Video marketing is one of the hottest marketing strategies. According to various statistics, 80 percent of global Internet consumption in 2019 will be video content and 85 percent of internet users in the USA watch online video content every month.
This article explains how, and more importantly “where” you may add video marketing into your Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns. It then explains how to create a PPC video and offers video marketing tips.
Creating Video Ads for YouTube
Google Ads has video marketing and PPC, which means you may create a video ad and post it on YouTube. These are the ads you see before or after videos on YouTube. If people view your ads, then you pay a fee. How you pay the fee depends on the type of ad you post, but the most common type is where you pay if the viewer watches for more than five seconds.
Video Ads for Facebook
Facebook is home to the largest children-and-young-people audience on the internet, so it sometimes pays to post a few video ads. As you set your campaign objective, you must pick the “video” related objective, and move forward to upload your video ad.
There are a few options for uploading your video, including a slideshow format. This enables you to give users a sneaky peak at the best bits of your video with the hopes your viewers will then click to watch.
Ads on Instagram
Instagram has a very juicy reputation for helping companies introduce and sell their new products. This is mostly due to the fact that the Instagram audience is a little more mature, and because it is a very visual tool where things that are new and interesting get high levels of attention.
Oddly enough, even if your advertising content varies wildly from the content you post on Facebook, the advertising platform is actually the same. Post video ads the same way you would on Facebook but be sure to angle and direct them to appeal to a more mature audience.
Video Marketing on Twitter
The Twitter advertising platform looks very similar to the one you see on Facebook. You have a series of objectives that you may select. If you are looking for PPC video marketing, then the “Promoted Video Views” option is the one for you. You may upload videos, then set headlines, calls-to-action and URLs to your ads.
It can be confusing as to how this works, but the short version is that you can upload a video of 2 minutes and 20 seconds (or up to 10 minutes with select accounts), and then promote it via the Twitter PPC platform to achieve more views. This is a little different to the types of video ads on YouTube.
Creating Your PPC Video Advertisement
Let’s say that you want to put your video ad onto YouTube. You may be tempted to build an ad similar to the types of ad you see on TV, such as car ads and sofa ad. In most cases, this is a mistake because those types of ads only work for established brands.
One method you may use is to use your regular video format and simply talk to your target audience. For example, if you were Captain Disillusion, you may show examples of your debunking methods in a montage and then maybe say a few words to the audience. This would help explain what you do, give a few selling points, and then give the watchers a connection that may convince them to watch, and/or subscribe.
For example, if you were the Ted Channel, you may take a more personal approach and have the character talk to the audience, probably with a funny comment or two, in order to spread brand awareness and hopefully endear the watcher to the main protagonist.
Your best bet is to sell the steak and not the sizzle, which is contrary to the old marketing saying. People are used to the sizzle, they are bored of the sizzle, and they have no time for it. In genuine terms, they actually have no time for it because most people are going to skip your ad after it becomes skippable within five seconds.
If you want people to continue watching or to click, you need to get right to the point and not dress things up. If you have reached a truly potential buyer/viewer, then your video will be watched or get a click, if not, then people will skip your ad and it will save you money.
A Few PPC Video Tips
As you may have gathered from the last tip, you should consider scaring people away. There is nothing wrong with the bulk of your viewers turning your ad off because the bulk of your viewers will not be your target audience and/or will not be paying customers. That is one of the problems with having ads that are too generalized and too interesting for the audience at large.
For example, Whiskers cat food ran a PPC video campaign with the tagline, “Why do cats paw at things?” and showed a short slideshow of cats pawing things as they sat down. In essence, they were trying to sell cat food, but the video looked like a typical funny cat video that one may see regularly on YouTube. All sorts of people clicked it, from people who do not have cats, to young children wanting to see a fluffy kitty.
Marketing execs may say that it helped grow the brand, but the fact is that most of the people who saw the ad have never bought cat food and will never buy cat food (even if they are now aware of the Whiskers brand).
And the Conclusion is – Target and Test!
As you may imagine, the most valuable video marketing tip is that you should market, test, and analyze.
