideal audience.
The Changing Face of PPC Campaigns
The landscape is changing for PPC ad campaigns. Keeping up with new trends is vital to the success of any marketing campaign. With the recent emergence of privacy laws, voice search, increased digital ads, and automation, there’s much to consider when planning the perfect PPC campaign.
Automation and Search Responsive Ads
2022 was the year of Google’s Performance Max Campaigns, [1] allowing advertisers to create ‘smart campaigns’ across all Google inventories.
So what’s new for 2023?
There’s no doubt that automation will continue to increase in popularity and importance within PPC advertising. But what will affect the success of your PPC campaigns is how well you use that automation.
By focusing attention on the correct information to feed automated systems and holding on to some autonomy over the direction of your marketing, you’ll create better results with your ads. Businesses that figure out which inputs get the most out of the algorithms, alongside understanding where to let the machine do its job, will see the most growth from PPC campaigns.
Privacy Laws
PPC campaigns work best when you understand your ideal audience. But with more and more consumers becoming wary of handing over personal data, finding out about your target market is no easy feat.
However, there’s no need to despair over the lack of second-party data.
Instead, make collecting first-party data a priority. Customer surveys, email sign-ups, content sharing, and single sign-on strategies offer a great way to find out about your customers.
Equally, approach your click PPC advertising as part of a more holistic marketing strategy rather than a one-off.
Growth of Video Ads
One thing’s for sure – video marketing is set to continue to grow in popularity. And it’s no surprise why. Data from Wyzowl indicates that 87% of marketers say video marketing helped them increase sales. [2]
With the emergence of Microsoft Video Ads,[3] the continued growth of video on social media, and Google’s new audio ads, [4] there’s enormous scope to leverage PPC campaigns through video marketing.
Building the Perfect PPC Marketing Campaign
The perfect PPC campaign is well-crafted and targeted with a clear goal in mind. It’s optimized for conversion and designed to help you reach your business goals.
If you’re starting out with PPC advertising, expect some trial and error until you examine the data to determine what’s working. And remember that all platforms are different.
Figure out Your Parameters
Before you start, understand the purpose of your campaign. It shouldn’t be a stand-alone marketing strategy but an intrinsic part of your overall business planning.
Consider:
- Who is the target audience?
- What do you hope to achieve? (campaign goals)
- Which platform/s are you going to use?
- What’s the theme of your campaign?
Set Specific Goals
PPC costs money. There’s a clue in the name Pay-Per-Click. So you want to think through your goals before running headlong into a campaign.
Think about what you want your marketing to achieve. Examples include:
- Brand awareness
- Sales
- Promotions
- Lead generation
- Increase in site traffic
Conduct Keyword Research
Once you have your goal and theme, you can choose the targeted keywords. Tap into Google’s Keyword Planner [5] to help you find specific keywords for your theme. Remember, negative keywords (words you don’t want to show up for) are also essential for keeping your ads highly relevant.
Measure Success
Once you’ve cracked setting up your PPC campaigns, the next step is to look at the data and figure out how to improve the results. This’ll help you move forward with the next campaign.
If planning and implementing PPC ads is sucking the time out of your working hours, it’s worth teaming up with a specialized PPC agency. You’ll not only free up time to spend elsewhere on your business, but you’ll also get the best ROI out of your advertising budget. Contact the team at Full Circle SEM for a free consultation.
Sources:
[1] https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/performance-max/
[2] https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics/
[3] https://help.ads.microsoft.com/#apex/ads/en/60102/0
[4] https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/7642796?hl=en
