9 PPC Defects That Can Harm Your Campaign

(Here is the compilation of common mistakes that should not be the part of your PPC campaign.)

Is your PPC campaign not working? Or you think that success with PPC is just a fluke?

PPC is the most effective and quick digital marketing tool to increase traffic to a website.

So, why your PPC campaign is not working?

Well, this is because of some mistakes in your campaign.

May be you are sticking to some obsolete strategies or bidding over the wrong keywords. Most campaigns fail just because they are not focused on their target audience. You must have got an idea what is holding your PPC campaign back.

Here we have compiled such common PPC mistakes you need to eliminate from your campaign to see results.

 

Mistake #1: Bidding Only onTop Ad Position:

Top ad position ensures both visibility and traffic, but it is not profitable every time. This is because sometimes top position ad attracts the audience who are not ready to buy. Then, your larger competitors have stronger budget to outbid you.

What about bidding on 2^nd, 3^rd and even 4^th positions? These spots are less expensive and tend to fetch almost as much traffic as 1^st position.

Mistake #2: Using Excessive Keywords:

Do you stuff PPC campaign with every possible keyword? Of course, it will increasetraffic, but that traffic won’t be relevant.

Incorporating keywords uselessly only make your budget decline faster which could be used on the traffic oriented keywords. Instead, understand your target audience and predict what keywords they are likely to search with. It helps you choose the right keywords that can convert.

Mistake #3: Setting PPC Campaign and Forgetting About It:

A PPC campaign doesn’t run on auto-drive mode, once it is set up. It requires constant testing, monitoring, bidding and new keywords to make a difference. Or you can say that constant experimentation can lead your campaign to success. And it takes time, expertise and patience.

Mistake #4: Not Optimizing Landing Pages:

Landing pages are as important as your ad copy and keywords. After all, they are the places where the users land after clicking over the ads. Cluttered design, slow loading speed, limp headlines and irrelevant visuals will turn off your customers. Make sure to optimize your landing pages for navigation, readable and engaging content, speed and professional layout.To go extra mile, build specific landing pages for each product to provide your new customers the exact information they’re seeking.

Mistake #5: Not Knowing Your Audience:

Not identifying your target audience can lead your campaign to failure. For example, there is no use of selling kids insurance to someone who is single. Does it make a sense to offer air conditioners to someone living in Antarctica?

Knowing your target audience is important for success in any field of marketing. Not only will this help you create more effective PPC campaigns, but it will help you minimize your budget and get real results from the investments you are making.

Here are points you should work over to understand your audience and their needs…

• Who are your customers? (Also consider their age group, gender and marital status)
• Where do they live?
• How do they think?
• What they are looking for? What they are interested in?
• What are their concerns?
• How your service or product can help them with these concerns?
• What drives them to make buying decisions?
• What website or social media they use?
• How to reach them?

Mistake #6: Not Considering the Value of Late Conversions:

Do you close a campaign within a week just because of a low CVR?

Here you need to understand that conversion is not instant every time. For example, a health insurance ad offers 10% discount coupon. A user may download the coupon but only use it in three months, when his insurance goes up. In this case, the campaign takes months to convert.

The process of engaging and converting customers takes time depending on the type of conversion you are looking for. Therefore, you should let your campaign grow mature to earn those late conversions. One more thing—constantly check your data for errors and improvement.

Mistake #7: Not Incorporating Negative Keywords:

Negative keywords are used to prevent your ads from displaying for irrelevant keywords and phrases. For example, if your campaign is being run for your retail store to find new customers, you would create a negative keyword for “jobs” to prevent your ads from showing to audience looking for a job at a retail store. Since finding new workers is not your aim, you’d want to make sure you’re not wasting money by displaying ads to these audiences. Negative keywords tell Google what search phrases are irrelevant to your business, so you don’t run ad impressions for searches that won’t make you sales.

Mistake #8: Not Using Ad Extensions:

Ad extensions let you add more information to your ad. By adding a brief description, discount code or a phone number, you can make your ad stand out and get clicked. For example, local extensions help local ads by enabling businesses show their whereabouts and map location. It also helps user know exactly where the business is and how to get there. Such small things can enhance your CTR and boost conversion rates as well.

Mistake #9: Not Testing the Ads:

Do you stick to one version of ad copy? Or you run your PPC campaign without testing.

Sometimes, first attempt won’t bring the results, so create multiple versions of ads for every campaign you are conducting, and test all these ad versions.

If you are running PPC on Facebook’s Ad Platform, make sure to test images along with the text. Here are the tips to create multiple versions of your ad copy.

• Create an ad version to discuss the value of your company and how it benefits the customers.
• Create a second ad version to show how your services can solve the problems of your target audience.
• In the third ad version, be creative with your copy and headlines and keep it different from the first two ads.

So these are the mistakes that should be eliminated from your PPC campaign. Follow the right things and latest trends to get the most of your PPC campaign. One more thing—PPC won’t bring you overnight success.