The creators of the previously mentioned cat food ad thought their campaign was a roaring success because of the massive number of clicks their ad received, but sales of their cat food only shifted a tiny percent, which is less than most all of their (seemingly) less successful campaigns.
In truth, the company had more success with accidentally viral memes in terms of cost-of-advertising to units sold, than they did with their supposedly successful video campaign.
The moral of the story is that even though they cannot be blamed for celebrating a high CTR (Click Through Rate), they should have targeted, tested, and analyzed, and then re-engineered their videos and tried again. This process of trial and error is the only way to consistently ensure results with video PPC marketing.
Check out our PPC blog for more information and in-depth details about affiliate advertising, Pay-Per-Click, and all things marketing. Enjoy expert advice, and tips to help you squeeze the most out of your marketing budget.
When coming up with the perfect PPC Ad, the dilemma is: How do you use your ad copy to pass your message to your digital audience using the least amount of words? Is it even possible?
Well, Google rakes in well over $116 billion in advertising revenue annually. That’s a whole lot of advertising. So if you’re not leveraging on PPC campaign, well, your competition already has you beat.
This guide compiles 15 PPC tips that will teach you how to write an ad that sells. Read on.
1. It’s not about you
Yes, it’s your company and yes, it’s your brand. Sure, nobody knows it the way you do.
But it really isn’t about you now, is it? You need to make it about your audience and part of that process involves getting into their mindset and anticipate their search queries.
2. How to Write an Ad That Sells: Perspective Matters
When making your PPC ad copy your audience are the ones who’ll be reading your ad copy. So you need to make sure that you imply the word “you” more than you do “ours” or “us.”
3. What Makes Your Brand Unique
When writing your ad copy you need to include what benefits your products bring to the table that makes your brand different from your competitors. This is what ultimately informs your audience’s decision when it comes to whether or not they’ll click on your ad.
4. Check out Your Competitors Ads
It’s very likely that you have competitors in your industry. It doesn’t hurt to check out how their ads compare to yours. It’ll give you an idea of what features you should place emphasis on.
5. Think Bigger Picture
When you’re writing ad copy make sure that you think about the ad extensions you’ll use to avoid redundancy.
If not you might end up repeating the same message when more ad extensions show up relaying the exact same text copy. Not only will your audience find this distracting, but it’s also quite off-putting as well.
6. The Call-To-Action Is the Heart of Your PPC Ad Copy
Forgetting to include a CTA is a PPC marketing crime. Ensure you use an action verb that is strong and clear, to push your audience to take the next step. Great examples include: “Learn more,” “Request a Quote,” “Shop Now,” etc.
7. Include Keywords
At the risk of stating the obvious, you need to include relevant and highly targeted keywords in your PPC ad copy. These need to be situated in your first or second headline.
8. Match Your Ad Copy to the Search Phrase
Mirror the exact phrase users enter into the search engine. This is likely to give your ad more traction than if you used a different phrase altogether.
For instance, people searching for coffee shops in LA will most likely input “Coffee shops LA.” So, your ad copy should have that exact phrase incorporated. This will get you more traction than if it read “Places where you can have coffee in Los Angeles.”
9. To Price or Not to Price
Stating the price point in your ad copy can be a double-edged sword. Weigh the pros and the cons of doing so, relative to the industry you’re in.
If your product is price-competitive, then you should definitely include it. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your ads in case your competitors decide to undercut you.
10. Qualify Your Prospects
In order to get the most of out of your PPC marketing campaign, you need to qualify your prospects. This eliminates the possibility of your ads getting clicks from audience segments that you don’t serve.
Make it clear who the ad is intended for so that those who don’t qualify can keep on scrolling. For instance, say you’re running a dating service for the older folks. You have organized a singles’ mixer.
An appropriate qualifier would be something along the lines of “…for straight singles aged 40 and up.” That way when singles aged 39 and below see your ad, they won’t bother clicking on it.
11. Headlines Are King
In the digital marketing realm, content is king. But, when it comes to PPC ad copy, headlines take the crown.
