5 Keys to a Successful PPC Campaign

Search marketing, and in particular, Google AdWords often seems daunting to many marketers- the complexity of choosing keywords, budgeting and bidding can be a bit confusing.

Admittedly, setting up a comprehensive strategy that converts prospects into customers is necessary to the success of any search marketing campaign.

But what makes for a successful or effective PPC campaign? You do not require a large budget to get the most from PPC advertising. What’s really important is to attract high quality clicks within a sustainable budget.

The goal of a successful search advertising campaign is to expose your business to a target audience and to trigger a desired conversion event that is important to your business’ bottom line.

Here are the 5 keys to creating a successful PPC campaign:

Create ads with your target customers in mind

Ad copy is at the heart of effective PPC conversions.  Poor ad copy will fail to attract the right prospects and this could cost in you in terms of low quality clicks. Your ad copy should:

• Interest your customers and draw their attention
• Persuade customers that your offer/product will meet their needs
• Encourage customers to take a specific, desired action

Be mindful of your customers’ search tendencies

What search phrases would your customers likely use to find your product? What is their intent when searching for your product? Finding the right keywords and applying these to your ad copy offers your business the visibility that is so necessary in search marketing.

Negative keywords ensure that:

• Only people who are interested in what you offer click through your ad
• Your ads are shown to interested prospects
• You are dedicating your budget to profitable keywords

In addition to negative keywords, target your ads by using exact, phrase and broad match keywords. Bidding more on exact match keywords and less on broad match keywords is more cost effective.

Use other targeting criteria such geo-location and web users’ search behavior to reach out to a strictly defined audience.

Get clear about the type of action you want customers to take

Your ad copy and keyword selection are just the start of your PPC campaign. Conversion is the most important aspect of the campaign. As such, it is important to have clear conversion goals to create an effective copy and a landing page that is in alignment with these goals.

What action do you want prospects to take upon clicking through the ad? Do you want them to call your company, fill out a form, download an app, purchase, or signup for a newsletter?

Your landing page is your conversion point. It should contain content that lines up with your ad copy. More importantly, it must feature a clear and precise call to action that will boost conversions.

Remarket to promising prospects

Remarketing allows you to reach out to visitors who came to your website through different channels including search marketing, social and other forms of inbound campaigns.

Remarketing tools keep track of website visitors and then avail this data for use in your AdWords campaign. When done strategically, remarketing can help to fully convert high promising prospects or site visitors.

Track conversions and adjust your campaigns

AdWords campaigns are dynamic and need to be regularly monitored. Keeping track of conversions helps you to understand the keywords that are facilitating specific conversions. Without conversion tracking, it is really impossible to know which keywords are working and how your campaigns are performing.

The fluctuations that are typical of an AdWords campaign make it necessary to regularly make changes to different elements including the keywords, bidding budget, or ad copy that is underperforming.

Running a PPC Campaign

In comparison to organic search campaigns, paid search can offer your business immense visibility and return on investment. Targeting your customers with the right copy and well-chosen keywords is an important first step in your PPC campaign. Getting them to undertake a critical conversion event requires a structured landing page that supports your conversion goals.