PPC Management
Companies nowadays use different marketing and campaign strategies to boost their products and gain more customers. One of these strategies is PPC Management. A good PPC ads campaign ensures that companies get a positive return on investment and rake in profits.
What is PPC Management, and how does it work?
PPC or Pay Per Click is a marketing medium used by companies to optimize product exposure online.
Nowadays, people spend most of their time being online and using Google search and social media to connect and get information. Thus, businesses use the internet to get the maximum exposure for their products and the highest return on investment as possible.
Companies hire a marketer or group of marketers to manage their PPC campaigns. These marketers can be in-house or outsourced through a PPC management agency.
They oversee the PPC strategy, budget, and process to ensure that they reach the right people at the right time. They create, manage, and make available an online ad campaign containing the right message to project the company’s image and to attract clicks from clients ready to spend immediately.
PPC specialists usually use banners shown at the top or corner of a screen or monitor when people use the search engine. They can be identified with markings such as “sponsored results” or “advertisement.” PPC ads, also called display advertising, open opportunities for companies through images, videos, texts, or a combination of the three.
What does PPC include?
Agencies typically take care of the following four basic PPC elements for companies:
01 Keywords
A keyword phrase is a fundamental and most crucial element in any PPC strategy. You need to know the word that “sticks,” which targeted consumers usually search for and eventually convert them into buyers.
These are the words that users key in to find more information on things they are interested in. The keywords enable the consumers to find your product easily and, at the same time, get their attention.
Keywords should belong-tail keywords targeting searchers who are more likely to have the intention to buy right away.
02 Landing Pages
The landing pages are essential to consumers since these pages provide answers and solutions to their problems. They are also important to companies since they build your customers’ trust and can eventually convert them to actual customers. Do not be tempted to merely linking your company’s homepage to a PPC ad. It may not give the searchers the information they need, thus resulting in poor user experience. Lack of a good landing page will affect your quality score which will affect you ad placement.
03 Campaigns
After creating the keywords and pages for your company, the next thing to do is writing your ad campaign. Your campaign should have a headline and a call to action, which are the two significant parts of every ad.
The headline includes the targeted keywords, which call the attention of potential customers. The call to action, meanwhile, encourages these potential customers to be converted into actual buyers.
Campaigns may include company address, telephone numbers, and call to action words such as “buy now” or “call now.” A PPC campaign may also utilize Ad Groups, Ad Copy, and Ad Extensions to make the ad more effective.
A good PPC management agency will monitor if the keywords, landing pages, and campaigns are effective. Companies can get the number of times the ad appears online and how many times it has been clicked.
These PPC metrics can help you determine which strategies work. Thus, you can re-allocate the company budget to these elements to maximize your return on investment.
Why is the PPC management agency important?
Ensuring the success of a PPC strategy is no easy task. Companies hire Google ads agencies to get the most out of what they spend for the campaign. Below are some of the benefits of getting PPC managers.
The primary goal of every business is to generate revenues. Converting potential clients into actual consumers who purchase your product must be your ultimate goal.
An effective PPC strategy ensures that searchers visit your site, show interest in your products, and eventually buy them.
Creating brand awareness is essential, especially for new businesses, even though this doesn’t necessarily result in a purchase. Also, the retention of loyal customers is of much importance for existing products and services.
Are SEM and PPC the same?
With the proliferation of online advertising, a lot of acronyms and terminologies have come up, which sometimes can be confusing. People usually mixup SEM with SEO and PPC.
Search Engine Marketing or SEM is also known as search marketing. It is the umbrella wherein SEO and PPC fall under as its main strategic components. Its objective is to get clicks so potential clients become paying clients.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO helps companies increase their ranking on search engines. Effective SEO strategies get the companies on the first page, if not on top, of the search list.
PPC focuses on paid search marketing and advertisements. Companies can place bids to increase traffic and hopefully, conversions of online searchers.
PPC is used to reach the target audience by using appropriate keywords, landing page, and appropriate bid to bring the ad at the top of the 1st page of a search result. It ensures a higher possibility for the searcher to click the PPC ad.
How much does PPC cost?
How much does PPC cost?It has been said many times before, “You have to spend money to make money.” Companies spend on PPC management and implementation in hopes that their products will be sold and generate more revenues.
So how much are companies willing to spend to pay for a PPC campaign? Below are the four PPC pricing models which PPC agencies use to charge their clients:
1. Percentage of ad spend pricing
Companies pay PPC agencies an agreed-upon percentage of how much they spend on the ads. PPC agencies usually require a minimum spend under this pricing model. The percentage of ad spend model is ideal for companies with a big ad spend. However, this is not advisable for small companies with minimal ad campaign budgets.
