How to Optimize PPC Campaigns to Calculate the Right Bid

Despite the recent economic uncertainty, chief marketing officers (CMOs) have been prioritizing budget allocation to paid media to support growth. In fact, 60% of total digital marketing spend was allocated to paid media in 2022.

Three ways to master keyword optimization for PPC campaigns:

• Focus on high-performing keywords: It's challenging to select the most promising keywords when you have a long list. Use the 80-20 rule: Focus on 20% of top-performing keywords that can drive 80% of your results. Consider various metrics such as impressions, clicks, cost, conversion and conversion value to determine the most lucrative keywords.
• Build out negative keyword lists: If you offer accounting software, for instance, some of your negative keywords might be "payroll" or "Excel." These phrases aren't relevant to your target audience. Create a separate list of such negative keywords to ensure people searching for those terms don't land on your site.
• Pause underperforming keywords: Just like there's no point refrigerating rotten fruits, it doesn't make sense to continue using keywords that aren't producing results. Identify underperforming keywords by measuring impressions and clicks. If they're low, it’s better to pause those keywords, as they’re costing you money but not converting customers.

Bonus tip: Partner with third-party providers to effectively reach their prebuilt audience for your target keywords. 

Buyers on the Gartner Digital Markets platform search across 1,200 software categories. By launching PPC campaigns in multiple categories you can target important keywords catering to different use cases and engaging different buyer personas. For example, if you are an accounting software provider, you can expand your reach by bidding in related categories such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, billing and invoicing, or expense reporting.

Four ways to leverage geotargeting to optimize PPC campaigns:

• Single campaign using geographic bid adjustments: Identify areas where conversion rate is the highest, and increase your bids in those areas.
• Two campaigns, each targeting multiple areas: Create two different campaigns targeting similar keywords and multiple locations.
• Multiple campaigns, each targeting a single area: Run multiple campaigns, with each targeting only one region for better results.
• Multiple campaigns, each targeting multiple regions with bid adjustments: Divide all your campaigns into specific geo-segments based on data (such as users’ IP address, language or device) for optimal benefit-driven outcomes.

Bonus tip: When devising an international expansion strategy, have a solid localization strategy in mind beforehand. Localization is important because, without it, your products or services are likely to be perceived as foreign and not relevant to the local market.

Three elements of a PPC landing page that converts highly:

• Keep the navigation simple: Embrace simplicity and make sure your landing page is easily accessible and usable. This will help visitors easily browse through your page and clearly see what you have to offer, without distracting or extraneous information.
• Have a visually appealing design: Keep the design simple and user-friendly. Focus on color schemes, grids, fonts and animations to create an eye-catching design. 
• Use clear, relevant calls-to-action (CTAs): CTAs can make or break your landing page and, ultimately, your PPC campaign. Use action-oriented, clear and relevant CTAs throughout the page to encourage visitors to click and take action.

Bonus tip: Use lead magnet content, such as eBooks, checklists and webinars, that are offered in exchange for contact information. Not only do they bring in new B2B leads, but they are also useful for lead nurturing and developing relationships with existing customers at every stage of their journey.

Three ways remarketing benefits PPC campaigns:

• Strengthens your brand: It allows you to deliver personalized messages directly to those who have already visited your website or product page. People become more familiar with your brand, increasing the likelihood of buying from you in the future.
• Boost conversions: It enables you to get more sales by targeting people who have already visited your site. You can use PPC remarketing to create an audience that you can market directly to later on.
• Optimizes your campaign at run time: You can easily see which ads are performing better and adjust them or create new ones based on that information.