Max your Google Ads

Get your ducks in a row

Today, running an inbound marketing program is all about attracting the right people to your website, converting interested visitors to leads, then nurturing each lead to the moment they are ready to buy.

It’s a numbers game of quantity and quality. We want:

• More website visits
• An increasing proportion of visits converting to leads
• As many leads becoming customers as we can muster
• The most excellent rate of customer retention

So, while it’s easy to look at website visits as just a number, the quality (or relevance) of those visits has a significant bearing on the conversion numbers to lead and customer. Again, it is about attracting the right website visitor.

All the data tells us that organic traffic yields the most engagement and has the highest lead conversion rates. The work you do in building organic traffic through SEO is also long-lasting, whereas paid only works when you’re spending money. Therefore, most businesses need to place content and SEO at the centre of their marketing program.

BUT.

Paid digital search advertising using Google Ads and other search engines should be part of your promotional marketing mix. And if you are using paid, it is vital to focus on its effectiveness continuously.

It boils down to these four areas of focus.

Use paid to plug the gaps in your organic SEO. Some of the keywords in your category drive an inordinate level of traffic. These are very difficult to rank for if you don’t have enough content resources. So paying can be a very efficient means of driving traffic volume.

1. Maximise relevance and engagement. Just like all marketing, when your content is relevant, engaging and accurate, performance improves. Paid is no different. It’s not just about buying the right keyword. It’s about positioning your role around that keyword in a way that is compelling to the right potential customer. Without relevance, engagement and accuracy, you won’t get the click conversion or those that do click will bounce. This applies equally to what the user sees when they click through to your content. Which page are you serving up? Is it a landing page? And what does the landing page offer?
   
   
2. Eliminate waste. Continuous monitoring of keyword performance is vital to minimise waste. Remember, you’re paying for every click, so you want that click to get a result. The things to measure are:
   • • Click conversion
     • Bounce rate
     • Lead conversion
     • Cost per click
     • Cost per lead
       
       
3. Test, learn and improve. Most aspects of a current marketing program are content-driven in some way and are always on. Therefore, every piece of content you make, including paid ads, should be exposed to constant competition for better ideas.

Maximising the return on your digital search ad spend will make your business stronger. It’s time to get your ducks in a row.

Poignand Consulting is a strategic marketing and sales enablement consultancy that exists to unlock customer value for your business. We do this by helping enrich the customer experience at every point of contact – from the first seed of awareness to enquiry to opportunity, purchase, the post-sale relationship and repeat purchases.

If you would like help with your marketing and sales, please contact us