Pay per click (PPC) campaigns can be tricky. At first glance, it seems like it should be simple: you create some ads, target some specific people and then wait for the results. Right?
The reality is that you should always have goals in mind before investing in ads. You wouldn't invest in the stock market without a plan, right? The same is true for investing hard-earned money into ads for your business. Know why you're doing it and don't ever "set it and forget it." There's too much at risk.
To ensure better results and optimize spending on paid search marketing, you need to start by setting SMART goals.
What are SMART goals, anyway? By learning what they are and how to set them, you will know if your investment is worthwhile.
An example of a common goal that we hear from our clients is, "I just want to increase traffic to my website." As you can see, this doesn't tell us much. After all, technically, if I increase traffic by 5 people over the next year then I've done my job. But who is going to be happy with that? No one!
For our clients we start with a goals and strategy session to learn more about overall business goals and current lead generation. From there we can create SMART goals for a client's PPC campaign. Here's an example:
Let's take a look how this SMART goal breaks down:
Having a tangible target in mind by creating a SMART goal makes it known within your organization that you're aiming to achieve something specific. And because of this, you're going to be carefully watching how your ads perform, making adjustments as you go. You might need more relevant content on the website to share with visitors if they're not sticking around. Maybe you need to change up the key phrases you're targeting. Some can be pricey and sometimes you're targeting a key phrase that's getting clicks but not leads. It's a process that takes time to hone.
Related Read: Paid vs. Organic Search: What's the Difference?
By using SMART goals you're more likely to achieve success because you've set a target.
Measurable goals take the uncertainty out of the equation and give you numbers to work with. By the way, if a goal is measurable, it doesn't mean it shouldn't also be specific, achievable, relevant, and timely. If you take one letter out, your goal isn't SMART anymore.
When it comes to measurable goals, they should be as specific as possible. Take advantage of numbers. For example:
It's easy to measure how well the PPC campaign is doing by reviewing the website traffic. Be sure you know what to expect for the number of clicks to your website based on your industry. The average click through rate is around 2% but you can blow that out of the water if you use the Google Ad tools to the max. If you notice you have a lot of impressions but not a big enough bump in traffic it's time to evaluate the ad text. If you see visits but they leave immediately, you need to reassess the content on the page you're sending them to!
You can set a SMART goal to generate more leads or sales. It's very easy to determine which leads and which sales were the result of an ad click using ad conversion tools. This type of proof will be important for future funding of more ads.
You can find out which keywords are generating more conversions than others. Once you figure it out, you can invest more money in ads that feature higher-efficiency keywords.
If you're aiming for increasing leads, give the visitors plenty of opportunity to become a lead. Don't hide the calls to action!
If you want to tweak your marketing campaign, one of your measurable goals could be increasing the amount you earn for every dollar you spend on ads. AdWords have an excellent feature that shows how much each of the conversion costs you. By setting the right goal, you can improve the profitability of your campaign.
Setting achievable goals can be complicated especially if you set unrealistic expectations. For example, with a low budget, doubling website traffic is virtually impossible, especially if the average cost-per-click on your ads is high.
So be realistic. Here are a few tips to help you.Are you achieving goals consistently? Even if your paid search marketing campaign is already in full swing, it's not too late to make changes. In fact, we recommend that you make changes pretty regularly to get to your goals! Review any goals you set at the start and make sure they're SMART. And if you didn't have any goals just yet, it's not too late to create them!
If you're not sure what your goals should be or would like some help with getting your PPC ads to work as a part of your inbound marketing program for lead generation, let us know. We can schedule a free consultation to see what we might recommend for you.