Digital marketing has evolved considerably and while there are several tactics at our disposal, few are as powerful as PPC. Regardless of the type of business or the industry you’re in, it’s always worth the effort to find new ways to market your brand. It may seem obvious but the primary goal for brands is making it easy for customers to find them. While SEO, keywords and organic traffic are great contributors, Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising plays a major role.

For the novices out there, Pay Per Click advertising refers to a type of internet marketing involving keyword bidding where advertisers pay a small fee whenever someone clicks one of their ads. It has an untapped potential that can yield incredibly good returns. PPC can help expand your business into new markets resulting in more customers and revenue streams.

The Value Of PPC Advertising

PPC is one of the most effective tools to reach potential customers at the right time across multiple channels and devices. It is a fact that successful PPC campaigns typically generate more profit, much faster than other marketing methods. Considering that PPC produces an 80% increase in brand awareness, why not opt for paid search ads?

While PPC covers a wide field with many different formats, ad types and platforms, it offers incredible opportunities for marketers. According to available data from 2017-2018, text ads and remarketing ads were the most effective. Mobile and social media came next followed by shopping and display ads.

How Does Content Marketing Fit Into And PPC?

PPC is a powerful tool but it truly comes to life when combining it with the right content marketing strategy. Combining PPC with content marketing represents what we like to call, ‘The Perfect Combo’. It is possibly one of the most lucrative ways to maximise content engagement and lead generation.

We’ve spoken at length about how important quality content is and it’s no different in Pay Per Click campaigns. Today, we’ll look at how you can integrate PPC into your content marketing calendar for better engagement and revenue.

1. Segment Your Target Audience

Segmenting your audience depends on your type of business and whether you work in a B2C or B2B environment. You need to consider all stakeholders as many prefer different avenues. Some like using social media like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn while others prefer blogs, eCommerce or online forums.

Understanding your audience and knowing where to target your PPC efforts will result in better and more relevant content. The great thing about quality content is that you can repurpose it across different platforms.

While social media focuses on short-form content, online articles or blog posts allow for more detailed content. Knowing who you are targeting in the next content marketing cycle will make it much easier to successfully implement PPC.

2. Creative Content Plans And Pay Per Click

Setting up content plans will help identify the different content types, messages and the design of your marketing pieces. This allows you to target various audiences in one marketing campaign without coming across as ‘spammy’ after multiple views. Content is most often the deciding factor whether prospects click or don’t click, it is worth taking time to make attractive and creative ads.

It’s always better to rely on a professional PPC management platform like Google Ads to provide constant and fresh content. More often than not, everything else just seems to fall in place when you have a good content plan in place. This makes creating Pay Per Click content much easier that will encourage visitors to click and engage with your brand.

3. SEO And Keyword Research

Search engines and organic traffic play a major role in business growth as the majority of visitors use them to find your brand. That is why implementing both on-page and off-page SEO will help more potential customers find you.

While PPC campaigns will help reach higher search engine rankings in a shorter space of time, SEO is invaluable. In terms of Pay Per Click, SEO can help you create keyword-optimised headings and Meta descriptions. Not to mention proper use of image alt attributes, backlinks and domain authority.

If set up and monitored carefully, the keywords that boost your PPC campaign can also be used to inform your SEO content. Find out which terms produce the best sales and target these phrases so that the two strategies can work in tandem. Consider exchanging low-conversion keyword phrases for new, more effective phrases. Refer to this article for more information on keyword research.

4. Quality Content Always Trumps Quantity

Even though paid search campaigns bring plenty of traffic to your website, it doesn’t mean much without engaging content. What’s the point if you have 1,000 new visitors but zero engagement and conversions? You need to ensure that your content is interesting, value adding and relevant to each of your target segments. It must be engaging enough to convince your audience to click and subsequently purchase or convert.

In addition to quality, always brand your content with industry-specific keywords, internal links, original and trustworthy information. It’s important to follow news sites, social media influencers or industry leaders for information about the latest trends and developments. If you remain up to ahead on all the important news within your niche, your PPC links will add real value to your visitors. As a result, your content marketing efforts become an even more powerful tool.

5. Powerful Calls to Action

While CTAs are used in written content, blogs and social media posts, they are also valuable in Meta descriptions and visual ad content like web banners or pop-ups. Calls to action in all shapes and forms should be short, clear and engaging. You should write your headings and Metadata in such a way that readers can’t help but click on the link.

One of the many great tactics for quality CTAs is to raise interesting and relevant questions about your content. Space is limited in paid ads so keep the message short and to the point. Don’t give too much information away in the advertisement as the idea is for visitors to click for more information. Use power words in your ads like “exposed,” “secret,” “guaranteed,” “shocking,” or “incredible” to capture the attention of the viewer.

However, never use “click bait” titles to trick visitors into clicking a link which takes them to unrelated content. You need to strike a healthy balance between sales talk and proper terms otherwise you could come across as “salesy”.

6. Use Discounts, Vouchers Or Special Offers

Remember that every click will cost you a small amount but it never guarantees a sale. You need to set up a simple, attractive and persuasive process to maximise the chances of closing a deal. Special offers can help drive traffic to your website and may increase sales.

While there are several strong CTAs, five that generally perform well include:

  • Buy
  • Discount(s)
  • Deal(s)
  • Coupon(s)
  • Free shipping or delivery
  • Deliver What You Promise

7. Deliver What You Promise

One of the best ways to maintain brand trust and credibility is to follow up on your PPC ads. Always be in contact with your customers and don’t leave them waiting and always deliver on your promises. For example, if you promote discounts on specific products, make sure that you have sufficient stock and that everything is ready when a customer places an order.

Products, services and any form of corporate communication in PPC ads should be true and reflect what is being advertised. Not providing your customers with that level of honesty and quality will result in your efforts losing value and credibility.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that Pay Per Click advertising is an incredible tool but not on its own. You always need to back up your marketing efforts with high-quality, relevant and interesting content relevant. Combining PPC and content marketing is by no means a simple process but well worth it in the end. Done right and you will greatly benefit from all that paid advertising has to offer on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

If you need help setting up or wanting more from your pay per click campaigns, contact us today for a free consultation. We specialise in all things digital marketingsocial media managementmarketing automationresponsive web design and more.

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