Pay per click marketing remains one of the most powerful ways to drive targeted traffic and achieve measurable results. While social media marketing and content marketing make headlines, PPC continues to offer instant visibility and measurable ROI. The key is smart budgeting and clever optimisation tactics that maximise the return from each dollar.
Most businesses are failing at PPC because they approach it as a set-it-and-forget-it tactic. But in order to be successful, campaigns must be continually optimised and strategically planned. By optimising in three core areas—keyword targeting, ad copy optimisation, and strategic targeting—you can completely transform your PPC performance and get more out of your budget than you ever have.
Maximising Your PPC Budget
The secret to successful PPC advertising starts with understanding where to put your spend. Rather than spreading your budget over too many campaigns, successful advertisers are focusing their spend on their top-performing spaces and testing new opportunities aggressively.
Budget based on the 80/20 principle: invest most of your budget in proven keywords and campaigns that continuously convert, and leave aside some budget for expansion and testing. This will enable you to preserve your ROI while maintaining some room for expansion and experimentation.
Strategic Keyword Research and Selection
Effective keyword research involves more than discovering high-search-volume keywords. Most profitable keywords are in the mid-tail—distinct enough to imply buying intent without being so competitive that costs are prohibitive.
Start by reviewing your existing customer data to identify the language that your audience uses. Your search query reports indicate real words that are triggering your ads, often exposing valuable keywords that you had not considered. This provides you with the ability to include negative keywords and prevent wasteful spend on unnecessary clicks.
Long-tail keywords are especially worth targeting because they are less expensive with a better conversion rate. “Affordable project management software for small teams” may receive fewer impressions than “project management,” but people searching for it are much closer to a purchase.
Optimisation of Ad Copy through Testing
Your copy is tasked with drawing in high-quality users to click through to your landing page. Small changes in messaging can have a big impact on click-through rates and quality scores, which directly affect your cost per click.
A/B testing should be systematic rather than random. Test one thing at a time—headlines, descriptions, or call-to-action copy—to know precisely what’s having an impact. Headlines will most likely have the greatest impact, so start there and test other things second.
Emphasise benefits over features when writing your ad copy. Instead of listing the features of a product, describe how your product solves specific issues or improves the condition of the user. This approach is aimed at searchers looking for solutions, not products.
Geo-Targeting and Ad Scheduling
Ad scheduling and geographic targeting allow you to be selective with your budget for the most valuable prospects. If your business serves specific areas, geographic targeting keeps you from paying for users outside your area.
Ad scheduling performs even better when combined with conversion data. The majority of companies discover that their ads perform better on particular days or at particular times of the day. You can optimise campaign performance in general without changing your budget by bidding up during peak-converting times and bidding down during quiet times.
Mobile and desktop performance tends to vary significantly, especially when combined with time-of-day data. Users might search on mobile during lunch but convert on desktops at night. You can improve planning across devices and times of day by understanding these trends. Don’t worry, professionals like King Kong can guide you in this area.
Driving Results That Matter
The key to success in PPC is treating it as a dynamic, data-driven medium, rather than a static ad vehicle. Today’s tools and platforms grant unparalleled visibility into user and campaign behaviour, but only if you’re proactively using that intelligence to drive decisions.
The best PPC companies are those that possess a test mentality but also protect their successful core campaigns. Start with these fundamentals, track everything, and scale gradually as you figure out what works flawlessly for your special case.