Pay-Per-Click marketing is one of the top three generators of site conversions. Also known as PPC, it accounts for a whopping 17% of on-page sales and can be the difference between a marketing campaign that performs or sinks.
As we step into an automated era of PPC, driven by the release of Google Analytics 4 and a number of AI-infused bidding tools, the game of winning bids becomes harder each year.
PPC marketing has never been so important in a competitive e-commerce environment. With ad clickers now 50% more likely to convert than organic page visitors, marketers need to step up their ad strategy. Whether you invest in automation, explore new ad types or start back at the drawing board with manual bidding, the time for transformation is now.
Stick with us as we jump into PPC beyond the click, and reveal how you can maximise your strategy success in 2023.
Try Out Manual Bidding
No matter how much effort you pour into your PPC strategy, without a successful bidding plan, your campaign will fall apart.
While a traditional automatic CPC bidding system may help you achieve the highest number of site clicks, removing your control means that you can no longer adjust your PPC campaign if it is not performing well or, in fact, consumer trends change.
Why not integrate manual bidding into your strategy? While a more traditional bidding strategy may seem crazy to some, the customisation benefits outweigh the time constraints. With the ability to pick and choose between keywords that will specifically rank for your campaign, you lower your cost-per-action (CPA) and have a better chance of increasing your visibility.
Sean Johnston, VP of Advertising At ClosedLoop, believes that a combined, manual and automated approach to bidding could see the most PPC success in 2023.
“Meta’s Advantage Plus and Google’s Performance Max are two examples of platforms
pushing products that let the “algorithms” do most of the work,” he claims.
“The goal is to maximize machine learning and minimize the number of inputs needed
to execute successful campaigns. As this becomes the new norm, advertisers and
agencies must adapt and determine the right balance of automation and intervention
to ensure they reach the right audiences with the right content at the right time.”
While automated bidding has hit its peak within the last year, the tactic your choose when bidding for keywords should surround your individual campaign goals rather than automation trends. That’s why introducing a multi-channel, integrated approach could allow you to enjoy the best of both worlds when it comes to bidding.
Upgrade Your Website Performance
Secondly, it’s time to upgrade your website performance. One of the largest PPC strategy’s downfall is the failure to optimise a site’s landing page and product pages before linking out to them via paid ads.
While you may have pooled your resources for a stellar PPC performance, you’ll be left with a high click-through rate but also a high bounce rate if your leads don’t enjoy their experience on your site.
Did you know that it only takes 50 milliseconds for a consumer to form a first impression of a website? Your PPC campaign is simply a means to an end, your site’s pages must seamlessly carry your consumer into the next part of their company journey if you want to score a conversion.
In order to do this, make sure you’re performing regular audits on your website. From loading speed to content engagement, measure what is doing well and what needs to be tweaked for a positive UX experience.
For example, if you’re opening on WordPress, make sure that your WordPress host thrives when dealing with large influxes of traffic. If your PPC ad is successful, it should draw in mass pools of consumer clicks. Therefore, your site must be ready to handle a large bandwidth at any time.
Revamp Your Retargeting Campaigns
2023 is all about revamping your retargeting efforts. According to experts at The Drum, a staggering 92% of first-time site visitors will not make a purchase, meaning that it’s up to marketers to encourage them to come back.
This is where retargeting and remarketing step in. Using ads to re-engage a previous browser, rather than simply appealing to first-time clickers, can help boost your conversion potential.
There are plenty of retargeting strategies you can try, but here are the most common remarketing formats in 2023:
Standard Remarketing: For ‘browser’ type consumers, this is the most effective PPC ad type to choose from. Targeting the ‘page hoppers’ that quickly bounce from one site to the next, these PPC ads aim to pop up in front of them to remind them about products or services they could have missed.
App-Based Remarketing: This form of retargeting is used for mobile sites or app platforms. These ad forms are often visual and are tailored to digital natives.
Dynamic Remarketing: If you want to specifically target abandoned carts, this is called dynamic remarketing. These ads target users who specifically feel off of the funnel during the checkout process.
The key here is to get creative with your retargeting campaign. You want to show your consumers what they missed and tell them why your product/service is the perfect solution in their search.
Explore New Ad Types
2023 has opened new doors for PPC marketers when it comes to picking the best ad type for your campaign.
From e-commerce giants such as Amazon providing PPC marketers with new optimisation opportunities to ad formats such as video ads and livestream shopping taking off on platforms like TikTok. There are now so many options to pick from when planning a PPC campaign.
“Think of podcasts, connected TV, video ads, livestream shopping, and other
formats that only big-budget campaigns used to be able to afford,” says Alex Macura, Founder Of Your Digital Assembly. “Also, consider offline ads to grow first-party data, such as snail mail and other local marketing tactics.”
If you’re an e-commerce brand, it may be time to tap into Amazon’s new ad platform. Allowing marketers to pick from brand ads, product ads and even lock screen ads, you can increase your chances of conversion on Amazon by simply inputting your product information.
Why not also target visual platforms such as TikTok or even the metaverse? Video ads alone have become of of the largest paid search trends of 2023, ranked as the number one influencer in helping people make purchase decisions.
Going Beyond The Click
Looking forward, it’s time to go beyond the click and start seeing PPC campaigns as just the beginning of a consumer journey. In order to perform well in a competitive climate, marketers must optimise the consumer journey at all stages. This includes the first impressing, a memorable domain name, website navigation and even the checkout stage.
The key here is to prioritise retargeting efforts, keep trialling new ad types, and, most importantly, stay ahead of the curve when it comes to bidding trends. Those who are closest to their consumer will win in a PPC-clicking war like no other.
