Most businesses that have to do advertising also have to deal with competition from similar businesses. Many traditional media publishing platforms made it possible to separate your advertising in time (broadcast) and in physical space (print) from that of your competitors.

The search engines are very different from legacy media as most of your ads will be placed alongside those of the competition. For instance, when someone searches for a particular book, the ads will include listings from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and your local retail business. As such, you will all be competing for the same click, which makes things harder for everyone.

In the world of PPC advertising, bidding on competitor brand names can be a lucrative strategy. However, we at BlackStorm have learned that as easy and as enticing as it may be to take away a competitors traffic, it can create some problems with the quality score.

If you have ever tried to bid on someone’s brand name, then you know that Google will hit you with poor quality scores. Their logic is that someone searching for Walmart stores near me” would be interested in Walmart and not Target. As such, Target would get hit with poor quality scores for bidding on Walmart keywords.

Nonetheless, there may still be a few legitimate reasons to bid on your competition’s brand names. Maybe you just got into the market and need visibility or maybe you intend to capitalize on some confusion between your brand and that of the competition. Regardless of your reasons, you can target competitor brand keywords and manage to get decent quality scores and score some visitors. Here are some of the most effective ways to bid on the competition’s brand keywords:

Bid on Misspellings

If your competitor has an easily misspelled or a hard to spell brand, you need to gather all the possible keywords and place your bids. Most of the search engines do not understand misspellings and it may not be clear to them if you intend to find the real brand or something else. Once there is confusion, your ad has a higher probability of getting a decent score and being listed.

For instance:
If a searcher were to type in “esurance” while looking for the auto insurance company but ended up typing “ensurance”, the company still shows up on the search engine as the number one ad.

However, the second advert is awkward and is probably the result of dynamic keyword insertion. Still, it has used the searched keyword twice and this has made the search engines bold these out, making them stand out from the others. They are also using more site links as compared to the other advertisers. You would have to read the ad carefully to know that it has nothing to do with the company Esurance. However, most users will simply click the bolded result and visit the site rather than the website they intended to.

Bid on Cancel Keywords

This is one of those tips that could completely revolutionize your PPC competitor keyword strategies.

I do not believe you can find a better way of targeting disgruntled clients of the competition than by bidding on keywords they are likely to use when they intend to cancel their subscriptions.

This is not only smart but is also very effective at ensuring that you never get hit with the poor quality scores that you are likely to get when bidding on competitor keywords. For instance:

Most competitor keywords will get you quality scores no higher than 2, which the search engines are highly unlikely to list on the search results.

However, cancel keywords are a different kettle of fish:

You can get have your scores jump from as low as 2 to something between 4-5 and in some instances even 10. What is even better, cancel keywords tend to get above average click-through rates and drive leads.

If you are in the contractual or service industry taking advantage of cancel keyword can significantly improve your strategies.

Employ All the Weapons Available

At Blackstorm we always say that you are never going to be better than your competition if you do not have great ad copy. The best way of doing this is to provide reasons for the searcher to choose you and to always have a better offer. There are many advertisers that have won the battle for clicks by offering super deals and exclusive offers not found anywhere else.

Writing creative ad copy will also go a long way in improving your click-through rates. For instance, in the example below, Olive Garden gets really creative when targeting the keyword Applebee’s.

They have been so clever that Bing ads gave them annotations on the search engine results showing that they have had 100k visitors in the last month and that they have 205,900 twitter followers.

While it is impossible to control ad notations, ad extensions can be controlled. With good ad extensions, your ad will stand out more on the results. Still, you will have to get your ad to the top of the page before the search engines will show your ad extensions. But, having them show on the results can be a game changer.

Take for instance a search “Adgooroo” a search intelligence tool.

Adgooroo has neglected to bid on their brand and Spyfu has jumped in to bid on it. With their Google+ extensions and callout extension, their ad stands out on the page and they must be getting clicks. You could also use location and call extension on competitor ads. Imagine if the searcher learns that the competitor is a better fit for their needs than the company they were searching for.

Always do anything in your power to give the searcher a reason to click or call your business rather than that of a competitor. All being said, competitor campaigns can a solid source of high converting leads, sales or quality traffic.

What Type Of Info Really Sells Your PPC Audience?

