Pareto PPC’s 2022 PPC Campaign Optimization Checklist

PPC advertising is one of the most efficient methods to gain new leads and drive sales. It is also more cost-effective than inbound marketing techniques like SEO because it gives results almost instantly.

So, what makes it so effective?

One of the reasons is because the campaign is focused on certain targeted terms that have a specific intent, and it drives instant action from the user.

Meaning, with PPC ads, you can target people looking for a specific solution using specific keywords. You then just have to gain their attention with your ads. And, they would most likely respond.

For example, when people search with terms like – “buy Samsung galaxy21 online,” “buy Nike shoes on discount,” they show their intent to purchase and you can display your ad. It’s that targeted.

This lowers the chance of receiving incorrect leads and boosts conversion rates in the long run.

However, getting the most out of any ad campaign depends on how well it is optimized. PPC ads are no different. They must also be optimized to yield profitable results. If not, it can burn your wallet faster than you can imagine.

In the following guide, we discuss how to optimize your PPC ad campaigns for better performance.

What is Ad Campaign Optimization?

Optimization is the process of making something as perfect as possible. Ad campaign optimization is the practice of optimizing advertising campaigns through modifications to specific elements to achieve stated company goals.

Keyword selection/optimization, audience targeting, dynamic search advertisements, and engaging ad copy are just a few of the elements that can be optimized. But unfortunately, most companies that run PPC ads start with a small budget and don’t know how to enhance their campaigns.

Once they’ve exhausted all of the low-hanging fruit, such as keywords with high monthly searches and low costs per click (CPC), companies find that doing in-depth optimization of the campaign is the only way to enhance their KPIs.

However, when you optimize your PPC ad campaign from the word go, you can take steps that ensure you only keep the most relevant and efficient ads. This way, you can maximize your ROI from your PPC campaigns sooner than later.

Importance of Ad Campaign Optimization

There are several reasons why you need to optimize your PPC ad campaigns. Some of them are listed below:

1. Improved ROI: The number one goal of any organization should be to get the best return on investment (ROI) possible from their advertising dollars. Why? Because an improved ROI would help with several things including:

• You would be able to spend that money on other important areas of your business such as product development, expansion, and research.
• You can also reinvest the money you make from your PPC ads back into your ad campaigns to get even better results.
• You can hire new employees or tools that may help you build your organization better, faster.
• You can even work on other core business areas like sales and marketing strategies to improve your brand’s visibility.

You can measure your PPC Ads ROI by calculating the below:

• Lead Conversions
• Sales
• Average Lead Value
• Lifetime Customer Value

2. Improved Efficiency: By optimizing your PPC ad campaigns, you would be able to target the right audience with the right ads. You can also fine-tune your campaign settings to ensure that you are getting the most out of your advertising dollars.

This efficiency in your PPC ads then results in:

• Fewer wasted dollars because you’re making the most of all paid ads that you receive.
• Better results because you’re only paying for high-quality traffic.
• Decreased frustration because there is less guesswork involved in ad campaign optimization.

3. Better KPIs: Ad campaign optimization helps your ad campaigns to improve conversions, return on advertising spend (ROAS), cost per action (CPA), or any other goals that can be improved through optimized campaigns.

There are typically seven important KPIs that you need to track:

• Return on Ad Spend
• Impression Share
• Conversion Rate (CR)
• Cost per Conversion (CPC)
• Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Quality Score (QS)
• Ad Position (Position)

4. Time and labor: Time is money, and when you optimize your campaigns to focus on the ads that are performing best, you can spend less time optimizing and more time generating leads. And, then converting those leads into sales and customers.

This also leads to lower employee costs over time so that employees don’t have to be dedicated full-time to optimizing campaigns if they no longer need it.

That is all good, but the real question is –– how do you optimize the ad campaigns that get you all the above-mentioned benefits? That’s exactly what we’re going to learn.

How to Optimize Your Ad Campaigns

Optimizing your PPC ad campaigns is not rocket science if you do it smartly. You need to get your fundamentals right and have advanced, proven strategies in place.

If you don’t, then you may just end up throwing a lot of money away because your campaign isn’t optimized to the fullest potential. To optimize your ad campaigns:

#1: Know Your Goals

Before you launch your ad campaign, it’s important to determine what you want to achieve with it. Are you looking for more leads? sales? brand awareness?

Once you know your goals, you can tailor your ads and target audience accordingly. For example, if brand awareness is your goal, you can focus on ad copy that’s more information about your brand and less on a sales pitch. If you want to get more sales or even sales at a specific price point, you should aim for an ad that has a strong call-to-action (CTA).

Here are a few tips to identify the goals of your ad campaigns:

• Align your goals with key business objectives

First of all, you have to identify the business objectives that your ad campaign would support. It is necessary because every business has its own objective. For instance, an e-commerce company’s goal may be to get more sales while a B2B software company could be looking to get more quality leads.

You can therefore run ads that support your end goals.

• Create S.M.A.R.T Goals

S – Specific, M – Measurable, A – Achievable, R – Relevant, T – Time-bound

Regardless of what you do, it is necessary to have goals that are measurable and achievable. The S.M.A.R.T Goals technique is particularly useful for this. Because you work on a very small time frame with quick billing. So the chances of you losing money are high if the goals are not set right.

• Get clarity on what actions you want your customers to take

There are various steps where customers can engage with your brand. For example, a webinar may have an opt-in step, a service may want contact details and SaaS may need to know the business details of the leads.

By focusing on these key points, you can cut down on wasted ad spending because you’ll be targeting people who are more likely to take the action you want.

#2: Choose the Right Keywords

When it comes to PPC ads, keywords are everything. If you don’t choose carefully, your ads may not show up when someone searches for the keyword(s) you targeted.

