PPC Advertising: Best Practices for Maximum ROI

Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing is a great way to get leads and increase your ROI. In our Ultimate Guide to PPC Marketing we will cover how PPC works, the different types of campaigns you can run and what tools you need to succeed. We will also show you where to find quality keywords for your campaign.
Pay-per-click (PPC) is part of marketing for ecommerce and service based businesses. It’s a way to get your brand and products in front of your target audience, drive website traffic and get leads and sales. But the competition in the PPC landscape is growing daily and running PPC campaigns has never been more complex. Businesses need to use advanced PPC strategies to stay ahead of the competition and get the best return on investment (ROI).
This article by FOR® will share Best Practices for scaling your PPC campaigns and maximizing ROI.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
When it comes to SEM, PPC is often used to mean the same thing. SEM is a broad term that can be broken down into two areas; paid advertising (PPC) and organic listings on search engines like DuckDuckgo or Google, of course. That’s how you found this article today. The more optimised your content, the higher you will rank on search engine results pages. This digital marketing strategy falls under the umbrella of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
SEM includes both types of promotions and all related marketing activity. So you will find SEM at every stage of the customer journey from research to purchase.
Search Engine Marketing is defined as a form of internet marketing that involves the promotion and sale of products or services on search engines.
Keywords
Keywords are a key part of any PPC campaign and are the words or phrases you bid on in your ad groups. There are many tools out there that will help you find keywords to include in an ad campaign but some cost a lot so your agency can help spread the cost.
When it comes to keyword advertising above all you need to make sure your keywords are relevant to the product or service you are selling. A good agency will make sure enough keyword research is done before going live so you can be successful with your campaign. This is all part of a PPC management service.
Google Ads
You can’t talk about PPC and not mention Google Ads, formerly Adwords. This is the biggest paid search platform out there and you’ll probably be using it to run your PPC campaign. It has a place in your PPC strategy but the question you should be asking is how do I make Google Ads work for me? There is so much competition so you need to set up your Google Ads account with a solid advertising strategy that’s targeted.
Google Ads is a monster of a platform. Yes it’s easy to get started but doing it well isn’t as easy and takes years of digital marketing experience to do well. We are not saying you can’t get success/ROI on your very first campaign but if you operate in a competitive niche your competitors will probably have a well oiled machine to make your life that bit harder.
How does Google Ads Work?
Google Ads is a pay per click advertising platform where you can create text, image and video ads that show up on Google search and third-party websites. PPC Google Ads are usually text ads that show up above organic search results after you search.
What’s cool about search ads is they’re relevant to the user based on what they’re looking for at that moment. Intent based marketing is important because not only are you showing your ad to the right audience but it’s also showing up at the right time.
When a user clicks on a search ad, the advertiser pays Google for the click. Easy! Google Ads also has other types of advertising like the Google Display Network and YouTube but since neither of those are PPC advertising we won’t go into those in this guide.
Facebook Ads
Facebook is also a big beast in the tech world and is very hard to master and takes years of experience which is why many businesses will use a paid social media agency. Facebook Ads also includes ads on Instagram and across millions of sites globally through what they call the ‘Meta (formerly Facebook) Audience Network’. The Meta Audience Network is an ad network that lets you show ads on sites outside of Facebook through its pixel.
This ad tech has the ability to target audiences based on demographics, interests and behaviour. This may include some kind of intent depending on the Facebook algorithm which is almost stalker-like. Facebook ads are very good at targeting customers who have already shown interest in your business which makes it a great tool if used correctly.
If you are a B2B marketer you may not think of Facebook and Instagram but at the end of the day you’re advertising to people and if your target audience is on Facebook and Instagram then it can convert. Facebook Ads aren’t typically part of a B2B marketing or B2B lead gen strategy but don’t discount it.
Benefits of PPC Advertising
There are many different pricing models in advertising. The important thing to note is you only pay when someone clicks on PPC advertising. CPM advertising is where you pay per impression regardless if someone clicks your ad or not.
Let’s take a look at some other key benefits of PPC ads. Note these benefits are not mutually exclusive to PPC ads. They may also apply to other programmatic ads.
Cost Effective PPC
PPC can be great if done right. Some PPC platforms like Google Ads are a must on any digital media plan, correction, or any media plan! The results are so good you’ve used Google Ads. It’s that ROI that keeps Google at the top of the tree when it comes to PPC advertising.
Remember PPC management is not set and forget. You have to stay on top of it. Strong reporting tools and real-time dashboards will help you see what’s happening. Google’s interface can be overwhelming at first so we recommend getting an agency to help you visualise the data so you can see how your ads are performing against your KPIs. Tools like Google Data Studio are great but for larger advertisers you may want to consider Tableau or similar.
PPC for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
PPC can be used to support SEO. SEO focuses on organic traffic, PPC can be used to drive traffic to your website while your SEO efforts are ongoing. If you’re running PPC on Google then this is good for your SEO as the ads will be more visible to people searching.
PPC ads show up higher in search results than other channels so they get more visibility. If you can get on top of the paid ads and on top of the organic SERPs you’ll have the SEM equivalent . Being on top of both shows your audience you’re super relevant and thus improves your CTR and reduces marketing spend.
Data, Machine Learning & Algorithms
Using data, machine learning and algorithms can supercharge your PPC ads. By analysing masses of data you get insights into customer behaviour, preferences and trends so you can refine your targeting and messaging. Custom algorithms for your campaign goals will automate bidding, ad placement and budget allocation in real time. This proactive approach will not only increase ROI but also allow you to refine your PPC campaigns based on data driven decisions.
Using machine learning in your PPC strategy allows you to go beyond traditional bidding. These algorithms can process masses of data at speed and identify patterns and trends that human analysis might miss. By integrating these algorithms into your campaigns you automate bidding with precision, adjusting bids in real time based on performance metrics. This proactive approach will increase ad visibility and click through rates and manage budget efficiently, resulting in higher ROI and long term growth for your ads.
Final Thoughts
PPC Practices are key to getting the best ROI and these will help you get the most out of your budget. Remember ongoing optimisation and adaptation is key to sustaining and improving your ROI over time.
With the right approach and effort PPC can be a powerful way to drive traffic and revenue for your business. Implement these advanced PPC strategies and scale your campaigns and maximise ROI. Remember to monitor and optimise your campaigns to make them work best. Many marketing agencies can get PPC best practice for your business