Approximately 8 minute read

PPC endeavors have evolved significantly over the years. In the early days of Google AdWords, Yahoo! Small Business Marketing Solutions, and later Yahoo|Bind Ads Network advertising clicks and traffic served of utmost importance. PPC advertisers would settle for metrics such as Clicks, Impressions, & CTR. These were the basic benchmarks that advertisers would utilize for performance measurement purposes. But over the years PPC advertising initiatives have broadened with a stronger focus on the customer.

PPC advertising is a form of art. Painting a Picasso took artistic capabilities of creative and visual nature. In the world of PPC including Google AdWords, Yahoo|Bing Ads Network, Yahoo! Gemini, Facebook Advertising, Twitter Advertising, and Pinterest Advertising it is imperative to have a thorough understanding of how to treat such fine art. Like anything else that has come to fruition there are certain fundamentals and principles that should be followed.

I’ve worked with the majority of platforms indicated above for nearly 10 years now. There are a few things that have become quite evident to me over the years that I believe may be of value to you.

• Saturation
• Competition on the rise
• Segmentation
• Keywords deflation
• Ad quality & content
• Goals & funnels
• Bidding strategies
• Budgets

Relationship Building with PPC Endeavors

Over the years the sales strategy of PPC services has changed significantly. One of the intricate elements a PPC customer should comprehend is the relationship building aspect of such endeavors. Engaging a client in Pay-Per-Click Marketing services should start with a thorough explanation of how one attempts to communicate and interact with its customers. Regardless of what PPC platform you are leveraging for these PPC initiatives.

Let me be a bit more granular here and paint some additional clarity. When attempting to engage with your PPC customers, consider putting forth a strong emphasis on the following areas.

• Structure – the overall hierarchy of your PPC account stands of critical importance. Different campaigns, ad groups, geo targeting, keywords, ads, and landing pages. Attending to each area adequately will help improve the overall performance of each campaign. If your car does not contain all of its critical components for proper operation than chances are it will malfunction, overheat, break down, etc. Depending on the type of customer you are dealing with, it may indeed take some time to achieve ideal structure and performance. This is something that should be clearly explained to a client.

• Maintenance & Nurturing – PPC does not magically fruition overnight. This is one of the most common misconception with clients I have encountered that are incoherent to the world of Paid Search advertising. Yes, you can certainly turn on a campaign instantly and let the clicks flow. However, true optimization, refinement, and results will take some time to achieve. The turnaround timeframe for PPC success is something most customers are not prepared for. As a PPC advertiser it is imperative to clearly articulate the maintenance and nurturing aspect that will be required for true evolution.

• Consistency – PPC platforms have internal algorithms they utilize to judge overall performance of a campaign. One particular determining factor for true campaign success relies heavily upon consistency. For example, how often do you refine your keyword selection? Or, how frequently your ads are rotated and/or content modified for relevance sake? Also, budget fluctuation may in fact play a determining role on how a campaign performs. Certainly there are other determining factors that Google, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn PPC advertising platforms take into account. Wouldn’t it be nice if each was transparent about their secret sauce? Wishful thinking!

The above mentioned areas are something I put forth a strong emphasis in when selling PPC services. Over the years I have discovered that those clients who are seeking to make a quick buck with paid ads are not going to be ideal clients for me. In other words, there is a high level of patience with PPC in order for it to be truly successful and profitable. Forging strong relationships with potential customers by employing practices of proper campaign structure, maintenance, and consistency is a good start.

Essentials of A/B Testing

One of the critical components of PPC advertising is the A/B testing. A/B testing of ads and landing pages. Experiments are not something that many clients are extremely fond of. At least in my experience unless you are dealing with an expendable budget. Wouldn’t that be ideal with each client? Yes, that would certainly be a great perk to have and plenty of flexibility to leverage. There are a couple of areas I highlight upon heavily with clients that engage in PPC services. I believe that these are areas that you should too focus on in order to pay your due diligence.

• Ads – a successful PPC advertising campaign strongly relies upon good content. Quality content to be more precise. But most importantly updated and relevant content. Therefore in order to accomplish this for the sake of tactical customer engagement consider writing new ads every so often. Explain to your customer that new ad copy should be written once a week or every couple of weeks at latest. During holiday seasons it may require even more attention due to increased search volume, traffic, saturation, and competition.

• LPs – the struggles of proper landing page usage are real. From a structural perspective LPs should coincide with your website. For example, different landing pages should be utilized for individual product/service categories. If you have top products or services that tend to receive a good amount of traffic than consider compiling LPs around those. The goal with landing pages in conjunction with PPC campaigns is to designate targeted messaging around specific products or services. In other words, refrain from using one LP for all products or services. It will be an ineffective approach that will decrease the potential for targeted clicks and conversions. One of the hardest obstacles to overcome with LPs is their actual construction. In most cases the clients I have worked with struggle with this endeavor from a time and money perspective.

The Art of Selling PPC Services

Drum roll! There is a tactic and strategy to selling PPC services. It is definitely not an easy task either. Over the years I have discovered that there are two types of clients that you are most likely going to deal with when selling PPC services. I’ve broken down each on of them below with some specifications based on experience.

• The Uneducated PPC Client – you will need plenty of coffee and patience for this one. It will be a very tough sell. Fortunately there are a couple of underlying elements worth considering. A flexible or expendable budget always plays an intricate role in any digital marketing endeavor. Same for PPC! Which is precisely why these days I always ask my uneducated clients about their designated PPC budget first. Sure, there is a formula to come up with an adequate budget. However for the sake of time and efficiency by asking about a hypothetical budget beforehand will at least give you an indication of their level of investment. It’s a good gauge of how devote your potential client will be in PPC services. Also, you will need to provide plenty of explanation on the fundamentals of PPC. How it works, why it works, and obviously where the ROI comes from.

• The Educated PPC Client – this can be anyone who has been exposed to Pay-Per-Click marketing platforms in the best. Whether it was DIY or perhaps someone in-house who have managed PPC campaigns for a company. In personal experience I have discovered that selling PPC services to somewhat knowledgeable client is always advantageous. They seem to have a basic understanding of the HOW and WHY. Also there seems to be a preliminary comprehension of WHERE the ROI will come from. After all PPC endeavors are intended to help generate more sales, revenue, traffic, and visibility.

Having a good understanding of your potential PPC client will also give a competitive advantage. Consider evaluating their industry. Inquire about any past PPC engagements to utilize as a foundation. Starting fresh can be a clean slate but also rather difficult. Establish an understanding of the PPC campaign investment. Not only from a monetary perspective but a time initiative as well. Typically I let clients know that it will take approximately three months before their PPC campaigns achieve optimal success.

Did you enjoy the article? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments below. Fire away.