You need to craft them carefully and beautifully. All other elements like the description line, display URL and ad extensions exist to complement what‘s written in the headlines.
12. Test and Optimize
You might think of yourself as a modern day genius when it comes to crafting the perfect ad copy. You might very well be, but, it’s always better to create another two or three ads for each ad group.
Let Google Adwords rotate them every so often. That way you’ll know which ads are performing better and which ones you can optimize to get the results you want.
13. Address Your Audience’s Objections Before They Do
Take control of the objections your visitors may have and respond to them right off the bat. For instance, if your ad copy has to do with a food delivery service, you can address hygiene issues, freshness issues, and nutrition issues within your ad.
You can say something like, “…fresh ingredients used daily without trans-fats or artificial additives… All food is prepared in adherence to strict food-safety standards…” You get the idea.
14. Be Location Specific
When creating your PPC ad copy localize it so that you can be both relevant and familiar to your target audience.
For instance, if your business is a flower delivery service make sure your ad copy is geographically specific to the people looking for flower delivery services in your area. It could read something like “Long Beach, CA Best Florist – Save 35% Off & Free Delivery.”
15. Optimize for Mobile
Ensure you optimize your PPC ads for mobile viewing as well. You can take advantage of Ad text customizers.
This Adwords feature allows you to create a text ad with a headline and description specifically optimized for mobile devices. It helps to read through the Google PPC ad copy best practices to learn how to do this.
The Bottom Line
When all is said and done, even the most targeted PPC ad campaign can’t survive bad Ad copy. Now that you know how to write an ad that sells, use the tips in this guide to writing captivating PPC text ads that will capture your audience’s attention and get your message across effectively.
Do you know how many businesses around the world use Google to drive sales to their companies?
Google reported in 2017 that approximately 1.5 million companies use their advertising platform every year. This advertising has led to sales in the billions.
But how do you get in the action? The digital advertising landscape can be daunting for someone starting, but there are things you can do when starting to get off on the right foot.
Keep reading to learn what paid to advertise on Google is and how you can do it right.
What is Pay Per Click Advertising?
Pay per click advertising is a form of digital advertising that allows you to show advertisements to consumers on websites.
Advertising networks have an inventory of websites that sign up to their program to run their ads. When you purchase advertising through a network, your ad will run on related sites to drive traffic to your website or landing page.
What Types of Ads Can You Run?
There are three main types of advertisements on the web. Here are the kinds of ads you can run.
Text Ads
Text ads show up as a link and a few sentences about your product and service. They typically appear alongside other text advertisements that were purchased from other companies.
Image Ads
Image advertisements typically show up in the same places that you find text ads. You will usually have the ad space to yourself which allows you to grab the attention of the website visitor better.
Video Ads
As the name implies, video ads will show a video to the people you are trying to reach. You can find these ads more commonly on video platforms like YouTube.
But, some websites allow video on their sites. Usually, these are set to play on user interaction, so there is no guarantee the user will see the advertisement at all.
How Does Google Auction Work?
The Google auction is the process you go through to buy ad space.
You set up your campaigns by bidding on keywords. For each term you want to target, you will set the price you want to pay.
Google then takes this and compares it with the prices set by other companies and distributes ad inventory based on who pays more.
After that Google will determine the quality of your ads. Your ad is assigned a quality score after being run which is then factored into your ad positioning in the search engine.
The final factor for the Google auction is the quality of your landing page. Google wants this page to be relevant to the ad so it will rank it on quality and adjust your ad position accordingly.
Tips to Help You Get Started
Getting started on Google ads doesn’t have to be difficult. Below you will find a few tips that will help you launch your first campaign and scale it to be profitable.
Use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner
The Keyword Planner is a tool provided by Google that will give you statistics on the various keywords you can target with ads.
It provides statistics like search volume, the average cost per click, trends, and competition. You can use this information to find new keywords to target with advertising and figure out how much to bid for your campaign.
Run Multiple Ad Sets
Chances are a large number of your campaigns won’t be adequate. Nothing you do will be optimized when you first get started.
