Everyone that has worked with pay-per-click (PPC) ads knows how competitive the landscape is. PPC is all about jockeying for ad position, and it’s an endless struggle against your fiercest competitors.
Needless to say, PPC is a cutthroat industry.
If only there was a way to gain some type of advantage…
Actually, Google ads uses an ad rank formula that’s responsible for advertisers fighting for online placement. Understanding how this ad formula works can provide you with a competitive advantage.
Google’s ad formula is broken up into three different parts:
Honing in on these areas and ensuring they are top quality will undoubtedly help your ad rank at the top of any search page. Below, you’ll learn all about Google ad rank formula and begin putting in the work to outrank your top competitors.
The first area of Google’s ad rank formula we’ll discuss is the CPC of your bids. When you think of an ad rank position, think of how popularity existed in high school. Everyone wants the top spot, but you’ll have to be willing to pay to get there.
By using Google’s keyword research tool and browsing your own dashboard, you can quickly learn where you ad ranking in relation to the top spot of your chosen keywords. In fact, Google does all of the hard work in telling you how much you’ll need to bid to reach the top spot for a keyword.
Though, sometimes this feature isn’t completely accurate. A general rule of thumb to follow is when you add a new keyword to your dashboard, view the estimate from Google’s dashboard, and round up to the nearest ten to determine your maximum CPC bid.
For example, if Google shows an estimate of $14.26, you should expect to spend at least $20. After a few days of running your campaign, you can start lowering your bid if your google ads are doing great and lowering it if they are performing poorly.
The status column will let you know if your bid is below the first page bid. Until you receive any information otherwise, you should place your maximum CPC bid at the amount Google requests for your ad rank on the first page.
Lastly, the average position column on the Google Ads dashboard is where your ads are showing up live. To recap, the first three positions are at the very top of Google search results page/Search Engine results page and are the most likely to be clicked on.
All other positions will fall to the other pages on Google and will likely never be clicked on. This column should help any advertiser let you know when to raise and lower your build. Your choice should be based on where you want your ad rank to be positioned on Google and the budget you have to spend.
When you are in a very low position, you should double your bid. On the other hand, if your ad is in a top position, you should slowly lower your bid to take advantage of a few extra clicks for your budget. Or, you can use automated bidding.
When you’re new to setting up a Google ads campaign, expect to raise your bid at first to optimize your placement and budget. When you begin to figure out the right budget to achieve your desired placement, you can scale back your spending.
In addition, you may want to visit our guide for methods on how to lower your cost-per-click.
To use another analogy, your campaign’s quality score is similar to being a well-rounded student when it’s time to complete college applications. Your quality score is determined by:
With all of that said, here are some tips to follow to make sure that your campaign has an exceptionally high quality score:
Google offers more than seven Ad extensions to provide your prospects more information or ad formats, make your ad take up more room, and improve your ad rank. Extensions can undoubtedly make your ads look better.
In fact, with ad extensions, your ads can look like this:
You’re free to use as many ad extensions as you want. This will make it possible for you to showcase multiple sitelinks and CTAs. You can also use extensions to display call and location icons.
Finally, make sure that your sitelink extensions are written in title case to achieve the best presentation, and write callout extensions in sentence case. You also won’t need to use all 25 characters for callout extensions.
It takes a lot of work and tinkering to improve your PPC campaign and turn your budget into a revenue stream. If you don’t have the time or expertise, hiring a PPC agency is definitely in your best interest if you want to lead more people to your website.
At PPC.co, we specialize in running successful campaigns for all kinds of industries. If you want to take your campaign to the next level, contact us today to speak to a member of our team.
Facebook is undoubtedly the most preeminent social media network in the world. More than two billion people use Facebook. That’s nearly ⅓ of the entire world population. If you’re considering promoting your products and services, improving brand awareness, and driving sales and conversions, then Facebook is the perfect option.
Getting started with Facebook advertising is as simple as owning a business page and investing a few dollars into your first campaign to see what strategies will work best for you.
Though, if you’re new to Facebook Ads (or any other PPC advertising platform, for that matter), you may quickly figure out that attracting eyes to your campaign is simple. Convincing these complete strangers to show interest in your product and service and buy is a completely different obstacle.
But, it’s not impossible and you may find that improving Facebook Ads conversions is more straightforward than you originally thought.
