paid ads

Top 5 Tips For Creating Successful PPC Campaigns

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Are you looking to create successful PPC campaigns? PPC is a great tool for driving traffic to your website and increasing your brand’s online presence. However, you may find it hard to generate the results you’re looking for. We have come up with the top 5 tips to help you. Keep reading to find out more information!

Top 5 Tips For Creating Successful PPC campaigns

PPC also known as Pay-per-click can be a very effective way to drive traffic to your website whilst also generating leads and sales. However, creating a successful campaign requires planning and research.

You need to make sure that you’re getting the most for your budget and ensure that the people who are clicking on your ads will convert into leads and sales. Here are my top 5 tips for running successful PPC campaigns.

This week’s blog at Apprentice Tips focuses on successful PPC campaigns. Contact ApprenticeTips.com for more information.

Set clear Goals

Before starting your PPC campaign, you should set clear goals for what you want to achieve. This could be any of the following:

  1. Generating leads to the website
  2. Increasing sales
  3. Increasing brand awareness
  4. Boosting the traffic to the site

Once you have set these goals, it is important to establish a budget that is suitable for the overall marketing strategy. It is crucial that the budget is realistic because it will allow you to achieve your goals without overspending.

Keyword blocks

Conduct Keyword Research Beforehand

It is vital that you conduct keyword research beforehand because this is the foundation of any successful PPC campaign. When doing this, you should also identify your target audience and determine what keywords will resonate with them. This will ensure that your ads are relevant to your target audience.

To do this you can use Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to identify keywords that have high traffic and are most relevant to the campaign that you are going to run. Alternatively, you should also look at negative keywords so that you can avoid using them. If you don’t do this, you will be wasting your budget on irrelevant clicks.

Optimise Your Landing Pages

When the user clicks on your ad they will be sent to your desired landing page. To allow the user to have a good experience you should optimise the landing page and encourage them to take action. This is so that they don’t just look at the page and leave. You can do this by using images and videos to showcase what you are promoting in your ad.

The landing page needs to be relevant to the ad and be enticing. You should include a strong CTA to encourage the users to take action for example “purchase now”. If you don’t include call to actions, it isn’t clear what you want them to do.

Monitor Your PPC Campaign

PPC campaigns require you to monitor them regularly. This is so that you can make changes to optimize it if necessary. Doing this will allow you to get the most out of your budget. You can use Google Analytics to track the performance of the ad and identify areas that need improving. If you are using a different platform from Google, you can use other analytical dashboards for example Facebook Ads manager or Mailchimp dashboards.

Conclusion

In conclusion, PPC campaigns are used very often in the digital marketing industry as they are extremely powerful. If you follow these top 5 tips you will be well on your way to running successful campaigns. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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5 key ways to smash your Paid Social Advertising!

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Are you starting out your career in paid social advertising and are daunted by the complex nuances of social media? Worry no longer, read this guide to find out how to smash your advertising.

Colleagues working on a marketing strategy
Colleagues working on a marketing strategy

Is Paid social advertising worth it?

Paid Social advertising are sponsored ads that run on social media. Brands pay money to run these ads on these platforms to reach users specific to their objective and target audience.

By using Paid Social advertising, it gives your brand a guaranteed reach as you’re essentially paying for your target audience’s attention. Through paid social, you can set up specific target audiences to best accompany the objective of your campaign whilst supporting your organic social media campaigns long-term.

5 key steps into running a successful paid social campaign

1. Pick the right social media platforms to run your ads on

There are so many social media networks to choose from, however choosing the right platform to advertise your ads on can be tricky.

Facebook/Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms with over 2 billion active users, which makes this platform great for awareness and creating a brand presence. This accompanied with its audience targeting and various content placements make this a great starter platform!

Snapchat, a Gen-Z dominated app, is where users post and engage with short-form videos which makes it perfect to advertise using the Snap Ads/Commercials placements. Snapchat also offers Filters/AR Lens which brands can use to incorporate their business.

Twitter, the platform for conversation around topics, can be great when using keyword targeting as this puts your ads within the key conversations taking place in real time.

Lastly is TikTok, which although is a new platform, it has risen in the ranks of social media popularity tenfold! As this is also a Gen-Z dominated app, brands can instantly connect with the next generation of consumers with trending short-form videos which makes it great at driving awareness and conversions.

