Should You Use PPC Advertising?
I am only going to speak to Google Ads because I have been providing these ads for my clients for over ten years. most of the other PPC platforms don’t come close to the results we have experienced with Google Ads. I personally also feel that the PPC on social platforms usually are a waste of time and money. This is more like billboard advertising vs targeted advertising. people on Facebook are usually not going there to be sold! The R.O.I. on Google Ads can be amazing if done correctly and managed correctly but can be a disaster if you try to do it yourself or choose the wrong management company. There are several things you need to look at when deciding if Google Ads will work for your business. i could write a book on this but this post will give you a good overview to help you decide if PPC advertising is for you.
How Much Do Google Ads Cost?
The good news is Google Ads cost nothing until someone clicks on your Ad. You will pay between 30 cents and $50.00 per click depending on your industry. $50 may seem expensive but if you are an attorney attracting auto accident victims it may be worth spending up to $5,000 – $10,000 to get just one client from the ads! If you have a low net profit item in a non-competitive market it can still be worth spending a few hundred dollars per month to attract customers and create branding. The bottom line is it doesn’t matter how much it costs if you are making more than you spend! The trick is to know what and how to determine what to spend.
How Much Should I Spend?
You can do as I do for my clients and spend about 5-10 hours researching current Google Ads in their category and use a keyword search tool to see most popular keywords and phrases and how much they cost. You also want to see how many clicks it may take to make a sale. This is important because I have seen many people pay a low cost per click and it took more costs for the number of clicks needed to make one sale.
Example: You sell a widget that costs $20 and your net profit is $8.00 you need to be sure you don’t spend more on clicks than your profit per sale. If your average CPC (Cost Per Click) is $1.00 and it takes 10 click to make a sale you will lose $2.00 on each sale. That being said if your item has return sales it may be worth the small loss to gain a recurring orders. It is best to do a 3 month test to see how it works. At worst you may spend a little to get massive exposure. I sell a product that many times costs me $100 to $200 in one day but a few days later these people purchase on a day when I only spent $50.00.
Other Considerations
Geographic area: If you have a “brick and mortar” location you may want to only advertise within a small geographic area. This can be done by radius or zip codes, territory and a few other ways. This will target people who are in close driving to your store. If you are internet based you may want to advertise from city to international. I would test market a small area first and if that works well then expand your reach. Remember the more people who see your ads the more clicks you will receive and the higher the expense.
Your Ad: Your ad means everything when it comes to your success with PPC! I can’t stress this enough. You want ads written that attracts buyers, no curiosity seekers. You may also want to try several ads to see which ones bring you the most sales not the most clicks!
Keywords and phrases: You want to choose keywords that are directly related to your product or service. If your keywords are to broad you will end up on search pages that are unrelated to your business and will receive a lot of unwanted clicks. You can also set up your keywords as broad search terms, specific search terms to a combination. The difference in choosing the correct way to list your search terms is important when setting up your account! to find the best search terms you can do searches related to your business, product or service and when you put in the term Google will have a drop-down that shows other search terms and phrases that people are using for your category. Google also offers a Google keyword tool to assist you with this.
Landing pages:
Should Google Set Up PPC For You?
NO! If you don’t care what it costs I guess you could let them do it for you. You need to understand Google is in the business of getting you clicks not business! Either D.I.Y. or have a quality experienced Google Adwords company set it up for you. Be sure the company has been doing this for at least 5 plus years and is up to date on all the changes. Google is famous for changing this on a regular basis to make it more difficult for you to manage. You may also want to have someone manage your accounts for you. If they are any good it will probably save you money over D.I.Y.
The Bottom line
PPC advertising can be a great addition to your marketing if done correctly. Not unlike S.E.O this type advertising is both and art and a science. If you need assistance with your PPC advertising or have more questions feel free to contact me info@SuccessBuilders-TampaBay.com or call 727.458.7683