To help you save and make more money with your budget, here are some very effective strategies to improve Facebook Ads conversions.
A conversion means something different to every business involved in marketing and advertising campaigns. If your audience is B2C, then a conversion may mean a sale or purchase.
If your audience is B2B instead, then you may consider a conversion of a new email list subscriber. In either case, conversions are valuable to your bottom end and considered to be a success, rather than impressions.
With that said, what is considered a conversion event in your campaign? In other words, what do you want people to do once they see your ad?
Facebook Ads support standard conversions, such as:
You also have the option to create custom conversion events, if you want your target audience to do something else. Don’t expect all of your ads to serve the same purpose. Therefore, create separate ads for different conversion events.
First, consider how your goals will fit into your buyer’s journey, and plan accordingly.
An ad’s success is ultimately based on the performance of its landing page. When you decide where your planned conversions will take place, make sure that your landing page has everything in place to be successful.
Here is everything you should do to ensure your landing page’s success:
Did you know that it only takes 2.6 seconds for a person’s eyes to scan a website page. Using eye-catching visuals is a great way to improve the chances of consumer eyeballs landing on your ad instead of somewhere else.
Generally speaking, your ad’s visuals will be either a great or horrible first impression. Therefore, treat your visuals like a first handshake by following these core principles:
Following these practices will help your ads stand out directly in front of your target audience.
Copywriting doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, effective copywriting involves psychology and human nature more than prose. Writing jargon-filled essays won’t hold well with your audience.
Instead, strive to create crisp copy. Otherwise, your audience may not even read it. Here are some effective copywriting tips every advertiser should strive for:
Copywriting is all about communicating in a way that doesn’t make you appear like an unscrupulous salesperson. The more natural and concise your copy appears, the more willing your target audience will be to read it and convert.
The call-to-action (CTA) is the singular most important aspect of your ad. When a person is finished observing your ad’s copy and visuals, the next thing they may do is click on the CTA.
A CTA motivates someone to commit the action you want them to do. Therefore, they must be persuasive and dynamic. To do so, use strong verbs like explore, find, discover, and start if you want to direct potential consumers to visit a product page.
If you want to drive subscriptions and purchases, use more direct phrases like “sign up” and “buy now”. Creating the right CTA is a paradox. The best CTAs are both direct and clever.
As you can see, using “buy now” in eCommerce ads is a straightforward way to compel someone to buy something. It’s important to note that your CTA should not be doing all of the heavy lifting for your ad.
Your ad’s copy and visuals should explain what the offer is. The CTA should seal the deal. Therefore, don’t spend too much time trying to come up with flamboyant CTA phrases to inspire conversions.
Oftentimes, the simplest approach will work best.
When creating your ad, check the box for “target expansion”. This will allow more groups similar to your audience to be targeted by your ad. However, you must indicate the parameters of this feature in the “interest targeting section”.
Not only will this feature allow you to reach more people. You can also improve your conversions while reducing your cost per conversion (CPC). Make sure that you create custom audiences before continuing.
What’s more is that if you already have an email subscriber list or other data sets, you can integrate them into Facebook Ads to automatically find similar people on Facebook. You can take all of this work a step further and use custom audiences to discover lookalike audiences.
These are people who have similar demographics and profiles to your existing target audience. Audience targeting is essential in making sure that the right people are seeing your ads.
Naturally, if your ad is targeting the right people, your conversion rate will improve on its own. Luckily, Facebook employs a bunch of helpful features to aid in creating both broad and granular audiences.
This will ultimately help you to achieve laser-focused ad delivery and boost your conversion rate.
Facebook Ads has a bunch of settings that are obscure to many beginners. Some prefer to run their campaigns on autopilot, forgetting to make use of certain functions like this one.
In the Budget and Schedule section, under the “Optimization for Delivery” function, make sure to select the “conversions” option. This will automatically optimize your ads to prioritize conversions instead of traffic.
As you can guest, choosing this option is optional. Nonetheless, there are a lot of case studies that prove how effective this feature is. Save the Children ran a test campaign pitting both ads optimized for traffic and conversions against each other.
They wanted to find out which option would help spur the most donations. Interestingly, they found that ads optimized for conversions received four times more donations than the alternative.
This test was conducted by a non-profit organization. If you sell products and services, just imagine the type of results you can achieve. Ads optimized for conversions are modeled after Facebook’s organic algorithms to reach your desired audiences.
