Cost per click (CPC) marketing, also called pay per click, is an extremely common form of online advertising. It was the first internet based pricing model to break away from the traditional model of paying for reach as in television, radio, and print advertising. As a performance based model, it can be an extremely efficient way to reach prospective customers. However, it can also become very expensive, especially with a poorly optimized campaign. Consider the following techniques and practices in order to ensure that you are getting the most out of your CPC ad spend.
Often marketers will be bidding too high on their CPC ads. The goal should be to reduce the customer acquisition cost. This can be accomplished by slightly weakening the competitiveness of your ads while decreasing the amount you spend on each click. Conversely, of course, sometimes a higher bid will result in ads being more impactful, although this is much rarer. Before anything else, try adjusting your bids and seeing which results in the lowest customer acquisition cost.
It is generally better to be displaying ads on several phrases or combinations of keywords than it is to have a single keyword. The former will achieve superior targeting meaning that your ad will only be displayed to the most relevant viewers. Google offers a number of tools that can be used to research keywords. Use these to discover additional variations that you are not currently using.
With adds, the richer the content, the greater the impact. When you can be sure to use big box image ads instead of just text ads. They are often worth the more expensive placement in order to display ads to viewers in a more meaningful way.
Google AdWords and other CPC networks offer you a significant amount of data to analyze your campaigns. Many of them offer various analytics that can provide useful insight within the platform itself. However, we strongly recommend keeping track of their raw data output as well. Pulling this information into excel means that you will have a permanent record and can manipulate that information to uncover new insights. Be sure to track things like return on investment, conversion cost, and click through rate.
Often when optimizing CPC campaigns, marketers neglect to also optimize the pages they are sending browsers to. Make sure that your landing pages are displaying extremely relevant information based on the search keywords that will deliver viewers there. Also, every page should have a call to action. Try A/B testing a few different landing pages for each keyword to start nailing down the right setup.
As with all things related to digital marketing, testing is king. The beauty of online ads is that they can be adjusted quickly and provide incredibly specific data. CPC networks’ analytics often provide excellent tools for A/B tests. Keep in mind before you launch into any campaign, that you should take some time to test until your find the right promotional mix.
Using these methods you can optimize your CPC campaigns in order to reduce costs while maximizing impact. The key is, as with all marketing, to record data, analyze it, and test your assumptions.