When it comes to online advertising, PPC campaigns have become increasingly popular, and therefore more competitive. PPC, or pay-per-click, is a form of internet marketing in which you pay a specific fee every time someone clicks your ad. The cost will vary from industry to industry, and location to location. Depending on where you’re purchasing the keyword, for example, a city, you may be paying a much higher fee as the competition will be higher. Many people will tell you it’s a “quick and easy” way to drive traffic to your site, but like with any form of marketing or advertising, it’s not always as simple as you’d like. It’s crucial to know and understand the audience you’re trying to reach, and properly create your ads to target that group. Keep reading to learn 3 of the common mistake people make when running PPC campaigns, and how to fix it.
You’re Not Getting Specific Enough
Going beyond the “general best practices” for PPC and getting specific to your business is what will set your campaign apart and give you the conversions you want. For example, what may be working well for a retail center such as a shoe store, may not work for a plumbing company. Before running your campaign, you should be doing extensive research on your target audience. This includes looking at your competitors and evaluating their strategies for reaching that audience, conducting surveys, getting to know your clients personally, and beyond. The more information you can gather, the more specific you can get with your campaigns, leading you to higher conversion rates. For example, if you’re spending all your money buying keywords on the weekends, but you find that your target audience group is proven to do the majority of their searches during the week, you may be wasting your budget.
You’re Only Considering the Short Term Goals
Another common mistake people make when running their campaigns is putting too much emphasis on reaching short term goals and getting immediate responses, rather than considering the customer journey and the end goal. Think strategically about the response that you’re hoping to get from the Ad, and work backward from there to consider what steps a customer would have to take in order to get there. Is it easy for them to get there? Are the steps clear and concise? Whether it’s signing up for a newsletter, filling out a contact form, or making a purchase, you should have a strategic plan of how your ad is leading them to this goal.
You’re Limiting Your Budget Too Much
When starting any new advertising campaign, whether it is online or not, it can be scary to pour a large budget into it, not knowing what the return on investment will be. Many business owners have the mindset that the less money, the lesser the risk. However, with a PPC campaign, this strategy is going to greatly hinder any success it may have. With a limited budget, your campaign will likely end before you see the results and conversions you set out for. Going in with an open mind, increasing your budget, and targeting various keywords in relevant locations to get more clicks is what is going to give you the data you need to make adjustments. From there, you can slowly eliminate the spend on specific keywords or locations that aren’t performing well, and put more of your budget and efforts where you’re seeing the most conversions.
Contact Boston Web Marketing for PPC Management
We hope these tips gave you some insight into running a successful PPC campaign. If you need assistance getting started or managing your campaign, don’t hesitate to contact us! Our team of experts has experience across a wide variety of industries and will be happy to help. Fill out an online form or give us a call today at 857-526-0096!