E-commerce is quickly gaining traction worldwide, and so is the competition. To stay ahead in this race, businesses are opting for paid advertising solutions like PPC (Pay-Per-Click).
Statistics reveal that 65% of small to mid-sized businesses have a PPC campaign in place. PPC helps you reach your target audience more effectively and drive higher-quality traffic to your website.
If you also want to leverage the power of PPC but are struggling to find the right PPC platform, we have you covered. This write-up is the ultimate guide to understanding PPC, choosing the best platforms, and optimising your campaigns to maximise ROI.
What’s the Goal of PPC?
PPC, or pay-per-click, is a marketing strategy in which advertisers pay a particular amount to search engines to display their content higher on SERP. The amount for each click can vary depending on the market size and keyword difficulty. However, the results of PPC are promising as it helps you in:
Lead Generation
Attracting good-quality leads who are genuinely interested in your business is indeed a hassle. You have to nurture and qualify leads to check the likelihood of leads converting into potential customers. However, PPC saves you from this complexity.
When your content appears at the top of search engines, more people will see your business, but only those leads who are interested in investing in your business will click. This ensures you have a streamlined lead generation process and only put your efforts into catering to high-quality leads.
Sales Conversions
Another benefit of PPC is that it increases your overall sales. How? It does this by efficiently targeting your audience based on factors like location, language, keywords, and time. It also enables you to re-target your existing customers so they avail of your services again. This increased foot traffic and quick re-targeting paves the way for increased sales for your business.
Choosing the Right PPC Platform: Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Social Media Ads
If you are all set to run a PPC campaign, you must be wondering which platform is the best. To help you with this, we have listed the top 3 places where you can run your PPC advertisements:
Google Ads
Google ads show on Google and its other display networks. It enables you to run ads in different formats, including text, images, videos, and engaging descriptions. Its working is simple: You bid on highly relevant keywords, and when users search for those terms, your content ads appear.
Bing Ads
On the other hand, Bing ads are displayed on Microsoft Bing and its display network, including Yahoo, Xbox, Outlook, and more. They work similarly to Google ads: You have to bid for a keyword, and your ads appear when users search for that keyword. Once they click on the ad, you will pay Microsoft for the bid amount.
Social Media Ads
Next up are social media ads, which, as the name implies, are a type of digital advertising that utilises social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.
The working of social media ads is simple: you pay the platform to show your ads. The advertisement appears organically on users’ feeds in the form of a story or post, propelling them to buy your products.
It’s quickly gaining traction as almost everyone today uses social media and relies on recommendations from there to make a purchase. Statistics also paint a positive picture: 26% of users who click on social media ads end up buying.
Remember, in Google ads, Bing ads, and Social Media ads, the decision of which one to choose is purely yours. However, if you want to tap into a wider audience, you should run Google and social media ads. But if you are budget-conscious, then Bing ads are the way to go.
How to Optimise PPC Campaigns?
The following are some tips that help you optimise your PPC campaigns:
- Use Generic Keywords: Create a list of mostly generic keywords to target in your PPC campaign. For instance, instead of choosing waterproof cow boots for women, you should opt for cow boots for women as they enable you to reach a wider audience.
- Be Mindful of Your Budget: Be very strategic with your budget spending! Allocate a small amount for ads and bids, considering factors like seasonality and keyword difficulty. In addition, you should spread this budget across different channels, like 40% to 60% for platforms that already provide good ROI, 20% to 30% to try out new platforms, and the remaining 10% to 20% for platforms that cater to a niche or demographic audience.
- Incorporate Negative Keywords: Make a list of negative keywords and incorporate them in your campaign to ensure only users who need your services land on your page.
FAQs
Why is PPC marketing important for businesses?
PPC campaigns are important for your business as they help you gain more visibility. You also acquire more leads that become your paying customers, driving good revenue.
Which platforms can I use for PPC marketing?
You can run PPC campaigns using Google ads, Bing Ads, and even social media ads. All these platforms are good; however, Google Ads and Social Media ads are more promising when it comes to reach and traffic.
How do I choose the right keywords for my PPC campaigns?
To choose the right keywords for your PPC campaigns, you must first understand the challenges of your target audience. Once you have gotten a clear idea of what they search for, you should next leverage keyword search tools like Keywords Everywhere and Ahref to find out terms with high search volume and low difficulty.
What are the key components of a successful PPC ad?
The main components of a successful PPC ad include a killer headline, a captivating landing page, an engaging description, and the right use of keywords.
How can I optimise my landing pages for PPC campaigns?
To optimise your landing page, you should ensure that its content matches the message of the ad to increase relevancy and the likelihood of conversion.
What budget should I allocate for PPC advertising?
You should be very careful when spending money on PPC advertising. As a general rule of thumb, you should allocate 10% of your annual revenue to PPC. This number may fluctuate depending on your resources and overall revenue.
Conclusion
Running PPC campaigns brings more traffic to your website, which in turn generates more sales. Looking for the best platform to run your PPC campaigns? 3 Phase Marketing is the best! We run Google ads and social media ads like Facebook ads with minimal spending.
Contact us today to learn more about us and how our PPC campaigns on different platforms help you capture leads and improve your sales!