Choosing the right keywords means they have to be relevant, specific, and high in search volume. For best results, you also want to choose keywords that are both broad enough to gain traffic but with a low-medium competition level.

It may take some time before you can pinpoint the exact keywords that generate returns, so here are some tips on how you can find the best keywords for your ad campaign.

Tip 1:  Use the Google Keyword Planner

This is a free tool from Google that allows you to find keywords related to your business as well as see how much traffic those keywords are getting. You can also use it to get ideas for new keyword phrases. If you are looking for a paid tool, you can consider using SEMRush or ahref or any other reputable tool of your choice.

Tip 2: Use Competitor Keywords

One of the best ways to find profitable keywords is to check the keywords your competitors are using through a tool like SEMrush, and then create an ad copy that’s similar.

Tip 3: Use Broad Match Keywords

Another way you can find relevant keywords for your ads is by using broad match keywords. This way you will get more traffic from similar searches as opposed to just exactly matching the keywords.

Tip 4: Choose Keywords Based on Difficulty Level

You can also choose specific keywords based on their difficulty level. The difficulty level shows how hard it will be to optimize your ad for that keyword when you are bidding on it.

Tip 5: Create a  List of Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are terms with three or more words and it is generally much easier to rank high on Google for these phrases. You can find out what your most profitable long-tail keyword phrases are by looking at your web analytics data or by creating a list yourself.

#3: Write Compelling Ad Copy

Most people never get to your website if they don’t click on your ad, and they will never click if your ad copy is not compelling enough. That’s a critical step to optimize the whole ad campaign.

Your ad copy should answer the following questions:

• who are you
• what are you selling
• why should they choose your product

To learn more about writing compelling copy for PPC ads, here are some tips to help you enhance your ad copy.

Tip 1: Focus on the Customer

When writing your ad copy, always think from the customer’s perspective. What are they looking for and how can you solve their problem? What words/terminology they are using so you can use the same in your ad?

Tip 2: Use Benefit-Driven Headlines

Your headline is one of the most important aspects of your ad, so make sure it’s benefit-driven. It should tell the reader what’s in it for them if they click on your ad.

Tip 3: Hook Your Reader with the First Line of Copy

Your first line of copy will determine whether readers decide to read more or move on. If you can catch their attention right away, there’s a good chance that they’ll stay on your ad.

Tip 4: Include a Compelling Call to Action

You need to have a compelling call to action if you want customers to take the next step and click on your ad. This can be a simple phrase like “Buy now” or more of an offer like “Get 10% off”.

#4: Make Your Landing Page Remarkable

Your landing page is essentially the “face” of your website, so it has to be just as good if not better than your ad copy.

It should also be relevant to what your customers are looking for, without any sales fluff. It also has to provide the solution you promised in your PPC ad so that they have the incentive to contact you or buy from you immediately.

Here are a few landing page design tips that work:

Tip 1: Have a Unique Selling Proposition and a Clear Call to Action

Your USP is the core feature that separates you from everyone else. It’s the one thing that people will remember about your business and why they should choose you over your competitors. Have a crystal clear call to action. Don’t leave them any guesswork on what they have to do.

Tip 2: Match the Design of Your Landing Page to Your Ad Copy

If you want to create a cohesive look and feel, then you need to match the design of your landing page to your ad copy. If the ad is attention-grabbing with bold colors, then keep your landing page design consistent.

Tip 3: Optimize for Mobile Visitors

When creating your PPC ads, make sure they are responsive and will look great on any device. Half of your visitors might be using smartphones, so having a mobile-friendly site can improve conversions significantly.

#5: Set Up Conversion Tracking

Not all website traffic is created equal. A visitor who comes from an ad campaign is more likely to be an interesting prospect than someone who just visited your site for the first time, so it’s important that you can track which ads are converting.

Most PPC platforms allow their advertisers to set up conversion tracking through Google Analytics or a similar service provider. By doing this, you can track how much revenue each ad campaign generates so you can better allocate your marketing budget.

Conversion tracking also helps in many other ways such as:

• Checking the validity of leads and whether those coming from a certain ad campaign are actually buying from you.
• Measuring how successful each campaign is so that you can invest more in the ones that are doing well and cut back on the ones that are not.
• It can also help you determine whether your advertising spend is actually worth it or if you need to cut back.

In short, tracking how many of your visitors actually convert will help you see which ads are truly bringing the most ROI and lower those that aren’t achieving their desired results.

#6: Test and Tweak

Like all forms of marketing, PPC ads are a continuous learning process. The best way to find out what works for your company is to test different elements of your campaign and identify the ones that generate the best results.

Some things you can test include:

• Ad copy
• Landing pages
• Targeted keywords
• Bid prices

The beauty of pay-per-click marketing is that you can change any of these elements on the fly and see how it affects your conversion rates.

#7: Repeat The Same Process

Once you have tested enough, you need to simply repeat the process of doing everything from step one. You need to keep a close eye on all of your ad campaign optimization efforts and make sure you are always improving.

The majority of successful PPC advertisers will tell you that they treat their campaign as a well-oiled machine where all the parts are connected to each other yet function individually.

It may take some time to reach an optimum ad, but if you put in the work, then you will realize that your work on the ads reduces while your returns soar.

Conclusion

Ad campaigns can be a great way to get more leads and sales for your business, but only if it’s done correctly. They require a lot of testing, tweaking and monitoring to achieve the best results so it’s important to have a plan in place before you start.

Now that you understand the basics of optimizing your PPC ads, it’s time to put these tips into practice and start optimizing your campaigns for better results.

By following the advice in this guide, you can make sure your campaigns are more effective and generate more money for your business.