You need to set realistic expectations with new clients right from the very beginning. That includes being transparent about pricing & upfront about the results clients can expect from your services. 

That’s the best way to build trust amongst your clients, which will help you develop a loyal following. 

Setting clear client expectations is the best way to improve your retention rates, which are crucial to the success of your business. 

In fact, retaining your existing clients can boost your profitability from 25% to 95%, and about half of a company’s revenue comes directly from its most loyal customers. 

Beyond that, acquiring new customers can cost 5 to 7x more than retaining existing ones. 

That’s why it’s worth developing a client onboarding system where you set clear expectations straight from the get-go. Not only will this help you avoid miscommunications & false hope for services you don’t offer, but it’s also great for avoiding undesirable clients that will only cause trouble. 

That’s because setting client expectations isn’t just for the benefit of the client; it’s also a way for you to determine if they’re a good fit for your agency. 

Managing client expectations is a crucial skill for any agency to master, so stay tuned to learn effective tips for getting real with your clients. 

Why is it Necessary to Set Client Expectations?

Miscommunications are frustrating whenever they occur, which is why setting expectations matters so much – and that applies to more than working relationships. 

For instance, have you ever been waiting hopelessly by the phone in hopes of hearing back from a job interview, only to realize they filled the position a week prior without telling you?

That’s a perfect example of a failure to set expectations on behalf of your interviewer. They could have mentioned when they planned on filling the position or when you could expect to hear back. 

Since they didn’t communicate or set expectations, you wasted time waiting for a call that was never going to come. 

Similar things can happen if you aren’t transparent with your clients about how your agency works. 

Without setting the proper expectations in place, you risk disappointing your clients in ways you couldn’t possibly anticipate. 

For example, if you aren’t clear about the end goal you’re trying to achieve, your clients may expect more than you’re able to deliver, which can ruin your working relationships. 

The good news is those types of situations are completely avoidable if you’re upfront about what you can deliver for your clients. 

Good communication is another core component of setting client expectations. 

Staying in constant touch with clients will help avoid miscommunications, and it shows that you care about the work you’re providing for them.

Failing to set clear expectations is a leading cause of poor client retention rates, which is why it’s necessary to set them as soon as possible. 

Benefits of Setting Expectations for Clients 

Now that you know why you need to set client expectations for a better customer experience, how will they benefit your business?

There are quite a few perks you’ll enjoy from setting clear client expectations, including the following:

They get rid of any surprises 

The last thing you want is for a roadblock or pricing issue to come as a surprise to your client. Surprises are rarely a good thing in the professional world, especially for marketing strategies that require intricate planning. 

Setting expectations will ensure there are no surprises from either party, which is ideal for forming lasting relationships. 

They leave little room for confusion

Setting expectations is all about being upfront and laying everything on the line. As a result, your clients will have a clear understanding of the results you’re going to deliver and how long it will take to deliver them. 

Otherwise, your clients may feel left in the dark, especially when it comes to deliverables, so be sure to cover everything during your onboarding process. 

They provide boundaries for firing clients 

Not every client you work with is going to be a perfect fit for your agency. In fact, the truth is you’ll likely have to fire more than a few clients due to a variety of different issues. 

It could be that the client isn’t willing to pay your rate or that they’re expecting too much from your team. 

Whatever the reason is, if you set clear expectations from the get-go, you’ll be able to pinpoint why the relationship isn’t working when it comes time to part ways with troublesome clients. 

Setting boundaries is an integral part of setting client expectations, as the onboarding process is also there to protect you, not just your clients. 

They provide a clear direction for your team members 

You need to include your team in the client onboarding process, as it will provide them with clear direction on what to do as well. 

If your team is present when you’re laying out expectations for your client, they’ll know which direction to take with their marketing strategy, leading to better teamwork. 

If they aren’t around for client onboarding, your team may lack a sense of direction with their work, and they may even do something your client doesn’t want – which is why you need to include them in the process. 

How to Manage Client Expectations 

Being able to set realistic client expectations is a necessary skill for any marketing agency, regardless of your niche focus. 

From developing SEO strategies to managing social media campaigns, your clients need to know what you’re going to deliver and how you’re going to deliver it in no-nonsense terms. 

Here are some proven effective tips for setting client expectations that build trust & loyalty. 

Establish a client onboarding system 

To start, you need to develop an airtight client onboarding process that you can replicate for each new client you acquire. 

Also, it’s a good idea to set client expectations multiple times to really ride the point home. 

Ideally, you should set expectations during your sales pitch, when they sign your contract, and one final time during your client onboarding process. 

