More than one million companies in the United States use Google Ads and other PPC networks to drive sales and generate leads every year. Is yours one of them? If so, you should closely monitor your campaigns to ensure you are maximizing your return on investment.
How can you measure the success of your organization’s PPC campaigns? The FZA Digital team recommends the following steps.
Set Goals Before Getting Started
Measuring the success of your PPC campaign does not begin on the date you hit “Publish.” It ought to start a few days earlier when you sit down with your marketing team to discuss your goals for the project.
This meeting will offer you a chance to ask yourselves vital questions like:
- “Do we want to drive sales of a specific product?”
- “Are we trying to generate leads for our sales team?”
- “Is branding or awareness our primary concern?”
- “Do we want to send traffic to our website or blog?”
- “Are we launching our PPC campaign to enhance our SEO efforts?”
Your answers to these and other questions will help sharpen your PPC strategy and provide you with guidance on how you can measure the success of your marketing campaign.
Monitor Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Have you determined your goals for your PPC campaign? Great! Nows the time to begin measuring your success by monitoring the following KPIs in Google Analytics, Google Ads, or a similar platform:
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Your click-through is the percentage of people who saw your PPC ad and decided to click on it to learn more about what you have to offer.
Monitor this metric closely if you aim to generate leads, drive sales, or send traffic to your site with your PPC ads.
A successful search ads campaign should generally show a click-through rate of around two percent. If your marketing efforts are falling a bit short of that level, you can use the following tips to give them a boost:
- Reassess your chosen keywords
- Edit your PPC ad copy
- Use smart ad extensions
- Add a compelling call to action
The more users that take action when they see your PPC ads, the higher your return on investment will be.
Conversion Rate
Another metric to watch when attempting to generate leads or drive sales is your conversion rate. This figure represents the percentage of browsers who came to your website and carried out a desired action, such as:
- Filling out a contact form
- Purchasing a product
- Signing up for a newsletter
- Downloading a guidebook
Don’t be afraid to modify your PPC ad content or your landing page if your conversion rate is lower than you initially expected it to be.
Cost Per Conversion (CPC)
Because the ultimate goal of your PPC campaign is to generate money for your organization, keep a close eye on your cost per conversion at all times. This number shows you how much cash you are spending to generate each new lead.
It is generally advisable to try to keep your CPC at roughly 50 percent of the amount of profit your company will make from each conversion.
If every converted user adds $20 to your bottom line, you should aim to spend no more than $10 marketing to them.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate metric in your analytics platform shows you how many users visited your website and left without clicking anything or filling out any forms.
If your bounce rate is higher than 40 percent, it might be a sign that there is a problem with your PPC ad or your landing page, like:
- Slow website loading speed
- Misleading or confusing ad content
- Poorly structured landing page
- Lack of a clear call to action
Every user that bounces after clicking on your ad costs you money. You would be wise to reduce this rate as much as you can if you want to maximize your returns from your PPC investment.
Impressions
Are you more focused on building awareness of your product or service than generating immediate sales? Then it may make sense for you to keep a keen eye on your impressions metric.
This figure shows you one thing, and one thing only – the numbers of users who have seen your ad.
Not impressed with the number of impressions you are generating? Think about using time-targeting and geo-targeting to improve your results.
Need Help with PPC Management? Contact FZA Digital Today
Don’t have the time to manage or monitor your company’s PPC campaign? No worries! The FZA Digital team has been helping clients drive sales and generate leads with paid ads for years – and we would be happy to do the same for you.
Give us a call at (424) 229-2923 or contact us online today to speak to us about your organization’s needs. We look forward to hearing from you!