In digital marketing, you want to drive sales by generating leads while keeping costs as low as possible and profits high. Using a tactic with the word “pay” may not sound appealing. With so much focus on organic traffic in the digital marketing space, many are spending big money on optimization that still doesn’t convert.
But we’re here to tell you that organic traffic isn’t the only way or even always the best way to generate leads and convert readers. And even though pay-per-click advertising does require payment on your part (per click), it could be a far more profitable way of getting your brand noticed by your target audience.
The BRANDefenders team is here to teach you the basics. Learn everything you need to know about PPC marketing and learn whether it’s the right choice for your brand.
What Is PPC Marketing?
Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is a way of advertising web pages on search engines. These generally rank higher when users search and earn more attention. When users click on an ad, they immediately pay a certain amount to the search engine. No clicks, no payments due.
Compare this to a campaign that emphasizes organic traffic. A site has focused on search engine optimization (SEO) to earn the top spot for a keyword search with organic traffic. A user sees what they like, clicks, and goes to the website. There, they may or may not be converted into a customer.
While PPC marketing is essentially paying for a top spot, the core principles of search engine optimization often still apply. Advertisers must continue to optimize their pages, which we’ll touch on later. However, by paying Google for clicks, they can boost their site to the top.
The Benefit of Choosing Pay-Per-Click for Digital Marketing
For those who evangelize the merits of organic traffic, paying for clicks may seem like a waste of money. Why pay when you can get those clicks for free?
But the truth is that you could pay for the best content and search engine optimization and still be booted from the top rank the next day or be looked over in favor of a compelling PPC ad.
Considering that 67.6% of search engine users click on the first five results of any search, it’s easy to see why paying for the top spot of your target keyword’s results could completely change a campaign for the better. When others pay for traffic, optimization may simply not be enough to generate the leads you need.
How PPC Marketing Works
While you can find this digital marketing tactic on other platforms, Google Ads is the most popular. And with Google being the most popular search engine in the world by far, it’s no wonder that Google is the ultimate spot for PPC marketing.
To use this model, you’ll first need to design your campaign. What will users see when your ad appears in the results, where will they be sent, and is that page ready to convert? Once you’ve got everything ready, it’s time to enter the world of Google Ads Auctions.
The Google Ads Auction
Every time someone searches on Google, there’s an entire auction going on in seconds and involves Google’s algorithm reaching into its store of bidders to produce top-ranking PPC ads for each user.
behind the scenes. Considering this happens over 3 billion times each day, there aren’t any fast-talking auctioneers or bidding paddles.
Here’s how each auction works.
Ad Ranking
For every keyword, there are always several bidders looking to rank. This means that even if you pay for a spot with a keyword, you’re not guaranteed that spot or even a click. This is why it’s a pay-per-click system — you don’t have to worry about paying a lot of money only to get passed over every time.
However, this means that there’s intense competition between advertisers looking to rank for the same keywords. So how does Google determine each ranking? There are two components for determining the victors: maximum bids and an ad’s quality score.
Quality Score
As mentioned above, the strategies that go into SEO for driving organic traffic aren’t entirely foreign to the world of PPC marketing. You can’t just pay Google to put your ad at the top of every search. If that were the case, Google would be putting irrelevant, low-quality pages at the top of search results, leading users to mistrust the platform and its results.
This is why you must earn a high-quality score. Advertisers must ensure that their pages are relevant to the keywords they want to rank for and that they take users to high-quality pages (mobile-optimized, easy-to-read, fast, etc.), with engaging content that has a strong click-through rate.
How Much Advertisers Pay
Once Google calculates your quality score, they multiply it by the maximum bid you offer. After all, Google wants to push high-quality pages that are also willing to pay more to the platform. You receive your rank based on the resulting number and how it compares with your competitor.
However, keep in mind that you don’t necessarily pay the full amount you bid. This is another reason you want the highest quality score. Once your rank is determined, this is divided by your quality score with one cent then added. The resulting number is the price for a click. The larger your quality score, the less you pay.
How to Find Success with PPC Marketing
At BRANDefenders, we’ve perfected the art of getting our clients’ campaigns where they need to be. We do this by emphasizing and optimizing several factors of their content and campaign parameters. Here are some tips for creating a successful digital marketing campaign.
Keyword Choice
Just as keywords are an important part of SEO, the keywords you choose to target are essential in PPC marketing. The keywords you choose should be what your target audience would be searching to get your brand in front of the leads you’re most likely to convert.
Engaging Ads
Just because your page ranks high in searches doesn’t automatically guarantee a click. The user must see something that answers the question they were asking Google about or present a solution they were looking for. Make sure the meta-titles and descriptions show that you have the information they need.
Conversion-Driven Content
Once you get a click, you’ve only generated a lead that you’ve paid for. Now, you need to make the sale. Ensure that the landing page is engaging and persuasive with the right calls to action that allow you to earn a profit, well-eclipsing the click price.
This not only boosts your conversion rate. But high-quality pages will also earn you a higher quality score. This increases your ranking while bringing down the price of the click. It’s a win-win-win: higher rankings mean more clicks, cheaper clicks, and the users you bring to your page are more likely to become customers.
If you’re unsure how to write conversion-driven content, reach out to BRANDefenders to help you craft the perfect pitch.
PPC Marketing Campaign Management
Once you start a campaign, it’s not enough to make it a good one at first and never touch it again. Regular updates and improvements should be made. If you choose an agency like BRANDefenders, you can have your campaigns expertly managed for you. Here are some of the ways we keep your campaigns performing and what you should be doing as well.
Keyword Management
The first round of keywords you choose for a campaign may not be evergreen. Once your campaign is up and rolling, there’s some maintenance you’ll want to do. This includes:
- Review expensive keywords. If you’re paying a lot of money for keywords that aren’t performing as they should, you’re wasting money.
- Add new keywords. As times change, you may find new, well-performing keywords that better fit your campaign.
- Add negative keywords. Negative keywords are those that you don’t want your ad to appear for. If specific keywords are getting you seen outside your target audience, you may want to avoid paying for them and use your dollars effectively.
Personalize Landing Pages
There is poor planning when sending all your leads to the same landing page based on all the possible searches that could have led them. A user who searched one keyword won’t be looking for the same things and be converted by the same calls to action as someone who used a completely different keyword.
Make sure that you have landing pages that cater to the audience suited to each keyword.
Create Targeted Ads for Different Groups
Like the landing pages, you must consider the ad that a user sees. What is it that’s going to get a user to click on your ad? The keyword searched needs to connect directly with the user to encourage them to check it out.
Get in Touch with Us about PPC Marketing for Your Brand Today
If you think that pay-per-click could be the best method for your digital marketing campaign, you want to ensure it’s effective to get the biggest bang for your buck. At BRANDefenders, we’re experts in crafting campaigns that convert and make every click well worth what you paid for.
Contact us if you’re ready to give your digital marketing the big boost it needs. The BRANDefenders team is prepared to create and manage your campaign and get you the leads and conversions you’ve been looking for.