For the modern business, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an incredibly effective weapon to keep in your marketing arsenal. Gone are the “throw mud at the wall and see what sticks” days of advertising – algorithmic analysis of online consumer behaviour has led to unprecedented opportunities for advertisers to reach potential customers online.
No matter your field of operation, a well-optimised PPC strategy can result in:
- increased brand awareness
- meaningful lead generation
- increased sales
- repeat business
However, PPC advertising is a highly specialised field, and one which often requires the expertise of a dedicated pay-per-click agency – going it alone with a poor PPC strategy might result in increased web traffic, but little else.
Whether you choose to retain the services of a pay-per-click agency, choose to use your in-house PPC experts, or choose to pursue other advertising avenues entirely, it’s essential to gain an understanding of what pay-per-click is in order to make an educated decision.
With this in mind, our pay-per-click management experts have written an extensive guide to PPC management and strategy. Whatever your familiarity with pay-per-click services, this should answer some of your questions.
Pay-per-Click Management: The Lowdown
For even the most seasoned digital marketing professional, pay-per-click is a tricky beast. PPC marketing is a field which evolves constantly: as algorithms get smarter, as devices get more powerful, as consumers become more privacy-conscious – the rules of the game keep changing, and the goals keep shifting. In short, the factors which made for a successful PPC campaign last week might drive website visitors away next week.
This is where a specialist PPC management agency comes in. PPC agencies keep on-hand a team of experts who are up-to-date with all the latest changes to the PPC landscape. These experts not only create ads, but they can handle all aspects of campaign development and effective campaign management, generating ongoing traffic and profitable leads for their clients.
In addition, a PPC agency will monitor and keep track of your campaign, using data-driven results to optimise campaign strategy over time. As a client, this leaves you free to focus on doing what you do best: running your business.
An Effective PPC Campaign – What’s Under the Hood?
There are many elements which go towards building and maintaining a successful PPC campaign. At The Bank, we divide campaign goals into two categories: development and maintenance. Throughout our work with a client, we constantly refer back to these goals when examining success:
Development Stage Goals:
- Build brand awareness
- Generate relevant, targeted website traffic
- Convert that traffic into sales
Maintenance Stage Goals:
- Monitor search queries
- Generate regular reports for the client
- Examine measurable results (profit; traffic)
- Make amendments
Now that we’ve established our goals, let’s look at the methods The Bank use to achieve them:
Keyword Analysis and Research
Keyword research is the process of detecting and selecting target keywords for your website. The purpose of this research is to identify which keywords are most relevant to your business, and which ones have the potential to generate the most organic traffic and sale conversions.
In the context of PPC, your chosen keywords and phrases will trigger a search engine to display your ads. If the keyword targeting is effective, this ad will result in a click, which will result in a visit, and, ultimately, a sale. If non-relevant keywords have been targeted in your campaign, you may receive poor traffic from visitors who are looking for something entirely different.
This is where keyword analysis comes in. How are your keywords performing? Are they driving the right traffic? If not, it’s time to go back to keyword research, generate some new keyword ideas, rinse and repeat.
Channel Management – More Than Just Google Ads
Of course, Google Ads is a huge element of any PPC campaign. As of 2022, Google continues to dominate search engine use, with 86.19% market share of desktop searches. With this in mind, a PPC agency must use its knowledge of Google Display Network and its methods of operation in order to develop an effective PPC campaign.
However, Google is not the only player in the game. In terms of search engine results, the Microsoft advertising network is a significant player, with Bing ads outperforming Google in targeting certain demographics (namely users who are older, blue-collar, and with higher income). Microsoft Ads offers a number of other advantages over Google, including lower cost and improved device-based targeting. Bing is also pre-installed on many Windows PCs, with many users not choosing to change browser!
Away from the arena of search engines, social media advertising is an extremely important channel for PPC services, especially when targeting younger demographics. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn all present phenomenal opportunities for paid search and marketing, with sophisticated advertising techniques that surpass Google in many areas. Similarly, streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube offer incredible options for PPC campaign efficacy.
At The Bank, channel management is an essential part of our PPC services. Our experts and industry-leading software solutions allow us to track progress over all your PPC ads.
Competitive Analysis
No matter your approach to PPC, you can be assured your competition are watching – you need to ensure you’re doing the same. PPC management services will monitor:
- Keyword Targeting – Which keywords are your competitors using? Are you hitting the same keywords? Are they out-performing your keywords? Can you use any of their keywords as inspiration for developing new keywords?
- Ad Copy – What is the written content of their ad? Is their ad copy giving them a competitive advantage? Is their superior ad copy causing them to rank higher than you?
- Ad Spend – What bid amounts are your competition submitting for their PPC ads? Can more strategic bidding give you more bang for your buck?
A PPC management company will consider all of these questions, ensuring that your PPC campaigns remain competitive and profitable.
Landing Page Optimisation
If you’ve worked with an SEO agency before, you’re probably aware of how important it is to optimise your landing page for link building and generating organic results. A well-optimised landing page is an also essential part of any PPC campaign. Your website must be refined in such a way as to ensure potential customers know they’ve reached the right place.
