If you run a small business, your marketing budget might be tight. You don’t want to waste money on advertising that isn’t going to bring you a return on your investment. No one likes to waste money, but maximizing a marketing budget is especially important for small businesses because you need every penny you have to grow. Plus, your business depends on bringing in new customers.

Most small businesses understand that PPC (pay-per-click) online advertising is important to reach new customers, but it can be a tricky process. There is a large learning curve, and a lot of money can be wasted if you don’t know what you are doing when you begin to wade into online paid search advertising.

That’s why we have put together a list of 5 tips for maximizing your PPC budget, so you can get the most out of your digital ads and successfully build your business.

5 Tips to Help You Win at PPC

Doing your research is half the battle when it comes to PPC ads. Make sure you understand the target audience you are going for and industry trends. Here are some beneficial ways to do PPC right the first time.

Choose the Perfect Keywords

When it comes to PPC advertising, keywords are, well, key. You must choose the right words for your business and audience or you could waste a lot of money on ads that don’t work for you. There is a lot of nuance when it comes to keywords. The wrong words could sink your ad campaign.

For example, if you are a computer repair technician, you may be looking at words related to computers, such as:

  • Computers
  • Repair
  • Technician
  • Fix

But let’s say you choose different words related to computers, such as information technology, computer services, or computer parts. These words are related to your industry but could bring in a very different crowd. For instance, someone typing in computer parts into a search engine may be looking for a business that sells new or used parts, not a business that repairs computers. Your ads may not work for you if you are not extremely careful with the keywords you choose.

Monitor Your Ad Campaigns Regularly

Just as it’s important to choose your keywords carefully, it’s also important to monitor your campaigns to see that the words you selected are working. If you picked keywords that aren’t working, you can save time and money through early identification of discrepancies in keyword selection and conversion.

Monitoring your ad campaigns regularly means that you will have campaigns that are successful. You can also quickly capitalize on the campaigns that are doing well and implement successful strategies into other campaigns that are not converting.

Write Ads That Convert

Make sure you take the time to write ads that actually convert. You don’t want to put a bunch of time, effort, and money behind an ad but be lazy about the ad copy. Write the best ads you can and have people look at them and give you feedback.

  1. Which ad grabbed them?
  2. Which ad do they think will bring in customers?
  3. Which ad did they connect with on an emotional level?

Then you can run tests on your ads to see which one is receiving the most conversions. Then take your ad money away from campaigns that aren’t working and boost the ones that are bringing in leads.

Carefully Plan Your Budget

In a perfect world, you would spend money on ads and you would always see an increase in business. But that’s not the way it works with PPC, which can be unpredictable at times. There are so many factors outside of your control that it’s important to not put all of your money in one digital advertising basket.

Make sure you plan your budget carefully, and take the time to adjust your budget on a regular basis. If one ad campaign is hitting the mark, you need to be able to shift money to that campaign. Be flexible, be open to changes in the marketplace, and be vigilant.

Organize Your Campaigns

Even small businesses need to run more than one ad campaign, and staying organized is important. You need to keep track of your campaigns, so you can capitalize on the ones that are performing well and eliminate campaigns that are performing poorly.

Organization can save you time, work, and money. It can also help you understand your marketing campaigns as a whole.

Need Assistance With Running PPC Campaigns? Call Now

Not every small business has the time, knowledge, technical savvy, or resources to run paid search campaigns on their own. Partnerships are great opportunities to market your business while also being able to focus on your strengths and on running your company.

To learn more about how a partnership with a digital marketing agency can help you, reach out to the PPC team at Digital Division in Kansas City.