BY Kathy Crosett
Are your accounts asking about the benefits of PPC advertising? It’s a valid question as more consumers use AI search. On top of that, marketers are feeling the squeeze in the uncertain economy. Unbounce research shows that 90% are dealing with “paid media budget limitations.” In the past month, nearly 36% of U.S. adults have taken action as a result of an ad they’ve seen on a search results page, reports AdMall's AudienceSCAN. And it’s what marketers do next that matter in terms of the paid media budgets.
Why are marketers cutting back on paid media?
Unbounce reports that marketers are cutting back on paid media budgets because they’re having trouble tying their investment to results. These are the specific areas cited as reasons for the reduction:
- Lack of audience targeting data 28%
- Inability to test ad creative options 28%
- Lack of resources to build better landing pages 24%
Unbounce analysts, focusing on website landing pages and the sales funnel, note that “pre-click and post-click areas are mutually dependent investments.”
How important is audience targeting?
Improved ROI is not possible without the right audience targeting. Regardless of which pages are connected to a PPC campaign, over 50% of marketers say that targeting the audience is what most impacts ROI.
Your accounts need to know about how their audience responds to media campaigns. AudienceSCAN contains detailed information about advertising response at 30 days and at 12 months for over 1,400 audiences. For example, ads on search results pages have driven 47% of roofing shoppers to take action in the past month. And for 42%, the action was to visit the advertiser’s website.
What happens after the audience lands on the website main page?
At this critical point, marketers need to lead the purchase intender to the next step in the sales funnel. When roofer shoppers select a contractor, AudienceSCAN research shows that price and producing a high quality of work are the most important factors.
In addition, the creative aspect of the advertisement should tap into what these shoppers value. For example, they over-index for supporting companies that sponsor their favorite team or athlete. And they also over-index for buying American when possible. You can use AdMall’s idea generator to develop creative advertising ranging from keywords to lead magnets.
How are target audiences using keyword searches?
Another problem with paid media campaigns is poor understanding of keywords. To get a better idea of keyword searches and how the target audience uses them, AdMall subscribers can review the advanced SEO and PPC data in the Digital Audit tool. There, they will see the competition level, CPC, high and low bids, and intent for keywords.
How to define PPC campaign goals
It’s worth asking about goals are when talking PPC with your accounts. The Unbounce study reveals the following goals in its study, which are notably “spread across the funnel.”
- Brand awareness 29%
- Direct sales 27%
- Lead generation 15%
It takes planning and investment to attract interest from the target audience. Once a consumer clicks on the initial link, it’s easy to lose a promising lead. If your account's goal is to encourage the consumer to take action, give them a reason. For example, over 40% of marketers are worried that they’ll lose the leads because of the page they sent to. The page might not have the right call-to-action or it display a less than compelling user interface.
To get the most out of the paid media budget, marketers believe they need to tighten up their audience focus and improve their destination pages. And around 35% of marketers believe they need to move their spending toward “high-intent platforms or keywords.”
Where do marketers send searchers post-click?
One of the benefits of PPC advertising is that marketers have a choice about where to direct traffic once the click happans. Unbounce research points out that most marketers send their traffic to:
- Product/service/category pages on website 28%
- Homepage 25%
- Dedicated landing page for campaign 24%
- Reusable landing pages that work across several campaigns 21%
In 2/3 of cases where marketers send traffic to the homepage, anticipated ROI goals don’t materialize.
How important are dedicated landing pages?
If you’re selling digital marketing services, you can work with your accounts to help them build a dedicated landed page for a campaign. These unique landing pages make it easier to understand how well the campaign is working. Your accounts can see their “cost-per-conversion and set bids accordingly.”
Marketers can find the processing of building landing pages to be challenging. Nearly 20% don’t have the team resources or the in-house expertise needed to make them a reality. But if they get this right, they can tap into the benefits of PPC advertising.
Their limitations can be your opportunity. When you show them how their paid media investment can be streamlined and improve their ROI, they may be more willing to hire you to create better landing pages. As Unbounce analysts point out, it can be as simple as emphasizing the post-click experience.
Conclusion
The benefits of PPC advertising are many. As AI-based search grows, consumers are still using traditional search. When your accounts define how they want prospects to move through the purchase funnel and build the right page content, their ROI will improve.
Image by FirmBee.com on Pexels.
