Newsflash Edition No 3

The Four Secrets of Successful PPC Campaigns

Over the past decade, online marketing has become an integral part of most businesses' marketing strategies. In particular, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) has become a common channel for businesses to sell products and services. In this article, I will share some insights into successful SEM campaigns.

The Four Secrets of Successful PPC Campaigns Image
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  2. Secret 1:

    HAVE AN ONLINE STRATEGY IN PLACE BEFORE YOU START

    Prior to implementing your online strategy you should consider the following:

    • Define the purpose of your online marketing campaign
    • Identify your medium and long term online strategy
    • Set a realistic monthly budget
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  2. Secret 2:

    Prepare your website

    Statistics show that you have got exactly 6 seconds to convince a visitor to stay on your website. If the visitor does not instantly find what he or she is looking for, your budget will not translate into business or sales leads. It is critical for your website to have enticing images, good web copy, call to action phrases, no scroll bars and a clear site design in HTML.

    Remember: Unless your site is ready, your traffic will not convert into sales or leads.
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  2. Secret 3:

    START SMALL – CHOOSE ONE SEARCH ENGINE ONLY

    If you are new to pay per click advertising, it is more than ok to start off small. In my experience, too many companies are confronted by the variety of choice between different PPC search engines and are tricked into thinking they need to be on all of them immediately. Too many campaigns are too much to juggle for most first time online advertisers.

    Walk before you can run. Test your campaign on one network first – we always recommend Google due to its reach - to get a feel for the impact of the campaign and experience first results. When you feel more confident, then consider branching out.
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  2. Secret 4:

    TRIAL AND ASSESS THE RESULTS

    Once you have seen the campaign results for the first three weeks, you (or your online agency) should be able to identify trends for your particular business. For instance, you should be able to see which of your key words were most sought after, which words attracted most enquiries or led to sales, which "click-days" and "click times" were most popular and which companies you compete with.

    Use your trial campaign as an indication of what is to come. In my experience, PPC campaigns improve immensely over time and a feature of their success is reflected in the amount of time that is invested in their campaign development.