Does PPC Advertising Even Work?
True Story: Recently, I was told that Pay per Click (PPC) advertising does not work. As the Search Manager at DaBrian Marketing, I was naturally curious as to why the person had renounced paid online advertising. After having a longer conversation with this person, I found out that his/her existing campaigns simply did not consider the appropriate keyword match types. The campaigns were not complete!
Yes, If You Do it Right
While the campaigns may have contained relevant ad copy and led users to helpful landing pages, there was no sufficient targeting. In other words: this person’s ads were displaying for a multitude of search queries – many of which did not actually pertain to the advertised product or service.
Only broad match type was implemented without negative keywords. In other words: the person spent a marketing budget on impressions and clicks without considering how to actually gain new customers. For any advertising campaign – including a PPC campaign – to work, it must consider the complete sales-process.
Accomplishing desired goals connected to new customer acquisition requires precise and accurate targeting in PPC campaigns. Like the kind of targeting the gif, below. But, just with a much happier ending: more sales for your business rather than a concussion. Using several match types (broad modified, phrase, exact, and others) as well as negative keywords could have prevented several unwanted impressions and costly clicks for the person in this story.
Make Your Ads Count & Stop Wasting Money
For your own paid online advertising, eliminate wasted ad spend by ensuring that your ads are reaching the right target audience with the right search queries. Create well-managed keyword groupings that:
1) Cover a host of in-the-moment needs for your potential customers
2) Filter out users that are searching for content that is irrelevant to your business.
When you account for these factors, your PPC campaigns will effectively create impressions, clicks, conversions, and ultimate sales for your business.
For in-depth knowledge about this topic, download our white paper on PPC Keyword Match Types.
When have you seen a badly targeted paid ad on Google or Bing?
Tell us about your experience in the comments to hear from us. Or, just give us a call for fast help and improvement of your PPC account.