If that sounds like overkill, it really isn’t. 

The more you reiterate your expectations, the more likely they are to stick in your client’s mind. If you only state your expectations one time, your client may forget – which can lead to miscommunications and disappointment down the line. 

Also, since you’ll be setting expectations more than a few times, your script needs to remain the same. 

That’s why it’s worth establishing a client onboarding process that your employees can quickly & easily implement for new clients. Be sure to include all the necessary documentation, such as onboarding scripts, contracts, and pricing information. 

Set clear goals from the start 

It’s important to agree upon realistic goals as soon as you onboard a new client. These goals should align with your client’s plans for business growth while still being feasible for your marketing agency. 

The best way to set goals that yield results is to use the SMART system. Here’s a breakdown of the acronym:

• Specific. You need to clearly define your goals by including the specific results you want to achieve, a timeline to make it happen, and key milestones to hit along the way. 
• Measurable. Speaking of milestones, you’ll have a much easier time achieving your end goal if you have a way to measure your success. Milestones and essential marketing metrics (think organic traffic, leads, and sales) will help you ensure that you’re on the right path. 
• Achievable. You want to ensure that achieving the goal is within the means of your marketing agency. Overpromising only to then underdeliver isn’t the way to forge long-lasting client relationships, so make sure you can realistically achieve any goals you set. 
• Relevant. Any goals you set must align with the overall business goals of your clients. For instance, if they want to grow their presence on Instagram above all else, setting goals for other social media platforms isn’t relevant to their needs. 
• Time-bound. Goals without deadlines lack the sense of urgency necessary to get things done. That’s why every goal you set needs to fall within some sort of time constraint. Whether you’re planning for a 12-day strategy or 12 months, giving your goal a deadline is a must. 

Be completely transparent about pricing 

There’s no reason to beat around the bush when it comes to clarifying how you’ll get paid with your new clients. 

Money is often the #1 factor that makes clients uneasy, so being upfront about it will put their minds at ease. That will enable you to move on to more important matters, such as explaining the value of your services.

When discussing how you’ll get paid, don’t forget to cover the following:

• How your invoicing structure works (how often you’ll send invoices if you have a net-30 policy, etc.)
• Your rates for the services you provide (i.e., SEO, content creation, etc.)
• If any additional fees may show up on their invoices (late fees, interest, additional services)
• Your preferred payment methods (ACH Transfer, physical check, PayPal, Wise, etc.)

Besides setting these expectations early on, you also need to notify your clients whenever changes will show up on their invoices. 

Remember, setting expectations is all about getting rid of any unwanted surprises, and a higher invoice than usual definitely qualifies as such. 

As an example, if your client gets billed the same amount each month but orders an additional service this time (such as a promotional video or extra blog post), you should notify them of this via a phone call or email. 

That’s because if the client receives the invoice expecting the same amount as usual, the unexpected increase can cause tension in your relationship – and it could affect their budgeting strategy. You can avoid these issues by giving your clients a simple heads-up whenever their bill changes. 

Under-promise & over-deliver 

This goes in hand with the Achievable part of the SMART acronym, and it’s a great way to ensure that you don’t wind up under-delivering – which is terrible for client retention. 

Instead of promising the moon to your new clients, guarantee only the bare minimum of what your efforts can yield. 

For instance, say that you offer SEO services and you regularly boost organic traffic by 50% or more for your clients. By only promising a 25% increase in traffic, you’ll be able to ‘wow’ your clients when you’re able to actually boost it by 50%+. 

Yet, if you get too big for your britches and promise a 75% increase, you’ll only wind up disappointing your clients when you’re only able to provide a 60% boost. 

That’s why under-promising is the way to go. 

Not only does it serve to impress your clients, but it gives you a bit of wiggle room should any unexpected roadblocks arise. 

As long as you under-promise and do all you can to exceed your client’s expectations, you should wind up wowing their socks off. 

Don’t forget to set boundaries 

Setting client expectations also serves as a way to protect yourself, and setting boundaries is a big part of that. 

Your clients need to know what’s on the table and what’s not; otherwise, they may wind up crossing a boundary without realizing it. 

An example?

Lots of people are working remotely now, and if you don’t send boundaries for working hours, your clients may assume that you’re available 24/7. If you don’t want clients blowing up your phone at 3 AM, it’s imperative to establish some boundaries when setting expectations. 

Avoid bad clients sooner rather than later 

During the client onboarding process, you need to keep an eye out for a few red flags yourself. 

That’s because getting stuck with a bad client will only hurt your marketing agency, so it’s best to terminate those relationships before they even start – and the onboarding process is the perfect time to make that judgment. 

