Managing Your Own PPC Ad Campaigns? The Common Mistakes Businesses Make

A PPC Agency Ad Manager checking the performance of his Google Ads

PPC Ads, more commonly known as Pay-Per-Click Advertising, are adverts commonly running on Google and social media platforms. It’s one of the most common digital marketing strategies that businesses utilise when taking their business online.

Between promoted Google searches and social media advertising, there are many options to pick from that can help boost revenue and reach a newly engaged audience. It’s an extremely profitable form of digital marketing… when used and monitored effectively.

As an expert PPC agency, we’re often consulted on PPC adverts businesses are running. Many times, we’ve seen businesses miss key factors that improve the effectiveness of their ad campaigns. We’re here to help you learn how to make the most out of your total digital marketing campaigns and today, we’ll be going through some of the most common mistakes businesses have made.

At InSynch’s PPC agency branch, we have a wealth of knowledge, gained from managing hundreds of clients across various sectors. If you’re interested in learning more about how to run your online adverts better, talk to one of our digital marketing experts today or, book a free 1-2-1

Mistake 1: Not Understanding The Target Market

Social Media adverts target audience demographics that you defined, while Google advertising is based on keyword search terms. Whilst these are very different ways to target an audience, they both require a fundamental understanding of said audience in order to reach them effectively.

Running campaigns without any prior knowledge of the target market’s behaviour and needs always results in chucking money into campaigns that are not as profitable as they should be.

You need to know their demographics. What time of year are they most likely to search and buy your products? Which social media do they use more? What keywords are they using to find products or services like yours? What is most likely to make them click on your ad with an intent to become a paying customer?

This is where Google Trends and Google Analytics support can provide detailed information about your target market. These can provide detailed information about your target market, showing you the demographics that are most inclined to purchase your products or services.

Need Google Analytics Support, such as setting it up or switching UA to GA4? We have plenty of blog resources to get you started. You can also keep an eye on our webinars page to see when our next free analytics course is available.

Mistake 2: Using Poor Performing Keywords

We’ve seen it happen again and again, with businesses targeting keywords that have low search volume, or keywords that are searched, but the user does not have an intention to purchase. For example, if a mead selling business placed advertisements on phrases like “what is mead”. In cases like these, we often see lots of clicks, with no purchases. This means you are paying more, for fewer returns.

Google Keyword Planner is a powerful free tool that can help you understand the effectiveness of using specific keywords. But you should always put yourself into the shoes of your audience. If you searched using that keyword, would you have the intention to purchase the product or service?

Our PPC agency experts always encourage regular keyword research to be performed to keep on top of trending keywords. Furthermore, you need to go into your adverts settings and see which keywords have poor returns on investment. If a keyword has lots of clicks but no revenue, consider removing that keyword to improve your spending.

Mistake 3: Ineffective Budgeting

A PPC campaign’s daily budget allows you to finely control how much you are spending, and it can be edited at any time. If you need to cut back on spending, or have the ability to splurge a little more, you can adjust it in just a few clicks.

Of course, this has often resulted in many businesses budget ineffectively over the year. They spend too much when demand for their product or service is not at its peak, and then cut back on budgets when demand is skyrocketing. This results in campaigns that have poorer returns on investment.

Once again, strong Google Trends and Google Analytics support for your campaigns is essential to know the times of year when demand is high, so that you can budget accordingly.

Mistake 4: Only Focussing on New Customers

Lots of businesses forget that total digital marketing includes retaining their existing audience, and that is very possible through PPC. Research has shown that people are far more likely to purchase products if they have already bought from that business before. If you’re not using remarketing ads to target past customers, then you’re potentially missing out on this source of advertising revenue.

Are you running Instagram and Facebook advertising and want to get into remarketing? Installing a Facebook Pixel to your website can allow you to refine adverts to target users who visited your website and recently bought from you. This is one of the simplest ways to run a remarketing campaign.

Get Support From Our Total Digital Marketing Experts

Managing PPC campaigns yourself is doable if you have the time and attention to take a detailed approach into managing the campaigns. Consistently working to improve and tweak your ads in line with current trends in your audience is vital to ensure their success.

That’s why working with digital marketers with PPC agency experts can lift that burden and provide you with real results that can be worked upon in future campaigns. InSynch Total Digital Marketing has worked with hundreds of businesses big and small, improving and optimising their PPC campaigns for success.

If you’re interested in learning more about PPC to leverage your market and drive sales, talk to one of our digital marketing experts today. Or, book a FREE 1-2-1.