A campaign in Google Ads is already a kind of basis for advertising an e-commerce business. Are you running a PPC campaign, but it is not bringing the desired results? Perhaps the time has come to go to a higher level and instead of basic solutions, decide on advanced solutions in your strategy. In our article you will learn tips for advanced PPC strategies for your e-commerce website.
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What is PPC advertising?
PPC advertising is one of the most popular forms of promoting websites on the web. PPC stands for Pay Per Click and refers to ads whose cost depends on the number of clicks on the link. You can run such advertising campaigns, for example, in Google Ads – then your ads are immediately displayed to users in the search results. How are they different from organic search results? PPC advertising is always distinguished, better visible to the client, and thanks to its use, the website will be immediately visible on the first pages of Google search results.
How to use negative words in a PPC campaign?
Sometimes, in order to achieve the desired results in a PPC campaign, it is not more important what phrases you choose for your target group, but which phrases you exclude from it. Why? For example, with some offers, you may be attracting the wrong audience that won’t convert you. Suppose you sell woolen winter hats. The phrase “caps” will be common to both baseball and winter caps stores. Therefore, you can exclude the phrase “baseball cap” from your campaign so that people who are looking for them do not reach you. Why is this an effective solution? In this way, you can not only increase the matching of the offer to the customer and the relevance of ads, but also optimize your advertising budget. Thanks to this, you will not have to pay for clicks on the ad from people who are not interested in your offer at all.
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How to use segmentation in a PPC campaign?
A great way to achieve better results in your Google Ads campaign is to use product segmentation according to thematically related groups. Then you create a separate advertising group for each product group (e.g. for men’s dresses or suits), as well as a separate advertisement. In such a situation, you should not only create general keywords for the campaign, as Google may not reach users who will enter more complex phrases into the search engine. Therefore, instead of the phrases “dress, dresses, wedding dresses”, focus on phrases such as “red dress 36, short dress with lace, boho dress to the knee”, etc. Focus on implementing advertising groups for individual products, keywords, and also product categories and product styles. Thanks to this, you can not only attract more audience, but also increase your conversion rate.
How to use dynamic ads in a PPC campaign?
A great way to increase the effectiveness of your ads in Google Ads is to use dynamic ads. They will allow you to expand the set of used keywords at a lower cost, and also help you deal with the problem of gaps in the selected group of keywords. Dynamic campaigns can definitely relieve you at work, but you need to know how to work with them. While they work automatically and are highly effective, you cannot leave them unattended.
If you want to use dynamic ads efficiently, please focus on the following tips:
– Remember to break down similar sections of your site into separate ad groups to maximize the relevance of the headlines and URLs you create for dynamic ads.
– Create a list of urls that are not to be used in a PPC campaign. In this case, focus on pages that are not relevant to you in terms of sales (for example, the return policy).
– Utilize full Google Ads ad extensions.
– Focus on the smart bidding feature, it will help you optimize the cost of the campaign and increase its effectiveness. Remember not to leave this issue entirely in the hands of artificial intelligence – supervise the campaign, check the results and introduce any changes.
– Take the time to select the right audience for your ads, then Google will be able to choose keywords even more effectively for your ideal customer.
How to create effective product advertising in a PPC strategy?
You don’t need to use a standard, text-based ad on Google to attract users to your offer. Shopping ads that were introduced in 2016 may be much more effective. It is an ad format that allows for the visual presentation of products in search results, which is why it is especially liked by people working in the fashion industry. This type of PPC campaign most closely resembles the storefront function, where the user can view the products before entering the store.
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How can I make your Shopping ad effective? First of all, focus on using high-quality, interesting product photos. It is the visual element that plays the most important role here and determines whether your recipients decide to visit the site. Remember that in this PPC campaign you can group products, for example you can supplement the offer of a selected product with several smaller products or combine several related products into a larger offer with a discount.
How to combine online and offline advertising in a PPC campaign?
A PPC campaign doesn’t have to be specific to your e-commerce business, you might as well use it to promote products from your local store. According to data provided by Google, almost 80% of customers use stores where they can immediately receive the product they are looking for. To meet this customer need, you can advertise the assortment from your local store. Such PPC ads will be displayed to network users on mobile devices when the content of the query contains local phrases. For example, potential customers might search for “paint shop nearby” or “Jakarta stationery shop”. When users click on a prepared ad, they are immediately directed to your local site.
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When deciding to advertise local inventory, make sure that your website includes the following information:
– Product description,
– Product photo,
– Your phone number,
– Your store’s working hours,
– Map with directions to your store.
A PPC campaign for local inventory is an advanced solution, you need to have the experience to implement it. For example, it is necessary to update the assortment daily in the online store and the inventory levels in the data feed.
Who should I target my ads to make the PPC campaign effective?
For advanced PPC campaigns, you can try targeting less obvious audiences than standard ads. Use detailed data on your recipients to better match messages to them and be able to effectively manage the bid for the ad. The problem is that many people do not go beyond the obvious patterns and choose target groups popular in their market. In this way, Google may find it difficult to effectively reach people who are actively searching for information on a given topic and are susceptible to conversion. Try to think outside the box! In the case of selling women’s handbags, it would be obvious to target women who are interested in fashion. However, you can try your PPC ad on men who are looking for a birthday or anniversary gift for their significant other. Also remember that in the Google Analytics panel you will find a number of tools that will help you understand your audience. Just go to the Recipients tab in the Report section. There you will find information about their interests, demographic data, geographic data, online behavior, etc.
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How to evaluate KPIs in a PPC strategy?
One of the very important elements of running an effective PPC campaign is the skilful definition of KPIs – Key Performance Indicators. Many people define their KPIs in a PPC campaign as return on investment, also known as ROI. Is this really the best solution? Not necessarily – remember that this is just one indicator that only evaluates whether a single action has made money or not. Consider evaluating your campaign’s performance in terms of cost per customer acquisition, customer lifetime value, or annual return.
6 advanced tips for the successful implementation of PPC campaigns. Summary
PPC campaigns are not the easiest to implement – knowledge and experience are required to be able to implement them effectively. What’s more, basic knowledge is not always enough and you need to reach for more advanced solutions – try to implement our tips and observe the changes, analyze the results.