2. What is the objective of your campaign?

To consider the objective of your campaign, first you need to decide what your business goals are.

  • Awareness – shows your ads to people who are most likely to remember them
  • Engagement – gets more video views, messages, or post engagement
  • Traffic – sends people to an online destination such as a website or app
  • Leads – collects leads for your brand
  • App Promotion – find new people to install your app and continue to use it
  • Purchases – find people who are likely to purchase your products or services
3. What KPIs will you be measuring for success?

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that is used track success. Some options to measure are:

  • Cost-per-Thousand Impressions (CPM) is the amount you pay for every 1,000 impressions your ad receives.
  • Cost-per-Click (CPC) is the actual price you pay a publisher every time an online user clicks on your ad.
  • Click-Through-Rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on your ad/url over the number of impressions made.
  • View-Through-Rate (VTR) is the percentage of completed views of a skippable ad over the number of initial impressions.
4. What are the best creatives and copy for this campaign?

Take some time to research the perfect creatives and copy for your ads. By using Facebook Ad Library, you can spend some time browsing other ads that your competitors may be running but make sure to be original and not to copy! Take note of what creatives jump out at you, and how ‘good’ ads speak to their customers.

5.Track your paid social campaign with analytics

Lastly, tracking your paid social analytics really determines if your campaigns was a success or not. By using the platforms ad reporting tool, you can deep-drive into your campaign’s performance and understand whether you saw an ROI for your campaigns and opportunities to optimise future campaigns.

Now it’s time to try it yourself!

Remember paid social, like a lot of other marketing channels, takes time and practice so don’t worry if you don’t see results the first time. There’s so much to learn so make sure you keep up to date with industry news and sign up to our newsletter!

Read more on our digital apprenticeships and tips here.

The Ultimate Guide to Paid Social Advertising

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Starting your career in Paid Social advertising? Read this and you’ll be an expert in no time.

What is Paid Social advertising?

Paid social advertising, in simple terms, refers to social media ads. Brands pay money to these platforms and in return have their advertisements displayed to users, depending on their target audience.

How to create a Social Media ad

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning a social campaign:

Which social platform will you run with?

Starting with Facebook/Instagram/Meta – this is one of the most popular social media platforms, with almost 2 billion daily active users. This makes your presence on here essential! The optimisation and targeting tools that the platform encompasses set it apart from other platforms.

Next up is Twitter, a platform where people are constantly sharing opinions around trending topics. This makes it extremely valuable, especially when using keyword targeting – which places your ads throughout those conversations, gaining reach beyond your audience.

TikTok – the new platform that continues to grow with popularity. Businesses are really able to show their brand personality and increase positive reputation through trending content. The app holds great purchase and awareness influence.

Another option is Snapchat, where users share and engage with short form videos, capturing the younger demographic. However, their main USP is the ability to incorporate AR lenses to promote your business.

Finally, we have Pinterest. A platform based around inspiration (cooking, fashion, DIY) – the bookmarking style design of the app means ads sit seamlessly and naturally within content. It’s a great place for people to discover, curate and purchase.

HubSpot Marketing video

What objective will you choose for your social campaign?

Before you chose your objective, consider what your business goals are!

  • Awareness = reach the largest amount of people who are most likely to remember your ad
  • Traffic = increase traffic to an online destination
  • Engagement = find people more likely to engage with your online business and take desired actions
  • Leads = collect leads for your business via messages, phone calls or sign ups
  • App promotion = get people to install or take a specific action within your app
  • Sales = find people likely to purchase your goods or services

More detail here.

Which paid social KPI’s will you measure?

KPI’s are measurable metrics that reflect performance, here are a few popular ones:

  • Click-through rate (CTR)

Percentage of people who viewed your post and clicked on the CTA.

  • Conversion rate (CR)

Number of people who perform the actions outlined in your CTA (make a purchase, visit a web page) compared to the people that click on that post.

  • Cost per click (CPC)

Amount you pay per individual click on your advertisement.

  • Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

Amount you pay per every time 1,000 people see your post.

More detail here.

Now practice!

Now it’s time for you to practice – remember practice makes perfect. There’s so much more to learn so make sure you’re keeping up to date with industry news and sign up to our newsletter!