No one knows the exact manner in which Facebook “optimizes” these ads, but this option is well worth a try.
Specific Facebook ad formats may best suit your campaign needs better than others, depending on your goals. For example, Adidas conducted a case study showing that using video was the perfect format to unveil different visuals of their Z.N.E Road Trip Hoodie.
Because of this, Adidas reduced their CPC by 43%. If you want to achieve the same results, here are some key things to consider:
As you can see, setting up a successful Facebook ads campaign goes beyond creating ad copy and captivating images. Choosing the right ad format can position it to reach and convert your target audience.
Using the right ad format can also help you reduce your CPC by a considerable margin.
No matter where you plan for your conversions to take place, you should ensure that all your conversions can be tracked from desktop to mobile devices. This is helpful, especially if you want to drive traffic to a mobile app.
You can’t assume that everyone who visits your mobile app will download it, interact, and convert. Therefore, tracking potential customers to your mobile app is a great way to figure out if you need to make changes to your ad or your app.
Even if you don’t intend to drive traffic to your mobile app, you should still install Facebook’s SDK for your app. This will help Facebook receive more data about your audience and expand it for better results.
Once you run your campaign, you’ll receive analytical data about how it’s performing. Essentially, it’s up to you to determine what worked and what didn’t to make the necessary changes.
Take note of all of the analytics of your campaign and transform them into insights. Take what you learned from your previous campaign to elevate your next one. Not every campaign will be successful.
However, if you’re learning from your mistakes and willing to try new things, you’ll quickly figure out how to run a successful and affordable Facebook Ads campaign.
Running Facebook ads is a full-time job. If you’re busy running your business, you may find that you don’t have the time or expertise to manage your campaign. On top of that, your campaign may not be as successful as you imagined.
If that’s the case, then we can help. At PPC.co, we specialize in managing successful PPC campaigns. If you want to learn more about how we can help you, contact us today to speak to a member of our team.
Visuals are an essential part of marketing in this day and age because it takes very little for video content to go viral, engage audiences and achieve promotional goals.
However, it takes a lot to create videos that can do all that. You have to work on creative conceptualization, scripting, shooting, and, last but not least, editing. It can take several months to create a single project.
However, there may be an easier way to create and implement a successful video campaigns, especially if you are making ads. If done right, you can base your entire video campaign on one very well-done video advertisement.
First, you need to come up with an idea and turn it into a script. Use that as a baseline to brainstorm your approach to video production. It’s all right to spend a day or two shooting different versions of the same video ads.
Let’s discuss what it takes to do this:
The perfect video ads showcases the benefits of your product or service with the consumer’s needs bringing the two together in a hilarious or heartfelt concoction that has what it takes to go viral.
However, the only problem in this scenario is that you can only execute one variation of this idea. Some ideas, though significant, can be limited. They take away the ability to make a subsequent ad (or sequel) that is just as good and does not feel like a lower-quality remake. An example would be the google ads by Kmart’s.
Their first ad was “I Shipped My Pants,” and they followed up with “Big Gas Savings,” which was not nearly as successful because it felt like a weaker reiteration of a similar concept.
Look for a larger-than-life idea so that you can make multiple variations that are all clever. You do not want to leave your target audience thinking, “I get it, now stop.” They should like to see what other impressive ideas you can come up with.
If you cannot find inspiration and keep going back to using the same gimmicks for your campaigns, it is time to brainstorm and start from scratch. A campaign is like an umbrella; it encompasses the main idea while bringing the viewer new insights.
PPC campaigns can leverage YouTube as a video marketing tool, but you need to understand all the YouTube ad services you can use. Here are the three main options to consider when advertising on YouTube:
These ads are ideally between 15 to 20 seconds long, and you get charged based on the number of times someone views the ad. The major disadvantage of this is that people are selective and may not choose to watch your ad.
These ads are played either during a YouTube video or before it. Those viewing can press skip after five seconds have passed. You are only charged if viewers watch it for a minimum of 30 seconds or till the end (depending on which comes first) or click on interactive elements of your stream.
These are what you should be aiming for! Bumper ads on YouTube last for six seconds and cannot be skipped. They play before another video is played. Even though six seconds do not feel very long, they can serve as reminders related to the messaging of your video campaigns. These ads can be created in one take, making them preferable.
