Pay-per-click is one of the best marketing investments you can make. At the base level, PPC advertising is an auction-based method of buying digital advertising on a pay-per-click basis. Advertisers bid on the perceived value of a click in relation with keywords, platform and the audience.
PPC is a time-effective tactic that helps you land straight on Google’s first page. PPC can be used for all type of goals including:
- Increasing sales
- Promoting brand awareness
- Generating Leads
Now, unlike other digital marketing strategies, PPC gives you a certain level of control. Users search for specific products or services and as advertisers, you have the ability to show a targeted ad at that exact moment. Also, statistics show that consumers who click on the advertiser's Google search ad prior to visiting the store are 27% more likely to buy something in-store.
Through both the account structure and targeting settings, the main platforms for running successful PPC campaigns are Google AdWords and Bing Ads. However, with paid ads, personalization has become tricky.
The competition has increased considerably. It has become necessary to personalize your campaign so that customers click on it. Also, coming up with headlines that convert call-to-action and offers is a critical part of any PPC campaign. A PPC specialist can provide more tips on how to personalize your AdWords campaign.
However, understanding the basics of PPC can help you stay abreast with developments to Google AdWords and Bing Ads. It will give you many opportunities to grow your business through PPC. Here is a simple breakdown to help you personalize your PPC campaign:
1. Use targeting tools through the Google Display Network
Google Display Network has a huge reach and covers over 90% of the internet. It allows ads to be displayed to users and they might come across your ad while browsing through a website. There are different categories in the Google Display Network that you can use according to your convenience:
- Contextual targeting- This shows ads that are related to your keywords
- Placement targeting- you can select and choose certain websites where you want your ads to be displayed. This lets you control the audience to whom your ads are targeted towards
- Remarketing- Basically, it is used to target those users who have already purchased something from your site
- Interest categories- It helps in displaying ads as per users interest
- Topic targeting- Google allows you to choose a topic from Google’s list of topics and then accordingly target those people interested in the products
- Demographic targeting- This allows you to target by gender, age group and location
As compared to the ad targeting offered by social media sites, these might seem to be a limited option, but, you can choose to combine any of the above categories or use them individually as per your digital marketing strategy.
2.Clear up the negative keywords
When you use negative keywords, you lose out on the traffic and also lose out on the money. To avoid this loss to your product or business, make sure that your PPC specialists regularly check the negative keyword list.
Not only check, but measures should also be taken to bring relevant keywords back to life. This will also keep you on par with your competitors. But, when you have many categories for your products, adding keywords and checking them manually won't suffice. You need to use PPC tools to help you clean up the negative keywords.
There are many tools available online that help you grow your CPC and decrease the competition level. Removing unnecessary clutter will prove to be helpful in the long run.
3. Competitor research
Just like all the other areas of marketing, competitor matters a lot in PPC advertising too. In PPC, you need to borrow ideas from your competitors and analyze hundreds of ads from your niche. You can do that easily with keyword research and domain research. So, if you know your competitor’s domain, it becomes easy to explore the ads they have used.
You also need to analyze which keywords have been used the maximum number of times and which keywords have not been explored. Also, search for long-tail keywords that have lower CPCs. You can also try and apply the reverse strategy. Try looking for search queries and take a note of all the search queries that Google matches with your ads. And once you have found out these keywords, you can easily incorporate them in your campaigns. This is guaranteed to give you the best results.
4. Dynamic Keyword Insertion
It is a fast way to deliver content that is according to the user preferences and meets the demand of the searches. Dynamic keyword insertion allows you to dynamically insert an AdWords keyword in your copy. So, it allows you to display a more relevant ad for a related keyword. When used properly, it has the capacity to increase your click-through rate.
When you create an ad, it allows you to create an ad that is more specific to what a user has typed in. When users find a headline that is close to what they were searching for, they are much more likely to click on that headline.
But, stay away from an excessive and odd combination of keywords. It will result in losing out the value of the keyword. So, implement keywords properly and use them sparingly. There are potential problems that might arise if you don't take care while inserting these keywords. After all, it is a part of the larger keyword optimization strategy.
Endnote:
The world of PPC is constantly changing. Search engines constantly run ads and keep on adding additional features. You need to tweak your PPC campaign strategy accordingly to keep up with the changes.
However, the fundamental idea is to delegate to Google Ads and determine the type of audience you are targeting. Once you have decided that, it will become easy for you to target the types of queries and visuals that the audience uses. So, targeting the audience will always be helpful for your product or service. This, in turn, will help your business grow.