Including PPC in Your Digital Marketing Strategy

If you're a digital marketer who hasn't yet mastered the art of pay per click in your digital marketing mix, it's time to reconsider. Much has changed since the early days of pay per click (PPC), and today's most effective marketers are refocusing on digital ad tactics to keep up with changing consumer search trends and search engine standards. According to a Search Engine Watch report, 72 percent of American firms aim to increase their PPC marketing operations in the coming year. On the consumer side, two-thirds of online consumers will click on a paid ad if they are certain they want to buy that type of product.

The strategy for digital marketers boils down to improving your targeting, developing unique content, and understanding how to leverage other digital channels to maximize your marketing investment.

Here are four strategies for getting PPC ingrained in your digital marketing mix.  

1. Thread Your Messaging Throughout the PPC Lifecycle

Creativity and brand differentiation win in the battle for PPC traffic, but it’s important to ensure that the stream of content you’re providing is not just compelling but also consistent. From the initial ad content to the landing pages, supporting marketing deliverables and sales strategy, it’s important to be telling a cohesive story – something most marketers are underprepared for. In fact, more than half of all B2B marketers currently feel they are unclear on what constitutes effective content. Writing an incisive and well-conceived stable of content that keeps your audiences riveted from first sight to close is a special skill, one that can be honed and perfected through advanced content marketing certification training which is available to digital marketing teams.  

2. Link Strategy to Social Spend

We all know that social media preferences, sites, and strategies change as fast as any other digital marketing segment. And the social sector is growing faster than most marketers can keep up with. Ad spend on social media is on pace to outgrow TV ad spend for the first time, and almost three quarters of all online users follow a brand on social media because they’re interested in that product or service. Social is the new hotbed for PPC spending, putting the onus on digital marketers to fully understand the behavior of social consumers and weave that knowledge into PPC targeting and social content strategies. Advanced social media skills development is vital for your evolving PPC strategy and teams should ensure that they do their homework to identify the optimal spending mix.  

3. Double Down on the Mobile Channel

With such explosive growth in the mobile worldwide, companies are doubling down on their emphasis on mobile marketing. Mobile ads are booming as Google and other search engines prepare their platforms for a burgeoning business. More than half of the consumers surveyed have clicked on an ad on their mobile device, and those users are ready to buy: 53 percent of those who click on a mobile ad end up making a purchase. But preparing mobile ad content follows a different nuance than traditional web marketing techniques. Users move at lightning speed on their mobile devices, and PPC ad content and links must adapt to that behavior. There’s no question that the mobile represents one of the most exciting segments for PPC and digital marketing on a holistic level, and mobile skills certification is key to helping digital marketers keep up with the latest trends and techniques.  

4. Implement the Latest PPC Tactics

The new generation of pay per click education and training brings a new look to the PPC space. There is a science and psychology behind successful search strategies, and users must ensure that the latest tools, tactics, and skills are leveraged to their fullest extent. Keyword targeting has become a science in itself, and methods for hitting the right audiences and enticing them with the right content have come a long way in the last few years. Click fraud from bad actors in the digital space has become a growing problem for digital marketing managers, who now must proactively prepare for potential threats. The Google Display Network can help PPC marketers enhance their reach online, and digital marketers must also understand how to use Big Data and machine learning to conduct more thorough PPC analysis and keep their approach on the cutting edge. Finally, users must understand how Google and other search engine platform’s billing plans work to generate the best return.

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