These types of YouTube ads work best if sequenced in Google Ads. You can commence your campaign by showing audiences the leading commercial, branching out afterward. They will then be able to see the other videos after watching the main ad a couple of times.
In these ads, you can keep the same strategy and characters but change up the video content of the rest of the google ads to execute your campaign successfully.
Planning out different settings within your shoot is based on the script and your location. If you want to make the most out of your time on set, you will need a versatile site that can work according to what is required for the script.
Utilize a massive chunk of your campaign budget in getting a location where you can maximize your time. It should have different rooms for other video shoots or indoor and outdoor ones to play out the different scenarios.
Going through the process mentioned above will help you implement a successful video ads campaign. However, there still are other aspects that you should keep in mind when developing your video ad campaign strategy:
In this day and age, the attention span of viewers is rapidly decreasing due to the influx of content on social media platforms.
Due to this phenomenon, you need to devise a video ads campaign that grabs the viewer’s attention before they skip the ad and move on.
To make it more interesting for viewers, use a statement equivalent to clickbait right when your video begins. This line can quickly create an interest within your target audience who will stay to watch the rest of the ad. The statement could be asking a relatable question, providing insight, highlighting a significant problem, or offering a much-needed solution.
It would help if you also considered the visuals you use within the first few seconds of the video ad. Sometimes, video ads can play on mute automatically, depending on the platform. If you use captivating visuals, people will be intrigued and want to know the message behind the video.
Just remember to pay close attention to how the first five seconds of the video ad will go, as those critical seconds will determine whether you will get the views you need.
Creating an effective video ad depends a lot on timing. You may capture the audience’s attention for the first few seconds, but what will keep them viewing the whole ad?
It is always important to keep in mind that people rarely use social media platforms to receive ads. They would instead search for information, interact with friends or seek entertainment. This, in turn, suggests that your ad depends on borrowed time.
Ensure that you create a video ad that is long enough so that it conveys the message you are trying to send out but short enough that people do not click away. The preferred length for video ads is thirty to sixty seconds.
Pointing out a problem is not what your ad should be doing because they would probably already know it if someone has that problem. You should also not just end the video by saying you have a solution because several businesses may be offering the same answer.
It would be best to make viewers understand why your offerings are better than existing products or services in the market. For this, you need to highlight your USP (unique selling point) and make sure relevant points regarding it are clearly iterated.
You need to execute this with a subtle approach because there is a thin line between being helpful and sounding boastful.
Due to the advancement in technology, video marketing has gone from targeting random audiences to targeting the right ones. However, there is also a lot more competition. You do not just need to target the correct viewers but also at the proper time.
The right time depends on the goal of your video campaigns. If you have a good understanding of the market you are targeting; you should clarify what people want out of this market.
This process involves a lot of trial and error and guesswork, but an option that has proven to be very effective is using intent signals to target potential customers. This is majorly effective, especially if you want more visits to your store or generate leads. But what is an intent signal?
An ‘intent signal’ basically is a way to identify your target market based on their intent, i.e., what they need and how soon do they need it.
However, it goes beyond this, as you need to focus your efforts on showing them the ad when they need it at the exact time they need to watch it.
For example, if you perform cosmetic procedures and want to promote a specific service, you will target those interested in such operations. Thus, you choose the demographics of those who are most interested in the service or product you are offering.
This strategy can serve as a goldmine and reel in solid leads with a better chance of converting into sales.
You can create a widely popular video ad campaign even if you do not have a considerable budget or much time. It depends on you and your team’s ability to create a strategy that can be executed in multiple ways and how well you can use YouTube ads to your advantage.
Using these tips will help you generate more income without compromising the quality, so get to it!
If you have been considering Google Ads vs Facebook Ads, you probably wonder which one is better for your particular niche. Below is a close look at both types of Facebook Ads or google ads so you can make an informed decision.
And when the time comes to manage your Google ads campaigns, it’s important to select the best ad management services to obtain the best ROI.
You’ve seen both ad types mentioned when you go into Google or Facebook Ads, but how do they operate?
Both advertising platform use a PPC or pay-per-click model. When you make advertisement on either platform, you go into an auction where you type in a bid for how much you want to spend on ad/ad spend space. Next, you’re charged a certain sum every time a person clicks on your ads/Google ads. Easy, right?
It’s essential for making your marketing decision.
