While most advertising channels have seen a decline in revenue as a result of the present economic climate, online ad spends remain strong. From January to June 2009, the UK became the first major economy to see online advertising overtake television advertising (eMarketer). The greatest growth, by far, has been in paid search.
Also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Marketing, paid search is the process of attracting visitors using ads on the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN and others. When used properly, PPC marketing can instantly put your company in front of prospects who are already looking for your products or services. So, how can you get paid search working for you?
Perfecting Your PPC Marketing Plans
PPC marketing is the fastest and most measurable form of advertising, enabling advertisers to track consumer activity from individual ads right through to conversion. Providing analytics at this level is one of the reasons why it is so popular.
Search marketing is also one of the most direct ways of driving traffic to your website. Opening an account and setting up your first campaign can be done in minutes. However, it can also be very expensive and ineffective if it is not done correctly.
The following 5 step process will help make the most of any PPC marketing budget.
1. Identify Your Objectives
Start with the end in mind. More sales, data capture or product, specific offers, establishing your objectives from the start will enable you to keep a clear focus as you proceed.
2. Know Your Target Audience
Whether it's acquiring new customers or winning repeat shoppers, knowing your target audience is a critical part of the research phase of any PPC campaign. Resources can quickly be wasted if ineffective or overly expensive keywords are selected.
Knowing your target audience will help you identify their needs and interests and allow you to focus your ad groups and ad copy. Additionally, you can use campaign tools to target your ads geographically, if necessary.
3. Create a Hook
What will attract your intended audience? What will help make your ad more enticing to him or her than competing ads? Consider offering a free white paper, research report, e-newsletter subscription, or other discounted special offer.
Making reference to an offer from your ad will also act as an effective filtering process – delivering you more targeted traffic and making the most of your campaign budget.
4. Prepare for Conversion
While simply sending PPC traffic to your home page is quick and easy, it's not the most effective way to direct your campaign. Instead, give some thought to how the focus of your ads can be continued through to your landing page and conversion process.
The theme from your chosen search term and ad copy should continue on your website – giving your visitors no doubt they are in the right place.
5. Know What to Measure
Putting the tools in place that allow you to measure the effectiveness of each ad group and the success rate of different ad versions will enable you to allocate your budget confidently.
When done right, PPC marketing is a great way to increase your web traffic, sales and online visibility. If you need help setting up or managing an effective PPC campaign, contact us.