When you’re considering a PPC campaign for your business, there are various things you must consider. And that includes knowing who your audiences are, their importance and segmentation. But that said, you have to carefully select the type of information you provide to ensure your campaign’s success. This is really important especially if you’re a B2C eCommerce advertiser. Remember you have to stand out to maintain them. But how? We got a few tips for you. Read on!

Customized Attention

With the growth of the internet and advancement in technology, it’s very easy to want to automate your services. But by all means, don’t. Adding a little bit of personalized attention to each of your clients gives them a sense of belonging. It makes them feel you care. This could be anything from free consultation services for the first purchases, a specialist guide every so often, face to face appointments with the sales team, etc.

Easy Accessibility To Price Quotes

The reason as to why a client clicks on your website is because they are interested in what you offer and would probably want to make a purchase. But they can’t go ahead with it if they aren’t sure of how much it will cost them. And that’s why you should always offer a solution for them; providing a price quote calculation sheet on your page. This will be so convenient given that same products together with their various add-ons can cost a little bit differently depending on what the customer wants. Give them the liberty to decide what they want to be included and they will forever be indebted to you.

Provide A Comparison Chart With Your Competitors

This will be mainly effective if only you are the market leader in your segment. It not only gives you the confidence to step forward but also acts as a source of credibility to both your present and potential customers. Who wouldn’t want to be associated with the most sought product with unique qualities and components?

If you choose this way, however, ensure to attractively parade it on your landing page, with as much creativity as possible. You have to convince your audience to choose you over others and that isn’t an easy task.

Free Trials

Anything that’s free has always been attractive. Take advantage of that fact and use it to lure audiences to your product or service. You can, for instance, start with a free sample for the first purchase as a way of converting prospects into potential leads and hopefully long term clients. It’s literally hard to resist spending on a particularly good product/service once you have experienced it.

Valuable Details

People will always stick around where they find valuable information that they can use to improve their lives. So if nothing else seems to work well for you, try your campaign from this angle. You can start by providing a PDF guide or eBook concerning specific consumer-related issues and how they can be solved. There’s no better way to make more sales than avoiding to be too salesy!

There you have it! What else has worked for you? Feel free to share with us in the comment section below!

Having problems with your PPC campaign?

Everyone, including PPC pros, entrepreneurs, businesses and startups experience failure one way or the other. Sometimes, the execution just isn’t there. Or maybe you’ve put all your broad match keywords in one campaign.

Plus, you could be making any of these 8 mistakes, listed below:

No Solid Goal Or Strategy

The first thing you need to do is establish a clear goal, a vital part of any marketing campaign. Getting ads on Google is, unfortunately, not enough to set the tone. Plan for a specific goal or strategy and base your PPC around it.

You Don’t Track Conversions

Having a conversion tracking system turns your ad campaign into autopilot mode. Without it, you’ll be flying in blind not knowing whether you’ve hit your metrics or not. The bottom line? Adding tracking codes is relatively simple, but clients and businesses often fail to see their value or importance.

Loose Campaign Structure

Keep the ad campaign tight and close up any and all loose ends. A classic example of a poor structure includes having too many broad matches under one roof, or not matching brand PPCs with brand keywords.

A good PPC manager will take a look at the campaign structure and shore up any weaknesses. Not doing so is a precursor to low, unsatisfactory results.

Unattractive Landing Page

Your campaign may have a killer ad copy, the right keywords, and a good overall structure, but do you have an equally compelling landing page?

Landing pages are like storefronts that attract your customers. A well-maintained, organized and compelling one brings in visitors, which increase the chances of a sale.

Your Ad Copy is Mediocre

Invest in creating a good ad copy as it’s instrumental to your success. An attractive landing page, sound campaign structure, and ad copies form the triumvirate of any PPC campaign.

What makes an ad copy great? It must be able to tell the users what you want them to do and the benefits of them doing it. Moreover, it must be done with a few characters or fillers as possible.

Passive Campaign Management

Many businesses think that PPC is a passive marketing campaign, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Setting it up is just the first step in the ad process. Managers who know better will fine-tune the PPC’s details, optimizing ad copies, keywords, bids while keeping an eye on the important metrics.

Don’t hand the project to a junior-level marketing staff; instead, hire an experienced manager who will know how to run the ad campaign from start to finish.

Why Am I Still Failing?

Despite all your best intentions, your PPC can still fail. The truth is, even the best ad campaigns can still go down the drain. What you can do is constantly monitor the data and try to troubleshoot the problem.

Is PPC Right For Your Business?

