PPC or pay-per-click advertising is a digital marketing strategy designed to attract website traffic and create brand awareness. Ultimately, the goal of driving traffic to a website is to convert these visits into sales. But like any online-based advertising, trends also impact the effectiveness of PPC. Over time, businesses had to keep up with the changes to ensure that eCommerce PPC remains a viable strategy.
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What is an eCommerce PPC, and how does it work?
New businesses aiming to maximize digital marketing strategies need to understand the different options and how it will benefit them. PPC works by publishing advertisements, and the business will pay the publisher for every click on the ad. Currently, PPC is commonly associated with Google. But, this type of marketing model works with plenty of advertisers too.
How does your business benefit from PPC advertising? It would be best if you created campaigns that rank high on search results. Since search engines such as Google show most relevant results to the user’s needs, the advertiser needs to research keywords that would make campaigns land on the top search results.
The keyword research process also involves bidding on specific keywords and terms that are in high demand. Keyword selection is critical in a PPC campaign because it will ensure that you achieve all the business goals set. Indeed, this step is time-consuming and daunting for any small business. That’s why employing the right team to launch and conduct an eCommerce PPC campaign is an equally essential task.
Of course, the strategies employed to drive traffic and boost results may vary. As earlier mentioned, trends impact digital marketing methods that every business should keep abreast of. As such, here is a closer look at specific strategies that could effectively boost PPC marketing results for your business.
What is the Smart Bidding feature of Google?
Google is, no doubt, the leader when it comes to eCommerce PPC marketing. According to data published in 2019, the tech Giant generated a 16% increase in advertising revenue. This increase may be directly linked to Smart Bidding – a new automated advertising feature.
Yes, this technology maximizes machine learning or AI to enhance the function of advertising. For instance, Google now uses historical search data to find an optimum bid for each ad. The technology is quite encouraging because of the good results experienced by businesses that first hopped into the trend. But since the feature is still new, it will require more testing. Still, it’s worth considering since Google is the primary player in the field of PPC marketing.
Automation implemented by other platforms
Automation is a technology trend that will have a significant impact on digital marketing. Many platforms are already following, which is a big deal if you’re thinking about a trend that will change the way PPC campaigns work. Apart from Google, other major search engines, social media channels, and eCommerce giants are already joining the trend. The simplest reason for this is that it works. What are other examples of automation out there?
- Automated PPC ads on social media. The goal of Google is to create a balance between automation and control. But, with social media channels like Facebook, you can launch a fully automated campaign. The feature will allow you to create different versions of the same advertisement, maintain the ad, make recommendations on adjusting the bid, and automatically tailor-fit the ad to your target audience.
Unlike posts that you manually boost, an automated ad on social media gets optimized better in the long run.
How do you leverage landing pages and make them more specific?
Another critical aspect of a successful ECommerce PPC campaign is using landing pages. Many businesses make a mistake by assuming that it’s more effective to use the home page or a category page on their website. But, if you want to increase conversions, you’ll need to use a specific landing page on your website. Also, if you want to rank higher on Google, using a landing page will increase the search’s relevance.
Using landing pages is the most efficient way for users to find what they’re looking for. Users get the information they need, and if planning to make a purchase, they also get to decide right away.
Optimizing eCommerce PPC campaign for voice search
Voice search is a relatively new feature but is already gaining traction among users – especially mobile phone users. If this trend is something that will likely have an impact on future campaigns, the following tips may help:
- In addition to using standard keywords, ads should also feature long-tail keywords. Users tend to ask questions when using the voice feature of their device. Hence, long-tail keywords are more effective.
- Campaigns should focus on using natural spoken language because that’s how users maximize the voice feature.
- Voice search is very effective in promoting local businesses. In making ads more effective, make use of extensions that will allow users to call the business phone number quickly.
Optimizing ad campaigns for voice search may not be a priority for many businesses, but is still worth considering, especially if the company needs more local support.
Using other platforms apart from Google
Although Google is the main player, there are plenty of other platforms worth considering if you want to increase conversions from PPC marketing. For example, sites like Amazon and Reddit may take up a small portion of the market, but if you diversify, you’ll get better results.
Diversifying your eCommerce PPC campaign is a cost-effective approach, especially if the company’s digital marketing budget is limited. Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, you can increase the odds by including campaigns on other platforms. What’s most important to keep in mind is that you focus on your target market and also pay attention to the trends that impact keyword searches. There are niche advertising platforms that aren’t as popular as Google or Facebook but still hold immense value depending on your business. Yes, PPC marketing is time-consuming. But, it’s still one of the most effective ways to drive website traffic and conversion, which makes it a top strategy for digital marketing.