At The Bank, we believe a good PPC agency must also be a good SEO agency. Our PPC experts work closely with SEO specialists to ensure your site retains the style you love, whilst bringing in the customers you need.
Result Tracking
As you’ve probably gathered by now, a digital marketing campaign is an ongoing process – existing campaigns are never completed campaigns. And while it’s never a good idea to mess too much with success, even the most successful campaigns need constant tweaking to ensure the client is receiving the best return on their investment.
Using data-driven analytics, an effective PPC advertising campaign will involve frequent performance scrutiny and trial-and-error testing:
- Where are we going wrong, and how can we fix it?
- What are we doing right, and how can we build upon that momentum?
PPC Management: Specialist Agency vs. In-House
Even if you’ve never engaged with PPC services, you can probably tell one thing: paid advertising is expensive! In the UK, a presence in the most expensive paid search results can cost over £55 per click!
With this in mind, it’s paramount to cut costs wherever possible – if you can run a paid search campaign yourself without hiring a dedicated PPC company, it makes sense to do it, right?
At The Bank, we’re experts in all things digital marketing, as PPC management specialists we have all the tools to get your ads ranking and turning a profit. In our experience, the benefits of working with a dedicated PPC agency outweigh those of going the in-house route. Take a look at some of the advantages below:
Cost
When it comes to the cost of PPC management, there are a few things to consider. Firstly, agencies have the benefit of economies of scale – they have more staff, and can therefore negotiate better rates with ad networks. They also have more experience in managing complex campaigns, which means they’re more likely to get better relevant results for your budget.
Expertise
PPC agencies are experts in managing and improving PPC advertising campaigns. They have the experience and knowledge to target the most relevant users, optimize landing pages, and ensure a high ROI for their clients.
Time
PPC companies can save you a considerable amount of time when it comes to managing your advertising campaigns. Staying up-to-date on PPC trends can be a full-time job on its own; a PPC agency can take that hard work off your plate.
The Bank Strategy for Your PPC Campaigns
At The Bank, we take a collaborative approach to creating and maintaining the right PPC strategy for each client. We want to take as much of the hard work off your hands, but in the initial stages particularly, we want to hear from you!
During your first meeting, your dedicated account manager will ask you to consider the following questions:
What Are Your Business Goals?
When it comes to paid advertising, defining your goals as a business is essential. The last thing you want is to waste money on a campaign that doesn’t achieve anything.
At The Bank, we work with our clients to define clear business goals for their paid search campaigns. Whether you’re looking to increase brand awareness, drive more traffic to your website or increase sales, we can create a campaign that achieves your desired results.
What Is Your Budget?
It’s incredibly easy to overspend on a PPC campaign; it’s vital that your budget is spent in the most efficient way possible.
When defining your budget, it’s important to again consider what you want to achieve. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Drive more traffic to your website? Increase sales? The costs associated with these differing goals vary, but with a clear budget strategy, you can be confident you will reach them at a price you can afford.
Who Is Your Target Audience?
This might seem obvious, but your account manager will work with you to scrutinise your target audience. You want to not only understand who you’re trying to reach with your advertising campaigns, but what kind of person is most likely to convert into a customer. With this information in hand, we can create targeted ads and landing pages that speak directly to your target market.
What Do You Think Are the Right Keywords?
As mentioned above, keyword analysis is an essential aspect of all PPC campaigns. Frustratingly, finding relevant keywords is often more art than science – even with the best PPC ad software tools and expertise, more often than not it’s the spark of human inspiration which results in the most effective keywords.
You won’t find a PPC company who knows your business better than you, so at The Bank we’ll always ask for your input when it comes to keyword generation. Perhaps you’re using a new material that’s exclusive to your business? Maybe one of your customers mentioned something in a review that you think could be good for driving sales? We want to know what you think!
Where Do You See Yourself Running Ads Effectively?
A professional PPC management agency will always be able to recommend new advertising avenues, but client input is vital here; you know where you want to see your ads, and – significantly – where you don’t want to display advertising.
Maybe you want to drive traffic to your new high-fashion clothing business – is LinkedIn the best place for you? Perhaps you run an award-winning accountancy firm – are you likely to gain many conversions via TikTok? Your PPC expert can make suggestions, but the decisions are ultimately down to you!
How’s the Performance of Your Past/Current Campaigns?
As the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
When it comes to creating new PPC campaigns, there is always the temptation to throw everything out and start from scratch. However, a savvy PPC service recognises that there’s a lot to learn even a campaign whose performance was underwhelming.
The Bank – Your New Agency for PPC Management
You may have reached this page as your prior experience with pay-per-click has been unprofitable – that’s where a PPC management company like The Bank can step in.
Our marketing team have an unbeatable track record in PPC ad campaigns and marketing strategy development.
For businesses of all sizes, we take a bespoke approach, finding ways to ensure your ad spend goes to the right places, to generate the right kinds of traffic.
Contact us today to find out how our PPC management services can work for you!