Links for industry news: Marketing Week, Marketing Dive, Campaign Live

5 Easy Ways to Generate Website Traffic

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The more people who reach your website, the more potential customers you have. Everyday 250,000+ websites are launched worldwide according to Siteef. As this space becomes ever more cluttered, it has never been important to ensure your message gets through. If you don’t generate website traffic, you won’t have any potential customers.

An image of someone working on a laptop, using a data tool to track the growth of web traffic

1. Social Media

There are multiple different social media and all have a different user base. These are the main ones:

  • TikTok: You have the ability to reach millions of people for free. 60% of all TikTok users are aged between 16-24 according to a social media research firm Wallaroom. A good example of a company who have used TikTok well is the Irish airline Ryanair, who have amassed 1.3 million followers. From every post you make you could recieve thousand of additional hits to your website. The more you post, the more views you get, giving you more chance to increase profits.
  • Instagram: Similar to TikTok, Instagram’s main demographic is 18-29 year olds who make up 59% of all users according to The London School of Economics. Instagram gives you more freedom than TikTok because with Instagram you can post picture, videos, stories and more but TikTok can only be a video. A good example of a company who have used Instagram well is Starbucks who have 18 million followers. The American Coffee giant have transformed themselves from just another Cafe chain to a status symbol.
  • Twitter: You can reach thousand of people with just one post. Unlike TikTok and Instagram you can actually put a website link in the description of a post which means it is easier for people to click on to your website. A good example of a brand who do well on Twitter is H&M the high street fashion retailer with 8.4 million followers. According to the same London School of Economics report 37% of Twitter users are aged 18-29.

2. Reviews

Reviews help sell product but what most people don’t know is reviews also generate website traffic. It does this in a few different ways:

  • Referrals: People who have bought something are likely to tell their friends about it if they like it. According to a study conducted by Big Commerce only 25% of people trust adverts, but 92% of people believe the recommendation of a friend or family member and 75% of people believe the reviews of previous customers.
  • Search Ranking: If you have reviews on your website you will rank higher on google. If your previous customers leave reviews, the Google algorithm can improve its ranking of your website.

“Google itself has made it clear that reviews can influence local search rankings — and are factored into its algorithms for determining where businesses appear on Search Engine Result Pages”

Review Tracker

3. Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is a brilliant tool, but only when it is planned out well and constantly reviewed. Failure to manage paid advertising well can turn it into an ineffective money pit. The best methods for paid advertising are:

  • Paid Search Marketing: This is the most popular type of paid advertising, according to a study done by PPC Protect, 45% of small businesses used Paid Search Marketing in 2018. This method is good because you only pay for clicks onto you website after someone uses your search term. The Paid Search Marketing price is dependant on the competition for search terms, if you pick to many mainstream terms, you will find your paying a lot more per hit then they are worth to you. If this happens you should pick some more niche keywords and under used ones. You can research keywords using Google Trends, Semrush and many other programs.
  • Display Advertising: This is where you have a pop up advert on different websites, whos viewerbase you want to target. An example of a website you would see Display advertising on is the Daily Mail website. According to research firm Sumo only 3% of people click on these kind of adverts, but it is a good way to build brand awareness.
  • Social Media Advertising: This is where a post on social media is promoted to reach far more people than it ever would have. You can generally pick the locations, ages and interests of people you want your campaign to reach. The idea is to generate website traffic from only people interested in your sector. The average cost of social media advertising per 10,000 impressions are (according to Bark a marketing firm):
Social MediaCost Per 10,000 Impressions
Facebook£54.20
Instagram£59.60
YouTube£73.00
Twitter£48.70
Tik Tok£75.60

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a fantastic, cost effective way to drive traffic to your website, because you are emailing people who have already registered an interest in your company. The best time to do this is when you have a new product or your have a special offer, to entice these people in.

5. SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) in simple terms is optimising content on your website in order to rank higher on search engines. Things you can do to improve your SEO include:

  • Use Alt tags on images
  • Update content regularly
  • Keep Meta description to no more than 70 characters
  • Start regularly blogging
  • Fix or remove broken links
  • Use Keywords
  • Benchmark your site against your competitors using Google Page Speed