Common red flags to avoid:

• Not wanting to pay your full rates by constantly asking for discounts
• Unsure of what they want 
• Unrealistic expectations (i.e., get us to #1 on Google by tomorrow for cheap!)

While it may be tempting to accept every new client you speak with (especially early on), it’s best to heed these warnings when you see them and not pursue them any further. 

Doing so will save you a lot of headaches in the future and will free up your time for better, more reasonable clients. 

Wrapping Up: How to Set Client Expectations 

Developing a rock-solid client onboarding process is the best way to form stellar client relationships that stand the test of time. 

Setting expectations will help you set the stage for success and help you avoid nightmare clients that will only bring your agency down. 

Do you need assistance setting realistic client expectations at your marketing agency?

Then you need to consult with our marketing gurus at The HOTH. We’ve dealt with countless clients over the years, and we know how to set clear expectations that yield results & fruitful relationships.

And if you’re looking to expand your product suite, we’re one of the world’s top white label digital marketing solutions. We work with thousands of resellers who work with thousands of their own clients, so don’t wait to book a call today.      

The post How to Set Client Expectations at Your Marketing Agency appeared first on The HOTH.

That’s why it’s imperative for small business owners to focus on the big picture beyond growing their business to the enterprise level in a matter of months. 

Instead, you’ll first need to consider things like your company culture, core values, internal processes, cash flow, and business model. 

In other words, you need to learn how to crawl before you take off on a Forrest Gump-style sprint. 

One of the best ways to learn how to scale your business successfully is to look at examples and advice from companies that have done it. 

That’s precisely what we’re here to do today, so you’ve come to the right place if you’re after a scaling strategy to enjoy sustainable growth. 

Read on to learn how you can scale your business to handle rapid growth with ease. 

The Difference Between Growing and Scaling a Business

Formally defined, growing your business is when you increase your revenue by adding new resources, such as capital, team members, or technology. 

The problem there is that a steadily growing business will require a ton of resources to sustain it, which becomes self-defeating at a certain point. 

For instance, say that your business is humming along at full capacity serving 10 clients. In an effort to grow and expand, you take on 10 new employees. 

Sounds great, right?

The only problem is that your team currently has all they can handle, so you won’t be able to cater to those new clients without hiring new employees (unless you want to overwork your staff and see a noticeable dip in performance and customer satisfaction). 

Hiring new staff means spending even more resources, which can create a vicious cycle of unsustainable growth. 

Scaling, on the other hand, is when revenue increases without a significant increase in resources. 

An example would be making the switch to cloud-based automation software, enabling you to take on new clients & earn more revenue without having to hire more staff or spend more resources. 

With this type of software on board, you will enjoy scalability and sustainable growth without drowning in debt. 

You can think of scaling as how you plan for your growth. A scaling strategy, then, is the fertile soil that you plant your business in to grow. 

Learning How a Company Scales 

Scaling your business is about staying true to your original vision while managing the impact growth has on your company. 

It’s about setting yourself up to handle new customer acquisitions en masse without blowing a ton of resources or overworking your team to get them. 

To scale a business, you need to establish systems and processes that will set you up for rapid growth – such as developing your brand identity, creating a customer avatar, setting up core values, and optimizing workflows. 

This stage is also where you must build your client experience and business plan to take your products and services to market. 

In essence, the scaling period is the most important time for your business if you want to make it in the long term. 

Do it right, and you’ll be set up for success, no matter how rapidly you intend to grow. Skip a step, or don’t take scaling seriously, and your business will never be able to grow beyond a certain point. 

When should you start the scaling process?

It’s never too early to start establishing a solid foundation for scaling up, so you can start planning whenever you’d like. When scaling your business, it’s best to wait until your business plan is in place and you have very few customer complaints. 

That’s a sign that what you’re doing is working, and with the proper foundation in place, you can begin selling your products and services on a larger scale. 

Successful Examples of Companies That Scaled Up 

Now that you know what scaling your business is and why it matters, it’s time to look at some examples of companies that have been there and done that. 

These are companies that took scaling their business seriously, and it paid off in a big way, so let’s learn what they did. 

Example #1: VanMoof 

Dutch company VanMoof sells state-of-the-art city bicycles that feature integrated alarms and intelligent motors. 

They’re an example of a small brand that was able to scale internationally due to their tenacity and smart planning. 

While they’re now a highly successful international bike company, they didn’t start out that way. Instead, VanMoof had very humble beginnings in the Netherlands, starting out with a simple bike model that had integrated lights and not much else. 