So you may have tried a couple of ad campaigns, but none of them are meeting the goals. You’ve tried everything, but the numbers aren’t favorable. What then?

Truth is, there’s a slim chance that PPC isn’t a right fit for your particular campaign, industry or business. But before you wave the white flag, exhaust all available options and make sure you have a good ad copy, landing page and structure.

With technology here with us, marketing your brand is made easier. Apart from traditional methods of advertising, there are new and emerging advertising tools that have seen small businesses grow exponentially. One of the most popular advertising methods used by both small and big businesses currently is PPC advertising. PPC stands for pay-per-click advertising, and while more and more business owners are drawn to it, there are challenges that come with it. Here are some of the benefits that come with PPC advertising, as well as some of the challenges you may face while using it as a marketing strategy.

1. Leverage on Data Received

One of the most important benefits of PPC advertising is its ability to gather vast and unlimited data on a brand. With PPC advertising, you get access to real time data showing your performance on online platforms. With this unlimited information, a prudent business owner can be able to consider a marketing strategy that exposes their brand more and cut out those that do not seem to work. The data you receive can also be useful in knowing what to optimise on your website in terms of content. With good SEO, you can increase your search engine visibility and rank higher on platforms such as Google.

2. Benefits for Niche-Specific Businesses

Another benefit of PPC advertising is that it allows a business owner to redirect their marketing strategy towards a specialised niche. With the data you receive from your advertising, you can tailor your website content and campaigns towards a preferred target audience, this may not be easily done with traditional advertising methods such as billboards or print media. It is also easier to find out who exactly consumes your content based on the number of clicks on the ads that you put out. This way, you can monetise your business accordingly.

3. Real Time Results

One of the reasons why PPC advertising has gained traction in the recent past is because of its ability to provide almost instant results for whoever is looking for metrics to benefit their business. For example, with Google AdWords, you can easily put up and ad and get the metrics you require the next day. It is also easy to come up with a campaign strategy and set up ads instantly. This not only saves your business time but also money spent waiting for a traditional advertiser to do an ad for you.

With all the pros that come with PPC advertising, the reality is that it is not all that glamorous. While the pros certainly outweigh the cons, it is advisable that any business owner pay attention to the following challenges so as to come up with better strategies for marketing using PPC advertising.

1. Data Might Be Overwhelming

For a small business owner, one of the challenges you may experience is sieving through the data you receive through PPC advertising to retain only that which is necessary. While a lot of data is beneficial for your brand in terms of strategy, you might end up with data which is not useful. This is where the help of a professional comes in handy to assist you in finding use in all the data you accumulate.

2. Extra Work

To be able to hack PPC advertising as a business owner, you have to have knowledge in marketing, content creation as well as data analysis. To be an all-round marketer is not easy, and most business owners trust their PPC advertising with reliable professionals who are a one-stop shop to handle these aspects of marketing.

3. Keeping Abreast with Changes in Digital Advertising

For most business owners, staying ahead of the curve is not an easy thing to do. The digital marketing space is mot an easy one to navigate. However, you can put in extra work by keeping abreast with updates and best practices in PPC advertising. For example, google AdWords has daily updates, which means you have to stay on top of your game at all times.

With PPC advertising, it is easy to see returns but all this comes with a price. However, for any dedicated business owner, developing workable strategies can make PPC advertising work to your advantage. Working with professional advertising agencies is also crucial if you need a helping hand.

Building a business from scratch can be a difficult and challenging thing to do, especially if you are just starting out. Whether you are a pro or not, the good news is that with a few marketing strategies, you can be able to turn your business into something big. One of the many strategies you can use is pay-per-click advertising. Also commonly referred to as PPC advertising, this can be a good option for any small business. Here are 7 top benefits for anyone looking to use PPC advertising for their business.

1. Increase Traffic to Your Website

One of the main advantages of PPC advertising is that it increases the amount of traffic to your website and related pages. If you strategically have the paid advertisement on the first page of a search engine such as Google, this could be all you need to increase your online visibility in no time.

2. Boost Your Sales

With increased visibility, thanks to paid advertisements, you can be able to translate the views you get into a customer base. If you offer quality products or services, chances are that your audience will buy from you and spread the news to others looking for the same products or services.

3. Monitor Your Advertising Expenses

With PPC advertising, any small business owner can be able to control their expenditure when it comes to advertising costs. Because PPC advertising allows you to pay for your advertising costs as you go along, you do not have to pay for those adverts that are underperforming. The good news is that you can always change your campaign strategy along the way and incur no losses.

