Data-Driven PPC and The Benefits Of Drilling Down On The Data

Running a pay per click campaign for your business, which isn’t driven by detailed metrics, offers no more than the hit-and-hope approach which a billboard in the 80’s may have done. With this being said, understanding which data is important and how it can be harnessed to deliver a high quality PPC campaign, that isn’t as easy as it sounds.

It is for this reason in fact why many businesses will look to use the expertise of PPC management services, who understand the importance of each data point, and how it can be utilized to improve the strategy. To those looking to implement such a marketing campaign, here is why it is essential to understand which data is important and what the benefits are of this level of focus.

Understanding The Importance of PPC Management 

In reality PPC is a pretty simple campaign to set up and manage for any business, but finding success is another thing altogether. To help us gain an understanding of why data, as simple as it sounds, is so important, here are some facts which put things into perspective:

Neil Patel  – “72% of companies haven’t looked at their ad campaigns in over a month”

Google – “76% of people who search for something nearby on a smartphone will visit a business within one day”

Google – “Search ads increase brand awareness by as much as 80%”

Clutch – “58% of millennials purchased something due to an online or social media ad”

These particular statements have been chosen because they really highlight the importance of letting data drive the PPC strategy. Here we have Google and Clutch describing the clear success and benefits which businesses can find using their PPC ads. In spite of this, we then have marketing guru Neil Patel showcasing that almost three quarters of companies aren’t on top of their campaigns.

Another telling statistic is this one from ‘State of PPC 2019/20” which found that 64% of brands plan to increase their PPC budget in the next 12 months. Why is this telling? Because this is so often the approach of businesses, to throw money at the problem to get better results, rather than working smarter to squeeze every drop out of their ad dollars, and that means crunching the data.

Important Metrics To Follow 

So what exactly are the metrics which can be used to improve the quality of a PPC ad campaign? Let’s take a look:

Impressions

This KPI indicates the number of times your ad has been seen, and it is the best indicator of the engagement of the ad. If your impressions are high but nobody is clicking on it, it’s time to improve the content quality. If your impressions are low but conversion is high then you need to scale up that ad content to reach more people.

Clicks

The number of clicks which you are getting is just that, how many people there are clicking on the ad once they have seen it. Poor click rate could indicate the need for better keyword research, so as to take back percentage from the competition. Using PPC software is a great way to be competitive with keywords.

ROAS

This metric is the ‘return on advertising spend’ and it is critical to ensuring that your ad dollars are working for you. Google suggest that on average businesses make $2 for everyone $1 which is spent, and this is should be the least you expect. Your PPC dashboard will display this information, and any low performing ads should be addressed right away.

Conversion Rate 

PPC is not just about engaging the consumer, it is about them converting once they have clicked on that ad. A high impression rate and a high click rate is all well and good, but businesses need to sell once customers arrive to site. If this is low then you need to address landing pages, product descriptions and how calls to action are being used. This is the final piece of the puzzle and in many regards, the most important piece of data to work with.

Clear Benefits of Working With The Data 

When you drill down on the specifics of the data you can not only increase the quality of your content, and the formation of the ads with regards to where customers are found, and where they are then sent. Using this strategy you can better understand your target demographic and what their behaviors are and you can double down on your focus on local search too. The key to all data is twofold, first we use it to understand the consumer better, then we tweak our campaigns to fit in with that and find more success.

Make sure that your business doesn’t fall into the 72% which aren’t on top of its PPC ads.

By Jason Lee