Their sales were high locally, but the founders were dreaming far bigger than that – they wanted to go international. 

So they went back to the drawing board and devised a plan to make their dream a reality. 

They completely retooled and revamped their bicycles and created a new business plan (a direct-to-consumer or D2C model) that made vital cost-cutting improvements on staffing and manufacturing through automation and other methods. 

With that, they had the capability to take their bicycles beyond the Netherlands, and they would do just that. By 2018, they had opened six new stores around the world, and 70% of their revenue was coming from international sales. To sweeten the pot, Rabo Investments partnered with them and provided a €12.5 M growth loan. 

Example #2: Zevo 

Zevo is a plug-in insect and pest remover that’s safe around children and pets. Once they developed their product, they began selling it online with successful results.

At that point, it was clear that they were onto something. They had a unique product that outdid the competition by being non-toxic and pet-friendly. 

The only things that needed to be added were a team and a budget large enough to scale the business. 

Their solution?

They heavily implemented D2C testing straight from the get-go, and the investment paid off. They A/B tested their ad copy, subject lines, calls to action, images, and other types of content with their audience and stuck with what worked the most. 

Zevo’s senior director attributes this testing to shaping their brand communications, which led the brand to strike deals with major retailers Target and Home Depot. 

Example #3: BE-CI

BE-CI is a building envelope consulting firm that was able to grow from $3 million to $11 million in revenue due to its scaling strategy. 

Once the company hit $3 million, the CEO wanted to start scaling up. 

The only issue was communication issues were holding the company back. That’s when the CEO hired a certified communication coach to work with his team. 

Besides that, BE-CI also defined its core values, built accountability by setting employee goals, and held regular ‘rhythm’ meetings with the team that included essential reading for everyone to align them on a central vision. 

The results?

The company was able to grow to nearly $11 million in revenue, and they’re now expanding their offices to the West. 

Tips for Scaling Your Business 

Your business can become just as successful as the examples above with the right strategy. 

That’s why we’ve put together these proven effective tips for scaling any type of business. As a result, you can start building the foundation to scale right here, right now. 

That way, whenever your genius business ideas cause you to start growing like wildfire, you’ll be prepared for it. 

Tip #1: Map out your milestones 

Any great strategy requires a roadmap for success, and scaling your business is no different. 

To start, you’ll want to identify key milestones along the way toward your ultimate goal, which is scaling up. 

First, define where it is you want to be, or in other words, how high you want to scale. Do you want to grow to become an enterprise-level company, or are you content with being a smaller business?

Once you’ve got a goal in mind, start by identifying when your business will completely run out of cash. 

From there, define the milestones you need to hit to ensure that doesn’t happen, complete with a timeline. That will help you keep your eye on the prize without going over budget, which is essential for scaling a business. 

Tip #2: Optimize your products & services to perfection 

You won’t be able to scale up if you don’t already have valuable products and services that your customers need. 

As such, you should strive to perfect your products and services before thinking about scaling your operations. That means taking plenty of time to work out kinks, fix bugs, and ensure the quality of your products. 

Otherwise, these issues will only become more severe as you grow. 

The early days of your business are when you should focus on perfecting what you do by improving your offerings, listening to customer feedback, and finding potential issues. 

All too often, entrepreneurs want to grow like crazy before they do anything else, which is usually a huge mistake. 

If you take the time to perfect what you do early on, scaling your business will become a breeze as you’ll have already fixed most growth issues that companies run into as they expand. 

With airtight products and services, there’ll also be plenty of demand for what you do, so it won’t be hard to reach new customers. Are you eager to scale up your small business so you can start competing with the big dogs in your field?

If so, you’ll first need to realize the difference between scaling a business and growing a business. 

Early on, many young startups & entrepreneurs become obsessed with business growth, but this can lead them to grow beyond their means, which can bring their performance to a screeching halt once they really start to gain momentum. 

Properly scaling your bu

Tip #3: Construct your dream team 

Another mistake startups make they want to grow before establishing a team that can handle the increased demand. 

A gigantic aspect of scaling your business is forming a winning and sustainable team of managers, supervisors, and base-level employees. 

Yet, your in-house staff only comprises one part of your team. 

You’ll also need to develop positive and long-lasting relationships with suppliers and form partnerships with outside organizations to scale successfully. 

Tip #4: Create a customer avatar 

You need to understand your target audience intimately if you want to scale your business with any degree of success. 

The best way to do so is to create a customer avatar that represents your niche audience’s wants, needs, and desires. 

How do you do that?

You do so by conducting audience research and then creating an actual living, breathing persona. Your customer avatar should have a name, address, job, relationships, spending habits, hobbies, and more. 

