A thoughtful pay-per-click strategy is just a few tweaks away. In this ever-changing digital world, it is important to understand how and why the needs of your customers change. Some of this valuable information can be obtained through PPC.   

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a method of advertising where an advertiser will pay for each click on their ad. With so much competition online, businesses will pay for clicks because this strategy helps them get noticed and is an effective way to move customers towards a purchase.

What are some characteristics of a pay-per-click strategy that will attract people to click and generate leads?

There is a lot of -on and -off site work that businesses can consider for a robust pay-per-click lead strategy. It is not a one-stop-shop. You will have to get creative and experiment often. Your strategy will need to evolve just as the customers, business, technology, and countless other tools you manage change as well. Read on to learn about ways to improve the success of pay-per-click lead generation.

Do not Cheap Out!

A prospective customer will be exposed to several marketing strategies when they begin seeking information about your product or service. Pay-Per-Click ads, blogging, e-mail subscriptions, social media, and organic search are all examples of how customers may be funnelled your way. As the name suggests, PPC is paying by the click – but remember that no marketing channel is free! Blogs require new content and rely on shares to be noticed. Someone needs to manage e-mails and numerous social media accounts. Although organic search listings are free clicks, this is a highly competitive area and it could take years to appear on the first page. With tailored pay-per-click ads, you may appear on page 1 and instantly attract those who are seeking the product or service you have to offer. Do not be timid in paying your team or exploring the option of having an external marketing company develop a PPC campaign for your business. If done right, it’ll pay for itself in no time!

Start Using Ad-Extensions

Ad-extensions are additional features (such as links, phone numbers, promotions, and even reviews) that tag on to a search, therefore adding more information to your ad. This is key for pay-per-click ads, because as more information is shown, the more likely it is that your prospective customer will click on any given link for your business. Your ad will look robust and organized, like you have thought of every single detail ahead of time – which you have! In addition to more clicks, they can also generate other valuable customer interactions, like a phone call. These extensions also take up more space, making it more likely that you will be seen higher up on the page. There is no doubt about why PPC experts recommend the use of ad-extensions. There are many options available. Regardless of the ones you choose, make sure you are giving concise and valuable information, so the customer remembers your business even from an initial scan and search.

Be Strategic with Keywords

Keywords play a huge role in pay-per-click lead generation! That’s why choosing relevant keywords will increase the return on investment on your ad. Choose keywords that are closely related to the product or service you are offering. Think about the terms that you think your audience might be searching for when they want to find you, your products/services or something like your products/services.

Since you’ll be paying for each click, bidding on relevant keywords is a smart move as it will improve the likelihood of customers seeing your ad. Do your research and find out the keyword difficulty, search volumes, click-through-rate (CTR), and cost-per-click (CPC) of your desired terms! If you have a large budget, you may be able to target more keywords with higher costs. If you are more limited and can only target a couple keywords, make sure to make them count! Don’t bother adding keywords to your list if the CPC is way out of your budget or if the monthly search rate is lower than you’d like with high competition.

Experiment with Calls to Action

Calls to Action refer to prompts that tell customers what to do once they have seen your ad. Some examples include, “Get a quote today,” “Call us now” or “Find out more!” These lead the customer through their journey and let them know what to expect as they continue following along – a phone call, a form etc. It’s worthwhile to experiment with different calls to action on different ads to see what your customers are responding to best (what they are clicking on!) This will help you learn what call to action is most enticing at that moment. Remember you will likely have to adjust your strategy as time goes on, especially as new customers, trends, and demands come into play.

Have Simple Landing Pages and Provide an Offer

The appropriate keywords and calls to action have now brought your customer to a landing page where you ask for more information. You want to convert those clicks into customers, so this stage is just as important as those first scans and clicks. The goal is to get more information here, as you will use this data to help create a converted customer down the line. Keep the landing page simple and free of clutter. Be sure to highlight the benefits of your service, and only ask for the minimum (but required) amount of information. The less fields there are, the easier it appears and the higher the responses will be. Text in short bullet points or concise sentences will help the reader get to the point quickly. In return for this valuable information and their time spent, offer something valuable: a pdf guide, an irresistible upgrade, or a subscription service with discount offers. At minimum, offer them the chance to sign up for an e-newsletter.

With these strategies and the countless others that appear each day as the market evolves, the goal is to generate leads. You want your pay-per-click strategy to gather information – whether it is an e-mail, postal code, or simply an insight into which call to action is getting the most clicks. It is worthwhile to explore and continually question what works best. Not every click will convert to a customer, so providing lots of information up front and in an enticing way, will increase your chances of qualified leads with PPC.

Contact us now if you need any help from one of InMarket’s representatives!