PPC Process by 1Digital®
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1. Keyword Research
Keyword Selection
The foundation of any successful PPC campaign is the keywords that the ads are based around. In that regard, we begin each campaign by going through a meticulous keyword selection process based on input we receive from you, as well as our own in-depth research that takes into account important factors like location, industry, budget, and sales goals. We use a careful combination of broad, exact, and phrase match keywords in order to maximize your ROI and improve the overall value of your campaign.
Our primary focus when performing our PPC keyword research is to improve reach and exposure while getting the most out of your budget. We look into the competitiveness of each keyword, as well as user search intent, to determine whether or not they are worth targeting based on your specific campaign goals.
Once we are satisfied that we have put together a list of keywords that will drive results, we further refine the list of keywords with your feedback. We make sure that the keywords are not only effective but are also perfectly aligned with your brand messaging.
Keyword Adjustments
Once your keywords are chosen and we move into the next phase of the process, there will still be opportunities to adjust the keyword list down the road. It’s important to note that we will implement changes to keywords as needed in order to improve the campaign and keep it headed on the right track. Adapting to industry trends or taking advantage of new opportunities is part of what sets the 1Digital® process apart. We are agile when it comes to spotting ways to improve ROI and will make recommendations throughout the life of a campaign in order to get the desired results.
2. Ad Creation
The Writing Process
Once we have agreed on the keywords, we move right into the ad creation process. During this phase of the campaign, we take the information you have provided to us in regards to your business and audience, as well as our own research, and pair it with proven PPC best practices, in order to craft enticing and informative ad copy.
While the keywords that we are using in the campaign play a large role in the creation of the ads, they aren’t the only focus. Here our primary goal is to qualify your audience, through the strategic use of certain key phrases and different styles of writing. The ads that we develop are designed not only to get clicks but deter buyers that wouldn’t be a good fit, thereby helping to improve ROI and get the most out of your ad budget.
SEO keywords are also taken into consideration, as they influence the relevancy score of ads and can help boost the overall performance of the campaign. Our PPC experts know how to pepper in the proper mix of PPC and SEO keywords while creating ad copy that sounds natural and will entice just the right users to take action.
PPC Ad Approval
After we are satisfied with the ad variants we have created for you, your PPC Project Manager will notify you in your Podio Workspace that it is time for review. We will share with you a document that contains the ad copy so that you can review it and recommend changes as needed. While we are fully confident that the copy we write will generate results, we also want to ensure that the ad itself is completely on brand and does not contain any factual errors or inconsistencies that only you as the business owner would catch.
After review, if you would like us to make changes, we will take your feedback into consideration for a second round of writing, where we will refine the copy if necessary. If no revisions are needed, you can simply notify us in Podio or by email that the copy has the green light, so we can move onto the next step of the process.
Next Step
3. Landing Page Development
Campaign Recommendations
No matter how well-made an ad is, it’s only as effective as its landing page. Our PPC process includes a lot more than mere ad creation, as the next phase of the process involves making sure that the chosen landing pages are properly optimized and relevant to the ads we are creating and the overarching goals of the campaign itself.
It is our job to work with you to make sure that a campaign is firing on all cylinders and that it will get great results. One of the areas where many PPC campaigns fail is in the landing page selection, or the page that an ad points to when a user clicks on it. You need to make sure that this page not only looks good but that it makes sense in light of the campaign goals.
Once we have selected the keywords and crafted the actual ad copy, we will go in and make sure that the landing page or pages that have been selected for the campaign meet our standards in terms of PPC success. If we take note of glaring issues, such as a lack of a proper call to action, or page content that simply does not make sense, we will make professional recommendations about the direction of the campaign. Specifically, we will look over your website and offer a new and more appropriate suggestion for each ad variant as needed.
Finalizing
You may already have a rock-solid sales page or product category in mind that you want to push traffic to, and that’s okay. We don’t always make recommendations. We won’t progress with the campaign or expend any of the campaign budget without first making sure that the landing page has conversion potential. After we have made any necessary recommendations and a suitable landing page has been chosen, we will confirm this with you and move onto the next phase.
Next Step
4. Account Setup
Budget Control
To achieve maximum visibility within the scope of any PPC campaign’s budget, the account needs to be set up properly, with careful attention to such details as the devices that are being targeted, different time zones, and other audience elements.
Here at 1Digital®, our account management and budget control setup process is comprehensive and plays a vital role in the success of your campaign. We understand that to fully leverage the power of platforms such as Google and Bing, you need to make full use of the targeting capabilities that are available.
User behavior and shopping trends differ depending on the device, time of the day, industry, age of the shopper, and so on. Depending on your budget and specific campaign goals, we hand-tailor each and every ad set to behave within certain parameters in order to increase effectiveness and improve the likelihood that we will reach the target audience.
Maximizing Your Visibility
Before the click-thru rate and success of an ad can even be calculated, you first have to succeed in getting your ad in front of as many eyes as possible. Just because you put together an ad using a platform such as Google or Bing, and pay money to launch your ad, doesn’t mean that the ad will be served properly unless the campaign is properly managed and the right parameters are set.
In this stage of the campaign, we go through a meticulous process to ensure that your ads get seen by as many people as possible within the scope of your budget. This is done by deep diving into your industry, the cities we are targeting and what time zones those cities are in, and an array of other demographics and audience criteria.
