Creating a Great PPC Campaign

As you can observe, PPC operates differently from traditional advertising in magazines and on TV. Instead of paying for a single advert or exposure, you pay for each click. This requires a different perspective.

The key concept to grasp is that your goal is not necessarily to maximize the number of clicks. Traditional advertising campaigns often prioritize grabbing attention and generating clicks at any cost. However, since you pay for each click, you can actually reduce your total expenses by minimizing the number of clicks.

Your objective is not just to drive as much traffic as possible to your website.

Your objective is to attract as many potential customers as possible to your website.

In other words, you want to drive traffic that is likely to convert, while discouraging other users from clicking on your ads whenever feasible.

If you pay for 100 clicks and 99 of those result in a purchase of your product, you can consider it a highly effective marketing campaign. Conversely, if you pay for 2,000 clicks and only 300 of those lead to a purchase, it is not as successful because you would have spent more money.

PPC and Your Business Model – Selecting Your Budget

Essentially, this emphasizes that the ultimate measure of success is the bottom line. A successful PPC campaign is not determined by high visibility or a high click-through rate…

A successful PPC campaign is one that generates significant earnings!

This means that you cannot separate your PPC strategy from your overall business model. It becomes crucial to consider your budget, costs, and profit margins when setting up a campaign.

Start by evaluating the profits generated from your website’s offerings. If you sell various products, calculate the average profit per item. Alternatively, if you primarily sell a single product through a sales page, determine the profit from that specific item.

To begin, calculate your Cost of Goods Sold (CoGS). This entails determining the expenses associated with producing each product. For example, if you sell phone cases, you need to consider the cost of materials, manufacturing, delivery, and storage. Then subtract these overheads from the amount you charge for each item.

What remains is your profit margin. The advantage of digital products like ebooks or online courses (commonly sold by website owners) is that they have no overhead costs, resulting in a 100% profit margin on each sale. For instance, selling an ebook for $30 will yield a $30 profit.

However, it’s important to note that ebooks have a narrower target audience compared to physical items, which can lead to a lower conversion rate. This brings us to the next point…

You need to determine the average number of visitors who make a purchase from you, referred to as the “conversion rate.” For example, if you have 1,000 visitors per day and only one sale, your conversion rate is 0.1%. If you generate 10 sales for every 1,000 visitors, your conversion rate increases to 1%.

Using this information, you can calculate your daily earnings. For instance, if you have 1,000 daily visitors, a 1% conversion rate, and a product that generates $20, your daily earnings will be $20. Additionally, this allows you to forecast your potential earnings by increasing the number of visitors.

If you double your visitors, your average earnings will be $20. If you increase them tenfold, your average earnings will be $200. This is particularly relevant for your Bing Ads because it also reveals the value of each visitor to you. If 1,000 visitors amount to $30, then each visitor is worth 3 cents.

Learning Your Figures

It is crucial to consider these numbers before launching an advertising campaign because 3 cents may not seem like a significant amount. However, if you proceed with these figures and start paying $1 per click, you could end up losing a substantial amount of money.

Calculating your numbers beforehand ensures that you can generate a favorable profit. However, you may discover the need to make adjustments before getting started. For example, increasing the price of your products can boost your profits to 5 cents or 10 cents.

Even better, focus on enhancing your conversion rates by improving the quality and desirability of your product and refining your persuasive writing. This way, visitors who land on your site will be compelled to purchase your products.

By achieving this, you might be able to increase your conversion rate to 5%, thereby multiplying the value of each customer by five times. Now, here’s the exciting part: if you set your Cost Per Click (CPC) to this value – the amount each visitor is worth to you – you are practically guaranteed success.

Your clicks will now generate profits, and the more you increase your budget, the more profit you will make. You will be spending less per click than the value each visitor brings to your business!

Designing Your Ads

However, this process doesn’t work exactly as described. In fact, it works even better! The visitors currently on your website have arrived through various channels, such as social media, accidental typing, search engines like Google, or recommendations from friends. This implies that their interests and intentions will vary.

Some of these visitors may have no interest in your products. That’s why it’s crucial to target the right audience in your advertisements. It’s not just about attracting as many visitors as possible; it’s more important to attract the right users and discourage those who are unlikely to make a purchase.

Your objective should be to design ads that specifically appeal to potential customers. For example, instead of using text like “Click Here for the AMAZING Secret to Losing Weight!”, opt for something like “Click Here for a $30 Ebook that Will Make You Lose Weight FAST!” This way, you ensure that your messaging resonates with individuals who are genuinely interested in your product.

Or

‘Unlock the Key to Successful Weight Loss for Only $30!’

By phrasing your ad in this manner, you deter individuals who are not willing to spend money from clicking on it. We want to avoid attracting those who will only cost us money. However, if someone knows the price upfront and still chooses to click, it is highly likely that they are genuinely interested in your book. Assuming you can then persuade them that your product aligns with their needs and offers excellent value for money, you will secure a sale.

Consider the stark contrast in conversion rates between those who clicked on this ad and those who stumbled upon your site by chance. The former group is much more inclined to convert into paying customers.

Choosing Your Keywords

To effectively target your customers, it is crucial to place your advertisements on the right keywords and key phrases. This aspect plays a significant role in PPC campaigns, and conducting thorough research is highly recommended. You need to ensure that your keywords align with what your target audience is searching for.

At the same time, it is important to keep your competition low to minimize the average Cost Per Click (CPC). Trying to rank for generic keywords like “Hotels” will pit you against thousands of other businesses, including industry giants with substantial resources. Competing with the likes of Expedia, Airbnb, and Hotels.com, who can afford to bid $1, $2, or even $5 per click, is not feasible for most businesses.

Instead, opt for popular but less crowded keywords that are more specific to your offering. For example, targeting keywords like “Quirky Hotel Santa Monica” or “Romantic Getaway in Bournemouth” allows you to pay less for clicks while targeting a more specific type of customer. This approach enables you to create a tailored landing page focused on the area and type of experience your customers are seeking.

To find popular yet targeted keywords that are not overcrowded, you can utilize Bing’s “Keyword Tool” or Google’s “Keyword Planner.” These tools provide insights into the search volume for specific terms within a specified date range. By analyzing the search frequency, you can identify keywords that have a higher potential to drive traffic to your website.

Additionally, it is beneficial to examine your site metrics and identify the current visitors to your website. If you have Google Analytics set up correctly, you can determine which visitors are making purchases and the search terms they used to find your site. This information allows you to optimize your Google and Bing ads by targeting keywords that have proven to drive sales.

Furthermore, it is essential to consider Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Just because a visitor does not make an immediate purchase does not mean they are worthless. If they sign up for your mailing list and become loyal customers over time, their value to your business can increase significantly. Therefore, closely monitoring your metrics, including the number of visitors, traffic sources, and sales growth as you invest in PPC campaigns, is crucial. The more data you track, the more profitable your PPC campaign will be.