Google Ads is a paid search advertisement method, for the most part. This means that you pay to have your ad listed on the Search engine results page for Google.
When you do a paid Google search campaign, your advertisement is served to searchers based on targeted keywords rather than by target audience. However, you can alter your campaign settings in paid Search engines/Google search to target a specific audience based on geographic location and other particulars.
However, Google Ads isn’t just about paid search; you also can serve your ads on:
On the other hand, Facebook Ads provides you with paid advertising. As Facebook has changed its algorithm settings, particularly for Facebook retargeting, it’s more complicated than ever to get your products in front of customers organically.
This is where your paid social campaign comes in. With Facebook Ads, you pay to get your ads/google ads in front of customers on major social networks rather than them finding you organically.
As you may know, Facebook isn’t just putting ads on your newsfeed. Some other channels that you can advertise are:
Now that we’ve covered the basics of these two advertising channels let’s compare them.
Google and Facebook have massive audience reach. Google gets almost six billion searches per day, and Facebook boasts about 1.8 billion daily users.
Mobile advertising on Facebook makes up almost 90% of the company’s ad revenue. However, mobile advertising isn’t the only method that you should try.
Usually, your target users/audience spends time on both Google and facebook ad/Online advertising platform, so you cannot determine which platform is ideal for you based only on audience’s size.
So, ask yourself, how is your target audience effective on these networks? And is your product oriented towards Google search or social?
Even if Google gets six billion searches per day, it doesn’t help you if no one is looking for your product there.
Have you released a new, exciting product? Have people heard about it? If not, then Facebook Ads could be the best option for you for now.
Cost is another significant consideration; the average cost-per-click on Google Advertising/|Google Ads is $2.70, but this varies widely by industry.
It can range from $2.46 for auto to $6.75 for legal services. Also, note that the most costly search term in Google Ads today is ‘insurance’ for $54 per click!
Facebook can be a bit cheaper per click than Google. For example, a company in the apparel local businesses could pay only .45 per click on Facebook. Insurance and finance are more expensive, but the typical CPC is only $3.75.
Also, Instagram feed advertisements are almost double the cost of Facebook ads/Google ads.
CPC is often pricier on Google Ads, remember that people clicking each Google or facebook ad could be further along in the purchase cycle. Facebook ads excels at building awareness, but Google Ads may be better at reaching the user when she is ready to buy.
But CPC is only part of the consideration. Another factor to consider is CPA or cost per action to determine if you have a sufficient ROI for your Google or Facebook advertising campaign.
CPA varies by each campaign you start. It depends mainly on how well you targeted each campaign and if you can convert a lot of viewers.
Wordstream has put together average CPA for most industries to give you a benchmark for how your Facebook or Google ad is performing.
The average CPA for all Facebook advertisements is about $18.75. It can range from $44 for auto to $12 for healthcare to $55 for technology.
Again, Google Ads will cost you more than Facebook Ads, but Facebook Ad management is typically more expensive. The typical CPA in Google Ads is $49 for search and $75 for display. This can range from $34 for auto to $72 for education to $133 for technology.
Regarding buyer intent, Google Ads usually beats Facebook Ads. Think about the type of business you have. Do your potential customers search for products or services when they are ready to buy?
For instance, if your car’s air conditioner breaks, they will start looking for car AC repair services. Google Search ads would put your company in front of customers exactly when they need your Google’s local service ads.
But that person won’t repair that AC repair business in six months that they saw on Facebook. Google wins here.
Facebook Ads are not as effective at getting leads to become sales quickly. Most people go to Facebook to hang out and socialize, not to shop. But this robust platform is critical for building an audience over time. If you can create a feeling of community around your company on Facebook, people are more likely to buy when they need your product.
If you want to create brand awareness for your company, Facebook wins.
To decide, you need to ask yourself some questions.
First, think about the goal of your campaign. Do you want to make sales fast? Then Google Ads is probably for you this time. But if you want to grow brand recognition or reach a vast audience, Facebook Ads may be the choice.
Next, think about your industry. B2B and B2C companies use free Google Ads with great success. But Facebook Ads may work better for B2C companies, especially for people selling less pricey products and services; consumers are more likely to buy these products impulsive after they see them two or three times.
Also, your audience matters. Do people look for your firm with the idea to buy today? If so, Google is the right choice. But if you want to build a new audience, then Facebook will fit you better.
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