Lucas Miller — November 4, 2016 Follow @EchelonCopy
If you’re anything like the majority of pay-per-click (PPC) marketers, once you’ve fallen into a routine, you tend to stick with it. After all, as the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Though the right mentality to embrace in certain circumstances, every now and again, it’s a good idea to take a long, hard look at your current PPC strategy to make sure that you’re getting the most from your efforts.
And with good reason—the digital world is constantly changing. With a host of new social networks and electronic devices at a buyer’s disposal, consumer behavior is changing, too.
Below, you’ll find four simple, yet highly actionable tricks to account for it, ensuring that you maximize any and all PPC outputs—cling closely to each of them:
1) Mobile or Bust!
Believe it or not, in 2015, the total number of mobile searches finally surpassed the number from desktop computers. For PPC marketers, this means that many of the users they’re targeting are now more active on cell phones and tablets than traditional computers.
For you, the response is as obvious and straightforward as they come—if your PPC campaigns aren’t optimized for mobile search, now is the time to make it happen.
There’s good news, though—optimizing your PPC ads for mobile is only a two-step process:
- First Step – Enable the “click-to-call” feature on all PPC ads. This is great for mobile users, because as soon as a phone number is clicked, a call begins.
- Second Step – Optimize your PPC landing pages for handheld electronic use. To do this, make certain they’re loading quickly and displaying properly on screens of all sizes.
Remember—there’s genuine urgency with all of this. According to Smart Insights, 48 percent of consumers begin mobile research with a search engine.
The longer you wait to adapt, the more leads you’ll lose.
2) Believe It or Not, Pinterest Ads
Pinterest is no longer only for homemakers and hairstylists—with well over 100 million active users, it’s for PPC marketers, too.
Why? Well, earlier this year, Pinterest revealed a new feature that allows brands to bulk upload and schedule promoted pins.
Yes, Pinterest ads can now be seen by larger audiences, but on top of that, advertisers can use keywords to reach new consumers—something not even the likes of Facebook has flirted with.
On Pinterest, driven largely by keywords, ads are now more relevant to the users who see them, improving the likelihood of a meaningful connection being made.
Care to take your PPC skills on the social sphere? The following are a few points to help out:
- Choose Keywords Wisely – Pinterest allows you to link each promoted pin with 150 keywords. Start with five to ten core terms. Then, focus on less relevant keywords.
- Use Calls to Action – Far too many social promotions fail to convert because they don’t ask that any action be taken. Keep things subtle, but ask that something be done.
- Take Advantage of Price – Compared to the CPC of Adwords and Facebook, Pinterest traffic is inexpensive. Take advantage, starting your campaigns with aggressive bids.
Even if you’ve run Pinterest ads before, keep an eye on things. This shouldn’t be complicated. If copy, keywords or budgets aren’t working, change them.
By actively monitoring your Pinterest ads, you’ll be well ahead of many of your competitors.
3) Use Ad Extensions to Your Advantage
Things weren’t always this way, but nowadays, if your PPC ad isn’t found in the top three or four spots in Adwords or Bing, your audience has no chance of seeing an ad extension.
But first, what’s an ad extension?
An ad extension is the extra copy attached to certain PPC ads. More often than not, they include a phone number, address, website URL or consumer ratings. Needless to say, they’re important.
They’re even more important, however, if you’ve spent a great deal of time, effort and money to have them on full display in one of the top, most coveted positions.
To reach more buyers, make sure your ad extensions include:
- Maps – It’s easy to see the value in having a map with your business on it. That said, if you’re local, this is even more of a necessity for an uptick in web and foot traffic.
- Sitelinks – Sitelinks are links that point towards internal pages on your website. Instead of sending traffic to a homepage, take them to where a purchase can easily be made.
- Positive Reviews – For years, studies about buyer psychology have proven the importance of social proof. In need of clicks? Include some within your ad extension.
- Product Information – Price needn’t always be a key selling point, but if yours is favorable, along with a testimonial, make it known in your ad extension.
- Limited-Time Offers – Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. If your business is offering a few irresistible deals, share them in this critical space.
The best part about all of this, though?
Seeing as how ad extensions already improve click-through rates, by taking into account each of the above, you make your PPC ads as click-worthy as possible—simple, yet effective.
4) Consumer Targeting and Remarketing
In 2015, Customer Match was introduced, allowing PPC advertisers to target customers in Adwords using their email addresses. With list building being one of a digital marketer’s top priorities, the impact was both welcomed and immediate.
As a direct byproduct of Customer Match’s introduction, targeting ideal consumers through PPC initiatives became substantially more efficient—to this day, it still is.
Even better, when combined with mobile remarketing, handheld searches are met with ads geared specifically towards urging mobile users to take action.
Test, Test, Test, etc.
As is the case with everything in PPC marketing, to get the most from each and every ad, resist the urge to forego the testing process.
By so doing, in the words of Rory Witt, Founder of DigiMar, you can “save a floundering campaign or spice up a performing one by shifting how it’s perceived.”
He’s right—no matter what you do to reach more buyers online through PPC advertising, without giving testing the time and attention it deserves, you’ll leave money on the table.
Best of luck with avoiding this kind of marketing mishap, and finding success in the process!
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