Agencies charge a pre-determined flat rate for a specific scope of PPC work. Some companies prefer this PPC campaign pricing model where the included services and activities are well-defined.
It is ideal for companies who prefer fixed monthly ad expenses. But this pricing model is not for businesses that need dynamic and seasonal campaign needs.
PPC marketing agencies charge a management fee to cover overhead campaign costs in addition to the percentage of ad spend. It is not ideal for small businesses with very low-cost accounts.
This model, also known as the CTA pricing model, is a payment scheme where PPC agencies get a percentage commission based on sales generated by the company. It is commonly used in e-commerce and referral-based businesses.
Agencies charge different prices for PPC services depending on the things they will be doing for companies. You need to determine what are the things you want for your PPC campaigns such as ad copy, landing pages, and ad campaigns, among others.
Some companies may prefer ads with colors that may cost more than simple black and white ad materials. Just remember that companies pay for every click on their advertisement, whether it results in a purchase or not.
How much do advertisers pay per click?
Below is a table summarizing some of the average costs of online advertising:
| Particulars | Costs |
|---|---|
| The average ad cost per click on Google Ads (AdWords) | $2.32 |
| Display Network’s average ad cost per click | $0.58 |
| Google advertising search campaign’s average cost per action (CPA) | $59.18 |
| The cost of Google advertising and Bing Ads’ most expensive keywords | $50 or higher per click |
| The average cost of an online Facebook ad per click | $1.72 |
| Facebook Ads’ average cost per action | $18.68 |
| Facebook Ads’ average cost for a typical CPM | Around $10 |
| Instagram ad cost for a typical CPM | $5 (this amount is rising due to Instagram’s gaining popularity among users) |
| Monthly average spend of a small business using Google advertising | $9,000 and $10,000 (or $100,000 to $120,000 per year) |
How long does it take for PPC to work?
There is no specific period nor time frame when the PPC campaign is going to work. The period will depend on the goals of the company.
However, companies should give a PPC strategy a little time before results can be seen. Most quote a three-month period to allow customers to get to see results, especially if it is new in the market.
The PPC management agency needs to gather data, and this is possible if the campaign runs longer to maximize exposure. Within this period, the PPC managers may adjust keywords to optimize campaign performance, engagement, and costs. Testing of new ad copy and extensions may also be conducted to turn more clients into converters effectively.
Three months may be short or long for some companies, but this period is crucial to determine whether your PPC campaign is working or not. Ad agencies may be able to decide whether to maintain, expand, change, or cancel a PPC strategy within this timeframe.
How do you do PPC Marketing?
As mentioned earlier, the most obvious goal for any PPC campaign is to generate sales. The sales funnel primarily includes awareness, consideration, and purchase. For each purpose, a specific PPC campaign marketing strategy is required as follows:
Brand Awareness
PPC helps maximize the visibility of a new brand or product to raise awareness and introduce it to the market. Ads can be an effective strategy for more visibility to the relevant audience, whose clicks may lead to the consideration of buying.
PPC display ads must use a combination of related keywords, topics, and placements. The best option to gain brand awareness is through social media like Facebook and Instagram.
However, this may have a higher cost-per-click and irrelevant click-through. PPC managers may use smart keyword match types or negative keywords to address this downside.
Brand Consideration
At this stage, companies can reintroduce the brand or product through a more detailed campaign and stronger call-to-action ad copy.
The needs and questions of consumers at this point, become more detailed and specific. Thus, a banner or responsive ad may bring the consumer back to the product they have previously clicked and viewed.
Purchase
Clients who are ready to buy use word search queries indicating a higher intent. It may include words about cost, model numbers, discounts, and shipping information.
Companies may capture these clients by highlighting their offered warranty, return policy, and guarantees. Companies can also maximize the use of ad copy and extensions to make consumers consider your product like the one they need to buy.
Using cart abandonment ads to remarket your brand previously viewed by consumers may also be an effective marketing strategy.
Repeat Purchase
Businesses want their customers to be loyal to their brands after the initial purchase. Repeat purchases and sales can be made through PPC remarketing and customer matching. You need to be aware of the following opportunities:
• Selling complementary products and accessories
• Replacement or maintenance
• Product upgrades
Your PPC marketing campaign must focus on the things that motivate consumers to buy from your company again. Coupon and discount offers may also be compelling motivators to gain repeat buyers.