You need to figure out what works, and this happens when you test multiple ads to see which one performs better.
Once you track your best performers, turn off the ones that don’t make money and focus on optimizing your winners.
Read All Your Reports
If you just set up your ad and don’t do anything, you will never get anywhere. Read all your reports to learn how your ad is performing.
Google also provides free analytic tools for your website which can track conversions. You can use these reports to figure out what ads are leading to the most profit.
Test Different Titles and Descriptions
Consumers don’t react to words the same way. You should test your headlines and descriptions to see which ones elicit the best response for your advertisement.
Your words should be simple and entice the consumer to take action.
Use Different Ads for Different Demographics
Knowing that consumers react differently to words, we can take things one step further. Separate your advertisements based on demographics like sex, age, location, and interests.
By doing this, you can craft your marketing to better fit the people seeing it.
Test Your Budget
Even if you follow the Keyword Planner for your ad budget, you may still not be getting good results from it.
Try experimenting with your budget to see if it allows you to reach more people. Your quality score can also play a factor here. You could get away with a lower budget if Google thinks you are providing excellent value.
Use A/B Testing
Once you have your winning ads, it’s time to optimize them to get the most profit out of them. A/B testing an ad means changing small things about the ad and then comparing the results at scale.
Even small changes can make a difference. You might think that half a percent increase may not be worth the effort, but when you apply this to a large enough volume, you can see a noticeable improvement in success.
Add in a few of these changes, and you can increase your conversions by several percent if you are productive with your testing.
Advertising on Google: Final Thoughts
Advertising on Google can be very profitable when you learn to do it right. Chances are you will struggle at the beginning to see ROI on your advertising. But, once you determine which of your advertisements perform the best, you can keep putting money in and see conversions roll into your store.
Are you trying different conversion strategies to get more out of your digital ads? Check our conversion guide for more tips to get the most bang for your buck.
In an ideal world, your company would be getting organic traffic constantly flowing to your website. But with the overwhelming amount of competition out there in the digital landscape, that’s not a realistic strategy to be relying on.
So, what now?
One great option that more and more companies are utilizing is PPC advertising.
But you don’t want to just throw money at advertising without some careful strategizing. What are the best pay per click advertising strategies out there?
And will they work for you?
In this post, we’ll go over what PPC (pay per click) advertising is, and the best strategies for using it.
Sound interesting? Keep reading for more information!
It’s All About the Keywords
PPC begins when you match your ad with specific keywords and then bid on them.
The tricky thing is that your competitors are also doing their keyword research, and then bidding on those same keywords.
One method to increase the effectiveness of your bid is to simply outspend your competition. And obviously, you’re aware that this is an advertising campaign, meaning you’ll need to be spending some money.
But you also don’t want to bid on keywords that aren’t going to be the most helpful for you. So use the Google Keyword Planner.
It gives you keyword suggestions, which you can then choose from to land on ones more effective for your business.
And be brainstorming while you do it because if you are prompted to think of a keyword that Keyword Planner isn’t suggesting, you might have hit on a word combination or phrase that your competitors aren’t bidding on yet!
Focus on Customer Value
Imagine you were shopping around for the best PPC methods. Would you respond to a link that simply said “PPC Methods Help”? Maybe.
But if you saw a link that immediately made you think it would add value to your business, like “Increase Your Conversions” wouldn’t you be more likely to click that one?
The same is true for your PPC campaign. Instead of just using keywords that highlight you and your business, choose ones that people will see and associate with adding value to them and their business.
It’s not about what they get, per se. It’s about how your business will make their life better.
Long-Tail Keywords
What are the organic search results that have led people to your website previously?
Sure, some of them were short keyword phrases. But odds are decent that some were more specific, longer phrases.
Think, for example, of the difference between someone searching for ‘plumbing help’ versus searching for ‘leaky faucet help in Topeka, KS’.
If you own a plumbing company in Topeka, you’re much more likely to rank highly on the search results with the latter search.
So, reverse that thinking when it comes to your PPC keywords. Don’t settle for only short phrases and word combinations.