Our goal in this phase of the PPC process is to ensure that your ad gets displayed as much as possible and to the right people who have the highest likelihood of clicking on your ad and converting.
Next Step
5. Tracking, Installation, and Testing
What We Track
Part of achieving success with PPC is understanding how to properly track user behavior and then respond to the data we collect. At 1Digital®, our PPC campaigns are not static, and we do not subscribe to the “set it and forget it” style of ad management. We implement various forms of goal tracking and respond accordingly based on the data we receive over the length of a campaign.
As a campaign is first launched, we will make sure the proper tracking codes are in place and that we are monitoring the correct data. For instance, we may install codes that record when users abandon the cart or make a phone call. By segmenting the audience properly and collecting useful data, we can refine the campaign and accomplish certain sales goals, thereby increasing the efficiency of your ad spend.
Changing Goals
Over the span of a campaign, we will likely add additional forms of goal tracking depending on what we are trying to accomplish with the campaign or if we need to collect a certain kind of data in order to stay agile and make the appropriate adjustments for a particular ad set. As a campaign gets off the ground, we closely monitor any sales that come in, and other user behaviors, to determine whether or not additional tracking is necessary or what kinds of testing need to be done in order to generate better performance from the campaign.
When we spot areas where additional goal tracking can be implemented, we will always communicate these findings with you in Podio and/or in our biweekly reports.
Next Step
6. Campaign Launch
Setting Bids
The launch phase of our PPC process involves setting the specific bids based on the industry research we have performed, the current ad spend, and how aggressive we want to be, and then pushing those ads live. Note that we only proceed to this step once we have the OK from you that your ads look the way you want with the right landing pages and products, and that we have set appropriate bids as well.
Launch Time
Once an ad is live, we promptly notify you in Podio that we have lift off and that everything is running as it should be. If anything needs to be immediately adjusted in regards to the campaign, we also make note of that as well. We are constantly monitoring your ads and are quick to make appropriate adjustments and changes when necessary in order to maintain the effectiveness of the campaign while complying with Google and Bing’s standards.
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7. Monitor Performance
Initial Feedback
At this stage of the campaign, we report on our initial findings and begin matching performance to budget on an ongoing basis. As data rolls in regarding your PPC ads, we will keep you on track and informed during biweekly updates as well as in our monthly reports, while we continue to maximize the performance of the campaign by making various adjustments if we feel they are necessary based on the data.
Responding to the data we collect in a smart and timely manner is one of the keys to the success of our campaigns. Our eCommerce PPC services are very hands-on and involve constant monitoring of all incoming data. If a campaign isn’t on the right track or if something needs to be switched, we will know in a timely manner so that we can switch gears and put your ad budget to work in the best way possible.
Remaining Flexible
As we monitor performance, we don’t leave out any options when it comes to making campaign adjustments based on the hard data we are receiving as well as the feedback we receive from you. While we do like to let a campaign settle a while in order to get some reliable data coming in, we are also extremely flexible when it comes to making changes in order to push a campaign to its full potential.
Here we may make the determination that we are overspending in a certain area and that we should pull back a little, or that we should be more aggressive in top converting locations. We may also make recommendations as to where we could potentially find further success by increasing ad spend and targeting areas that are showing better than average conversion rates.
Next Step
8. Campaign Assessment
Benchmarks and Improvements
At this point in the process, we take a step back and assess the overall performance of the campaign in order to determine the next steps and how we can perfect the strategy at a higher level.
This involves reviewing previous benchmarks in order to spot what can be left behind in favor of new opportunities. We will also take what is already working and drill down further to see where we can get more value.
The point at which we assess the campaign differs from client to client, but typically within a 2- to 3-month span of time, we will have gathered enough useful information from which to judge the value of a campaign in order to see if it is bearing fruit or if it needs to be overhauled. Based on the relevant data, if we see areas that can be improved, we will make recommendations and pass them along to you for approval.
Regular Campaign Assessments
Our strategy at 1Digital® is very fluid and is constantly adapting to incoming data in order to remain as agile as possible. Throughout the length of your PPC campaign, we will regularly assess performance and make adjustments as needed in order to increase ROI or expand depending on the direction you want to go. We will regularly discuss potential opportunities with you during our monthly benchmark meetings as well. Campaign refinement is baked into our process, so you can feel confident that if one avenue isn’t working or performing quite how we want it, new avenues will be analyzed and pursued in order to keep the campaign on target.
Next Step
9. Analysis and Feedback
Analyzing Your Campaign
At the final phase of our PPC process, you can expect a complete analysis of the campaign, including feedback on budget and specific areas of the campaign that could use improvement or change. As opposed to the granular changes in the previous step, this is where we will make larger sweeping changes or change the direction of the campaign if we agree that it will offer better results.
Budget Adjustments
The budget of a PPC campaign can be one of the biggest determinants of success. A well-made ad and an effective landing page can be hampered by an uncompetitive budget. If we feel as though the campaign is being held back by the budget, this is where we will make recommendations to increase ad spend or remain on course where we are.
In some cases, it may be beneficial to pull back a little when it comes to budget, and if we see that this is the case, we will make recommendations as to where money can be better allocated.
Changing Direction
During the course of a PPC advertising campaign, we are also open to changing direction when necessary in order to target new landing pages and products, or a new demographic or audience. Once we are well into a campaign and we see solid metrics, we will discuss with you in regards to expanding the campaign or targeting other areas of your business that you believe may be lucrative.
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