Three questions to ask before starting an AdWords campaign.
Every business is looking for new ways to amplify its marketing and PR efforts to generate new leads and sales. Many have found success in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. For most, that means using Google AdWords.
AdWords is by far the most popular and most effective tool for PPC marketing. It can be extremely valuable for lead generation and sales. Before you begin any online marketing or PPC campaign, however, you should ask yourself three simple questions.
1) Do I have the infrastructure in place for an effective PPC campaign?
Google uses a quality score to help determine the cost and position of your ad in its search results. In addition to ad relevancy and ad copy, a key aspect of the quality score is the landing-page experience.
Does your website look like it was designed by a 12-year-old in 1994? Is it easy to find relevant information on, and navigate through, your site? These are all things you should think about before you start your AdWords campaign. The last thing you want is to pay for someone to click on your ad only to have them be turned off by a poorly designed website.
Another aspect to consider is whether or not your system can handle an increase in sales or leads generated from AdWords.
If done well, AdWords can drive hundreds, if not thousands, of prospective customers to your site. Do you have the infrastructure in place to handle the increase in traffic? Do you have the resources to field any calls that may come in?
So before you start your AdWords campaign, make sure that your landing page experience is optimized and confirm that you have a team and processes in place to handle additional inquiries.
2) Where are my customers?
As with any marketing campaign, it’s important to know your audience. Who are you targeting and where are they searching for your product or service?
Unlike with traditional print and broadcast advertising, AdWords allows for a great deal of customization and targeting with its ads.
You can choose where, when and how your ad is displayed to ensure you are hitting the right audience at the right time. Not only can you choose which of Google’s networks and partner sites your ad appears on, you can also target specific geographic regions and set your ad to display only to certain demographic profiles, based on factors such as age and gender.
In addition to demographic targeting, you can select what devices your ad appears on. Are your customers searching for you while on their home or work computer? Are they searching for you on mobile devices?
When you configure your campaign, make sure that you’re targeting your desired audience so that you’re hitting them when and where they are looking for your product or service.
3) What are my expectations, goals and acceptable cost per click for acquisition?
Google allows for a great deal of flexibility when it comes to setting a budget. There is no minimum amount you have to spend and you can adjust your budget at anytime during the campaign.
Before you set a budget and start your campaign, you should think about what your goals and expectations are, as well as what’s an acceptable cost per click (CPC) or cost per acquisition (CPA) for your campaign.
Having clear expectations and goals will help you set a budget and acceptable CPC or CPA to ensure you are achieving the greatest possible return on investment.
It’s important to think about this before starting your campaign, in order to ensure success and meaningful results. AdWords will increase traffic on your site, but if you aren’t targeting the right people and haven’t set clear goals, it’s easy to throw money away on clicks that won’t turn into sales.
When you take the time to thoughtfully answer these questions and carefully plan your campaign, AdWords can be a powerful tool that can boost leads and sales for your company.
For more information on how to incorporate PPC advertising into your marketing and PR efforts, contact Pinkston at info@pinkston.co.
Bradford Williamson is a senior account executive at Pinkston and certified in Google AdWords. Connect with Brad at bradford.williamson@pinkston.co or on LinkedIn.