4. Pay Only After Clicks

Another benefit of using PPC advertising is that you do not have to worry about keyword bidding wars. All you have to do is wait and pay after someone clicks on an ad on your website. This is cost-effective in the long-term.

5. Monitor Ad Performance More Efficiently

For most business owners, monitoring ad performance is difficult with traditional advertising. However, with PPC advertising, you can rest easy and monitor how your advertisements are performing in real-time. With he real time data that you get, you can proceed with a specific ad strategy or shift to one that markets your business better.

6. Enhance Your Brand Recognition

One of the best ways of enhancing your brand recognition is by remarketing your brand over and over again. For most small business owners, this is as easy as remarketing their brand using their PPC advertising. It is not only effective as the brand will stay in the mind of a potential customer, but this strategy is also cost-effective.

7. Ease of Use

Unlike certain traditional methods of advertising, PPC is effective in that it is easy to create and use. The fact that you can easily come up with one yourself also makes it a plus for small businesses.

If you want to try out PPC advertising for your own business, working with a professional marketing agency can work wonders for your business.

Pay Per Click Advertising otherwise abbreviated as PPC advertising is a type of paid digital advertising where the marketer pays a set amount of money for every time someone clicks on their ad. PPC works not only on the search engines such as Google and Bing but also on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Nonetheless, this article is all about Good Adwords which is the pioneer PPC platform. Adwords places your ads in front of search engine users typically on the right-hand side and at the top of the search engines. We will also analyze the Google Display Network which instead of placing your ads on the search engines, places them on relevant websites where your target customers can see and click on them.

We will compare the two services so that you can make an informed decision on what would be best for advertising to your target audience.

Making the Decision on Whether PPC is a Good Fit

The first step in the decision is to analyze if you have the financial outlay to get into PPC. You need to analyze if you have enough of budget to pay for advertising or if you could be better of improving your organic reach. If you have set aside some funds for paid advertising, you need to ask if you should spend the entire budget on PPC or if there are other paid traffic sources you could test out.
PPC works really well if your target audience is actively searching for keywords that are a good match for what your business is selling. The budget of the PPC campaign is typically determined by the type of services/products you intend to promote, and the level of competition in the space.

Deciding on the Best Google PPC option that Fits your Strategic Goals:

Why Go with Google Ads

Google AdWords is great if you have an audience that is searching for keywords related to your content, products, and brand. Check out how to set up a Google AdWords Account and a budget here. However, before we set up an AdWords account, let’s look at the benefits of AdWords. You can only analyze the benefits if you have your digital marketing objectives in hand.

Benefits of Google Ad’s:

1. Google provides the Google AdWords Keyword Planner which you can use to research terms that your target audience is searching for in the search engines. The best keyword terms that you can use for your AdWords campaigns are longtail keywords that you can get from the Keyword Planner.
2. Once you have your long tail keyword terms that your audience is searching for, you then need to create compelling ads about the products and services that you offer.
3. Set a daily budget so that you do not run out of the paid ad spend budget before the campaign period is over
4. Your ads will be served to your target clientele on tablet, mobile, and desktop.
5. Once you have enough data, you can measure the effectiveness of the campaigns. You can analyze the figures for the number of people that saw the ad, the percentage that clicked through to the website and number of sales attributable to the paid traffic.
6. With Google AdWords, you can always test and modify your ad campaigns, restart and pose as you wish.

Why choose the Google Display Network?

The Google Display Network makes it possible to serve your ads to a target audience browsing the relevant sections of relevant websites in your niche. Check out how to set up a Google Display Network ad account and campaign here. However, let’s check out the benefits of the Google Display Network so that you can determine if it is the right fit.

Benefits The Display network:

1. You get to choose from a variety of ad formats from video ads, mobile ads, image ads, and text ads.
2. Highly target your ads so that they are only served to a specified audience. Using the topic targeting feature you can now place your ads on websites with similar topics to yours.
3. You can select from pre-made ads, choose or customize or even build your ads from scratch.
4. The automatic bidding tool ensures the maximum number of clicks while charging you as little as possible to ensure that you do not run out of budget spend before time.
5. Frequency and reach reporting makes it possible to measure and track the performance of your ad. This makes it easier to analyze how many potential clients you reached and the conversion rate.