Online marketing is huge and can convert people quickly helping you reach your bottom line with very little error. For those of you who have setup online marketing campaigns, then you know it can get very expensive using certain networks. Google Adwords and Yahoo Bing are two of the MOST popular networks online with over 70% of bloggers using them to build brand awareness. I’ve always found both to be great if you have a large budget to spend on marketing because with these two you are spending a premium price for clicks. I’ve been very lucky because in my business, I’ve been able to test things out with others money especially when I have been hired by companies to help build their online profile. This has allowed me to do the following:
First, it has allowed me to test what online marketing is all about and how to convert people visiting search networks. It’s also allowed me to test on popular networks like Bing and Adwords which otherwise would be impossible. Next, I have found creative ways to use both networks to convert and found even better ways to keep the costs down going forward. This means I have good traffic and in the end am paying a very low price for the clicks. Finally, I had a chance to play with display advertising which can be very valuable since you’re paying per 1000 impressions.
With that said,
Let’s explore what I’ve learned using Bing and Adwords so you can implement them into your marketing strategy.
Research Your Niche
I always start with this sub-heading because no matter what channel your using, it’s important you research your niche. Through in-depth research, you’ll be able to understand your audience and what they are looking for going forward. For example, there is no point in marketing if you DON’T know who your audience is and what they are looking for. Once you find out the answers to these questions, you’ll be able to focus on creating marketing ads, adding the right keywords and building momentum quickly. The good news is many of these PPC marketing platforms have provided you with a solid keyword research tool to help you get started. For example,
The Google Keyword planner is important because it will give you a breakdown of the keyword volume and competition. You can then pick each keyword and type them into Google to see what results come up. This is also a great way to find out what your competition is doing by looking over their ads. Next,
Use Google Trends (awesome) to find what other keywords are picking up volume over the few months. By searching these, you’ll be able to find keywords which will NOT only attract people, but that you can get for $0.05 per click. This means you’ll spend much less and generate a lot more traffic. It’s awesome what information you can gather from Google Trends.
Next,
There are many other paid tools you have access to that you can use to research your niche. If you have some money to spend then you might want to purchase a subscription to them to conduct even further research.
Initial Testing Money
While marketing using the PPC platform, I’ve noticed you should always start with an initial testing budget. In order for you to find out what’s working and what keywords are converting, it’s important you have money put aside for the initial tests. This will allow you to get a better understand of what landing pages, keywords and products are converting the best. This will allow you to then scale at a later time which is important because this part is what will allow you to really start to convert. Your main goal should be to test landing pages while testing PPC advertisements. After, you can test follow-up sequence then looking for ways to improve it going forward. Finally, you have the room to test different products or even programs. Trust me when I say the following:
The entire testing process is NOT that hard as long as you have enough money in place, and have the patience to test each part separately. Here are some additional tips:
Start with $500 – from my experience this is a good amount of money to gather the initial DATA you need.
Analytics – it’s important to have tracking scripts in place to know what’s converting and what’s not. However, if you are using tools like Unbounce.com, then you have a complete built in platform.
Eliminate slowly – give every page and ad it’s fair chance so DON’T stop non-performing all at once. It’s important to take your time and go through each one slowly while eliminating until you find which one is giving you maximum conversions.
All Recommended Keywords
Whenever I start using a PPC platform like Bing or Adwords, I always use all the recommended keywords they suggest. This is even the case no matter how high the click price and I’ll explain this part to you a bit later. Why is this important and why do I always recommend to do this no matter what your niche? First, it’s because you don’t know what keyword will be converting the most so it’s better to just try them all. Secondly, you never pay the average PPC because I’ve noticed it’s much lower than the actual listed price. Third, it’s a great way to find out what your audience is looking for by viewing their click pattern. Sometimes by viewing the click pattern I’m able to come up with great content ideas and even future products for them. However, here’s something very important to pay close attention to:
In the beginning, it’s very important to keep an eye on your budget so always set a daily cap so you don’t go pass this on your initial testing.
Average PPC is Always Different
I want to touch on this very slightly because it will help you run ads with more flexibility. The suggested PPC and average you pay will be different so always be flexible with the keywords you choose for your ads. Don’t avoid high converting ones because this can lower your ROI. Try all of them because you’ll notice the suggested PPC is $1.15, but the average you end up paying is $0.67.
Tracking DATA and Stats
I have written about DATA collections and statistics last because I want this point to stay in your mind. Advertising is nothing without collecting stats because you won’t know what’s working and you’ll burn through a lot of money quickly. This is why it’s important to have a tracking system in place and from my experience there are 3 which work very well.
First, let’s talk about tracking landing page conversions.
Built-In – if you are using a tool like ClickFunnel.com or even Unbounce.com, then they will provide a conversion tracking tool. Unbounce.com gives me one of the best statistics and allows me to define amount of traffic I want to each page afterwards. This is awesome because I can switch variants very easily.
Google Analytics – one of my favorite choices because it gives you a lot of information you can use right now and later to tweak and optimize your page. They will provide you DATA on bounce rate, location, referrals, etc.
Paid Subscription – there are others you can use which you pay for on a monthly basis like CrazyEggs.com, etc. However, if you are just starting out then it might be a good idea to stick with the free tools for now. Once you start making money and converting, you can then switch to something more sophisticated.
Next,
Let’s look at how to track keywords that are converting.
When advertising with Bing and Adwords, they provide you with JavaScript you can include within the header of your pages. These scripts are very important because they give you a breakdown of the keywords which actually get clicks and convert into opt-ins. This information can be used to narrow down the keywords you would like to use when setting up campaigns in the future.
Make sure you know how to set these up correctly because you will want to use the “goal conversion†script. This code will be place on the final page where the person goes after opting into your form.
Final Thoughts
CPC marketing is huge and can generate enormous traffic for you quickly. However, you have to know how to make it work for you without investing too much money in your testing stage. I believe during this stage is when you can lose enormous money because you are NOT getting an ROI. However, if you can manage your costs in the beginning then you can optimize later for conversions which help you meet your bottom line. With that said, it’s important you go through everything discussed above and start to implement the strategies which I have discussed above.
Create a list of the points I have discussed above and then start to implement them into your marketing. Make sure you do your keyword research looking for the best keywords which convert. Next, you want to make sure you keep an eye on your budget just during this point so you don’t invest too much without obtaining any conversions. Third, you have to make sure the right tracking tools are in place so you know what keywords are helping you meet your end goal. The built-in system is great to give you a breakdown of what pages are converting, however it’s important to use the conversion tools provided by Bing and Adwords