Your PPC campaign appears to be stuck in neutral. Despite setting up the account, identifying keywords, crafting compelling ads, and investing funds, the results remain lackluster.
Perhaps you even delegated the entire process to someone else, yet the performance remains subpar.
Although the strategy sounds straightforward—identify relevant keywords and pay for clicks—achieving meaningful traffic that converts is proving elusive.
Let’s delve into the typical issues plaguing PPC campaigns and explore effective solutions.
Why Do PPC Campaigns Fail?
When your PPC campaigns aren’t yielding results, the culprits typically fall into three main categories:
- Issues with Ad Platform Configuration: This encompasses setup problems directly impacting your audience targeting and the quality of traffic you’re acquiring. Optimizations here are pivotal in distinguishing between a profitable campaign and one that falls short.
- Audience Targeting: Ensure you’re bidding on the right keywords to reach potential customers. Analyze your search terms report to uncover the triggering keywords for your ads. Additionally, assess other ads displayed for similar keywords to gauge relevance.
Review your campaign settings, particularly location targeting. Avoid Google’s default recommendation of targeting “People in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your targeted locations,” as it may lead to wasted spend.
- Conversion Tracking: Effective campaign assessment hinges on conversion tracking. Unless you’re running brand awareness display ads, tracking conversions is imperative. Neglecting this aspect could mean squandering resources.
- Ad Copy: Examine your click-through-rate (CTR). If it’s below 2%, it’s time to refine your ad copy. Compelling copy is essential for search ad success. Consider incorporating additional relevant keywords, highlighting benefits, and crafting compelling calls to action.
- Account Structure: Properly structuring your PPC account is vital for data visibility and efficient budget allocation. Group campaigns by product, category, or offer, and segment ad groups by theme. Prioritize relevance over quantity when selecting keywords to optimize performance.
For instance, if running travel campaigns, organize campaigns based on destination landing pages, with ad groups representing different themes such as summer getaways, budget flights, and vacation packages, tailored to keyword relevance and search volume.
Match Types:
With Google phasing out broad match modifiers, leveraging both phrase match and exact match keywords in your campaigns is prudent. Particularly in scenarios with tight budgets and high CPCs, relying solely on exact match keywords might be advisable. While you can separate them by ad group, combining both types within the same ad group is often acceptable.
The crucial aspect, especially in budget-constrained situations, is to steer clear of broad keywords. Google’s broad matching can lead to ads appearing in unrelated searches, resulting in wasted spending. For instance, bidding on “coffee beans” might inadvertently trigger ads for “jack and the beanstalk,” draining your budget.
Negative Keywords:
Just as the right keywords can elevate your campaign performance, the wrong ones can drag it down and deplete your budget. It’s imperative to eliminate irrelevant keywords that attract traffic unlikely to convert into customers or leads. Understanding search intent is key here.
Regularly scrutinize your search terms report and exclude irrelevant keywords. You can pinpoint negative keywords based on your product knowledge and how your audience searches. For example, a men’s watches campaign might include “women’s watches” as a negative keyword to filter out irrelevant traffic.
Budget:
A sufficient budget is essential for PPC success. Think of it like a car stuck in the snow—it won’t move without enough traction. Similarly, the less you spend, the slower your learning process, and the more likely you are to perceive PPC as ineffective.
However, it’s worth noting that PPC isn’t suitable for every business. Fortunately, there are methods to determine its suitability, which we’ll discuss later on.
- Issues on the Landing Page:
It’s all too easy to dedicate the majority of your time to crafting ads and overlook the critical impact of your landing page on ROI. Even the most qualified prospects won’t take action on a page that fails to effectively communicate the value proposition or, worse, introduces barriers to conversion such as slow load times or cumbersome checkout processes.
Consistency:
The content on your landing page must align seamlessly with the promises made by your keywords and ad copy. If your ad promotes a “free demo,” the landing page should prominently feature a “Get Free Demo” call-to-action. Similarly, if your campaign focuses on a specific product, the landing page should direct visitors to the corresponding product page.
The Offer:
Your offer is paramount. It must be both highly compelling and sufficiently attainable to motivate action on the landing page. For instance, a retirement home soliciting visitors to “Fill out this extensive form to schedule a tour today!” is unlikely to resonate. Instead, opt for offers like free demos, trials, tours, or samples that entice without overwhelming.
For high-ticket eCommerce businesses, effectively showcasing value is crucial to guide visitors towards conversion. Utilize videos, high-quality product imagery, selling points, benefits, and social proof to underscore the value proposition.
Content:
Appeal to the emotional and rational aspects of decision-making by highlighting benefits over mere features. Features hold little significance unless they directly address a problem or need of your audience. Focus on compelling copywriting that emphasizes the main benefits of your product or service.
Layout:
When designing your landing page, adhere to three principles: cleanliness, clarity, and simplicity.
- Clean: Eliminate clutter and distractions, including unnecessary navigation elements, particularly in B2B contexts.
- Clear: Present a single, clear call-to-action (CTA). Avoid overwhelming visitors with multiple CTAs.
- Simple: Keep the layout straightforward, showcasing the product or service, its benefits, and relevant social proof. Complexity should be reserved for inner website pages or post-conversion conversations.
Emphasize how your product or service enhances the prospect’s ROI, whether by saving time, boosting revenue, or reducing churn. Balancing this value proposition with a reasonable price point is key to crafting a winning landing page.
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Issues with ROI: PPC is Too Expensive for Your Business
This is a crucial consideration often overlooked, as PPC is often hailed as the ultimate marketing solution. While undeniably effective, it’s not universally suitable, and some upfront analysis can save significant time and resources.
The Equation:
Let’s delve into some technical aspects rarely discussed but pivotal for SMBs contemplating PPC:
If your AOV (average order value) or ACV (average contract value) pales in comparison to the CPC (cost per click), PPC may not be the most profitable channel for your business.
Consider this scenario where PPC could excel:
- You sell software, and your ACV is $10,000.
- The CPC for relevant keywords is $15.
- Your landing page secures demo sign-ups, capturing leads.
Suppose you invest $3,000 per month for three months, totaling $9,000.
- $9,000 divided by $15 CPC equals 600 clicks.
- With a 4% conversion rate, you secure 24 demos.
- Assuming a 25% conversion rate from demos to customers, you gain 6 new customers.
With 6 customers at $10,000 each, your revenue is $60,000.
- $60,000 divided by $9,000 in ad spend equals a 6x ROI, signifying profitability.
Now, let’s adjust the variables:
- You sell software, and your ACV is $2,500.
- The CPC for relevant keywords is $20.
- Your landing page secures demo sign-ups, capturing leads.
Using the same $3,000 monthly budget for three months:
- $9,000 divided by $20 CPC equals 450 clicks.
- With a 2% conversion rate, you secure 9 demos.
- Assuming an 11% conversion rate from demos to customers, you gain 1 new customer.
With 1 customer at $2,500, your revenue is $2,500.
- $2,500 divided by $9,000 in ad spend equals a 0.27 ROI, indicating unprofitability.
These examples underscore the importance of projecting outcomes before embarking on PPC campaigns. Sometimes, the numbers simply don’t align, and that’s okay. Remember, PPC is a tool, not a panacea for business woes.
If your analysis suggests PPC can be profitable, diligent attention to the advice provided here can help you achieve success. Despite PPC’s effectiveness, success demands nuance, complexity, and strategic effort. If results are elusive, delve into these factors to identify underlying issues and steer your campaign towards profitability.
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