Pay per click (PPC) marketing is crucial to maximizing your online marketing efforts.
However, if not done right it can get costly and overwhelming pretty fast. Here are a few tips when working on PPC marketing.
1. Go negative. No, we’re not talking about those mud-slinging political ads or talking down your competitors in your marketing campaign. A negative campaign in this sense means you consider using negative keywords, an often overlooked PPC marketing strategy. Negative keywords work by avoiding displaying your ads to people who are specifically searching for something else. For example, an antiques dealer can use the negative keywords “new” and “modern” to avoid having search engines show their ads to people who clearly aren’t interested in antiques.
2. Location matters. If your franchise business is located in the northeast, you may not want people in the southwest seeing your ads and clicking them, costing you advertising money. Make use of search engine geo-location features, if they have them, to use keywords that target your specific geographic location.
3. Make an offer. Sure, it may seem obvious, but including some kind of offer in your ad to entice people to click is a great way to maximize your PPC strategy. Phrases such as “Learn More” or “Free Download” let your audience know what to expect when they click on your link.
4. Use long tail keywords. These are longer phrases – three or four words, as opposed to one or two – that help you target a specific franchise. For example, the key word “franchise” will likely bring up a huge number of results, but a prospect with a more specific focus – say, “restaurant franchise” – will narrow that down in his or her search pretty quickly.
5. Know your Google Quality Score. This is what Google uses to determine your AdWords account rank and figure out where your ads will go. As long as your score is high – which happens when you regularly supply quality advertisements that follow Google’s set rules – you’ll likely get better ad placement and increase your conversion rate.