Test out long-tail keywords in Gooogle Keyword Planner. You might have a better chance of finding a keyword phrase that your competitors aren’t using nearly as much!
Calls To Action
A call to action, often referred to as a CTA, is one of the most important elements of modern day advertising. This is certainly true in the case of Internet ads and PPC.
And the point of showing how your product or service will add value to their lives is to get them to convert into your customer. So, take advantage of the groundwork you’ve laid and ask customers directly to do something.
Maybe it’s to sign up for something, or to download something, or to start a 30-day trial of your product. Whatever the ask is, be clear and concise about it.
A CTA should be compelling and it should highlight its value for the customer. And it should also add to the momentum that was created by all the copy leading up to it.
Often that comes in the form of creating urgency. If the CTA implies that they will only get a certain product or deal if they click through at that moment, it’s much more likely to work.
Use All Parts of the Funnel
Those familiar with the concept of a sales funnel know that there’s an accepted set of steps that lead to the conversion of a customer.
Since PPC campaigns usually target people who aren’t aware of a product, that’s usually where they are applied. Which makes sense.
And at that stage, it’s a good idea to use keywords aimed to reach people who aren’t at all aware of your business.
But a good method of PPC is to also target people in the later stages of the sales funnel too.
For example, you can bid on keywords that are aimed for people in the ‘commitment’ stage. It might be exactly what they need to convince them to take the final step and become a customer.
Weekly Maintenance
Once your PPC campaign is in full swing, it’s important to check in with it to see if it’s working and if anything needs tweaking.
If you are having success with your current keywords, for example, you could choose to add new ones to the mix. In that same vein, you can take any terms that aren’t converting for you, and switch them to negative keywords.
You can also take this time to improve your CTR (and your Quality Score). One good way to achieve this is to split up ad groups into smaller pieces. And each one will be more relevant than they previously were.
And finally, you can take any under-performing keywords out altogether, especially if they are more expensive ones.
The Best Pay Per Click Advertising Strategies
Hopefully, this post has given you a sense of the strategies available for the best pay per click advertising possible.
If you take the time to utilize them, you’ll be getting the most out of your PPC campaigns, and converting more customers than ever before!
If you have questions or want to know more, contact us today!
Google ads metrics are an important aspect of measuring results and optimizing your PPC advertising for best results. Google Ads announced on November 6th, 2018 that they will be rolling out four new metrics regarding ad position. These new metrics will provide advertisers more detailed, granular data regarding their ad position.
The new metrics for search ad position are:
Impr. (Absolute Top) % – the percent of your ad impressions that are shown as the very first ad above the organic search results.
Impr. (Top) % – the percent of your ad impressions that are shown anywhere above the organic search results.
Search (Absolute Top) IS – the impressions you’ve received in the absolute top location (the very first ad above the organic search results) divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location.
Search (Top) IS – the impressions you’ve received in the top location (anywhere above the organic search results) compared to the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location.
Google Ads went on to say that “if you are using average position to understand the location of your ads on the page, it’s better to use impressions (Absolute Top) % and Impression (Top) %. If you are using average position to bid to a page location, it’s better to use Search (Abs Top) IS and Search (Top) IS.”
Google also went on to clarify average position, indicating that average positions shows the order that your ad appears versus the other ads in the ad auction. For example, sometimes no ads are displayed above the organic search results so the ad with a number one position may appear at the bottom of the page.
8 Questions You Need to Ask Before Hiring a PPC Company
Are you looking to hire a PPC company? If so, here are 8 questions you need to ask before hiring a PPC company.
It’s getting harder and harder to tell who’s who on the internet these days. Hiring a PPC company can feel like diffusing a bomb: who do you trust? How can you tell experts apart from those who are just good at marketing?
Even so, the benefits of partnering with a real PPC expert are hard to ignore. They know how to help you maximize your investment to get a good return.
Plus, they do all the heavy lifting to give you turnkey marketing and noticeable results.
How do you know if you’ve found a reputable PPC company to handle your PPC? Be prepared to ask them these eight necessary questions to see if they’re the real deal.
1. What’s Your Experience as a PPC Company?
PPC spans a huge spectrum of platforms and channels. Ideally, you’ll partner with a company that not only does the work but can also consult with you to make recommendations in your best interest.
In addition, you want to make sure you’re handing your budget to a company that will put it to good use – for you, not just them. Trusting a PPC company with a thousand dollars is a lot different than forking over a million dollars.
Make sure that whoever you partner with is experienced in managing a budget of your size. If most of their clients have bigger budgets than you, consider where you might fall in their priorities.
2. What Type of Reporting Do You Offer?
Even though you’re hiring an outside company to handle your PPC marketing, you still need to be involved in the progress. Knowing what kind of reporting to expect can help you stay on top of your results.
Ask how often you can expect to receive updates, the PPC KPIs the company provides in their reports, and how they can help you make sense of it all.
Ideally, your provider won’t just deliver the data but also break down insights that can help you in other areas of your marketing.
3. What’s Your Understanding of My Business and Customers?
Any PPC marketing company should know how to market your company to the right audience. This means understanding your unique advantages, the people you serve, your ideal prospects, and other criteria that can help you stand out.
Before you hire for PPC, find out how much they know about your business and customers. Ask them how much time they’ll dedicate to researching your market.
PPC isn’t a one-size-fits-all blueprint, so make sure they recognize what makes your business special.
4. How Do You Structure Your Fees?
PPC fees can break down in a variety of ways. It can save you time and money by understanding exactly what you’re paying for.
For example, some companies charge a single fee that covers every aspect of your PPC campaign, from strategy to ads to analysis. Other companies take a percentage of what your ads earn.
In addition, some companies may charge setup fees, cancellation fees, and other hidden expenses that can eat into your gains. Other companies use contracts to commit you to a set number of months.
There isn’t a right or wrong way to pay for PPC, but whatever you spend should be justified by the results.
(At Pay Per Click Authority, we charge a single month to month fee with no contracts or hidden costs.)
5. Do You Offer Creative Support or Just Ad Management?
There are two sides of a PPC campaign: the creative aspect and the management process.
Some companies are only set up to handle one or the other, usually the ad management portion.
But it’s helpful to have someone who can design your PPC campaigns from start to finish. It’s a major time saver. Plus, it saves you from having to outsource ad writing to another agency.
Find out if creative support is part of the company’s scope and if it’s included in the price.
6. How Do You Do Keyword Research?
Keyword research can easily become a full-time job. It’s an intricate process that’s best left to the experts, but knowing a little bit about what’s happening behind the scenes can help validate their expertise.
Do they look for negative keywords? Are they sourcing keywords that are easy to rank for? What’s the search volume of each keyword?
Keep in mind that keyword research should be an ongoing process. Find out how often they conduct keyword research to give you the best results.
7. What Are Your Testing Procedures?
It’s not enough to simply create a campaign and watch the results roll in. Even if an ad campaign seems to be working, how do you know it can’t be more effective?
A/B testing is an integral part of a PPC ad campaign. Your PPC marketing company should have testing procedures in place to ensure you’re getting the best results from your ad spend.
Find out what elements are included in the testing. Trying different variations of keywords, calls-to-action, offers, and copy can create vastly different results.
8. What Results Do You Guarantee?
This question is a bit of a trick to see if you’re dealing with a company who knows the industry well.
The truth is, results are never guaranteed with PPC. A good PPC management company is confident in their abilities to do a job well. But in the end, there’s never a way to know how many conversions your ad campaigns will generate.
Reputable companies will tell you this up front. Under-the-radar companies may offer some form of guarantee to earn your business. However, you should know that it’s impossible for them to affirm you’ll break even or make a certain dollar amount.
Leave PPC to the Pros
You don’t have to be a PPC expert to ask the above questions. It’s important you at least have a minimal understanding of what makes a strong PPC company so you can make an informed hiring decision.
Our team has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in managing Google AdWords campaigns. Talk to us today about your goals and let us design a profitable campaign for your business.
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