That will help you understand what types of content and new products your audience wants to see the most, which will help you scale your business. 

Beyond that, you can use your customer avatar to build your sales funnel in a buyer-centric way. Instead of focusing your sales funnel on your needs as a business, focus on your customer’s typical behavior instead. 

For instance, you may discover that your audience prefers discovery calls over filling out lengthy online forms. 

Tip #5: Develop Your Story and Brand 

To be able to scale and find success, your company needs a strong brand identity. 

That means clearly identifying what it is you offer, which problems you solve, and how you’ll improve customers’ lives through your products and services. 

Standard brand-building techniques include SEO & content marketing, social media advertising, and influencer marketing. 

If your business has a clearly defined brand identity early on, it will make scaling your business that much easier. 

Final Thoughts: Scale Your Business 

Growing your business is fantastic, but it can’t happen without first establishing a foundation to scale. 

That way, your team will be able to meet the increasing demands of taking on more clients and projects. 

Automation software, SaaS (software-as-a-service), partnerships, and brand-building are all candid ways to set yourself up to scale. 

Do you need some outside help with scaling your business?

If so, don’t wait to check out our white-label marketing services at The HOTH, as we’ll equip you with everything you need to scale successfully. Our digital marketing gurus are always available for consulting, so feel free to book a call today.      

The post How to Scale Your Business (Advice From People Who’ve Grown and Succeeded) appeared first on The HOTH.

Yet, top marketing professionals don’t stay available for long, as according to LinkedIn, the best candidates are off the market within 10 days. In addition, it can be difficult for small businesses and startups to acquire top marketing talent on a limited budget. 

For instance, most small to medium-sized businesses won’t have the funds to keep a top-tier marketing agency on retainer. 

Does that mean you have to settle for subpar talent or rely on a jack-of-all-trades that handles everything?

Not at all. 

With the right tactics, it’s entirely possible for smaller companies to form great marketing teams that are on par with larger enterprises. 

You just need to know where to look. 

Between social media channels, freelancer websites, internships, and specialty job boards, there’s a massive talent pool of marketers just waiting for you to call them. 

Moreover, you’ll succeed more if you can provide a set of reasons why your organization is the place to be for marketers – which can include desirable company culture, valuable experience, and innovative products and services. 

It’s our goal to help you form the marketing team of your dreams, which is why we’ve put together this post showing you how to do just that. 

Stay tuned to learn how to find marketing talent for your business. 

Avoid Dumping Everything On One Marketer 

It’s tempting for startups on a limited budget to rely on one professional to handle all their marketing work. 

While this can certainly work at first, and you should hold on to these types of versatile marketers, it’s not a sustainable solution. 

If you want to enjoy continued growth year-over-year, you’ll need a marketing team where each member focuses on one specific task full-time – such as content marketing, lead generation, and increasing revenue.

Otherwise, personal limitations will hold back your jack-of-all-trades from handling every aspect of your marketing strategy. 

That’s because it’s impossible for one person to provide the right amount of focus on each area, as they’ll only be able to devote small amounts of time to each part of your marketing campaign. 

For example, in order to generate more organic traffic, you’ll need to regularly create SEO-friendly content for your audience, which takes quite a bit of time and effort. 

To knock that out, your full-stack marketer will need to:

• Conduct detailed keyword research 
• Brainstorm topics and create post outlines 
• Write informative and SEO-friendly blog posts 2 – 4 times a week
• Make technical SEO tweaks like adding alt tags and improving page speed 
• Monitoring search ranking progress and altering the strategy accordingly

That’s quite a bit of work that’s enough to fill up a full-time job. Yet, that’s only a fraction of what a full-stack marketer has to do. They also have to focus on building brand awareness, generating and nurturing leads, and finding ways to increase revenue. 

That’s why it’s best to hire more marketing positions as soon as you have the option. 

Forming a Winning Digital Marketing Team 

Since you know that marketing should almost always be a team effort, let’s learn what a successful in-house marketing team looks like. 

When you break down a company’s digital marketing needs, you wind up with three core concepts:

• Content creation 
• Lead generation 
• Revenue maximization 

As such, if you’re going to form a bare-bones marketing team for your small business, you should hire at least one marketer for each one of these concepts (if you have the budget, you can hire more). 

That way, you’ll have someone focusing on creating content to rank higher on search engines, someone else to work on acquiring new customers, and another marketer to work on growing your money. 

Content creation team 

Your content team is in charge of not only creating all your content but also developing a content strategy. That means setting a goal for your efforts (such as ranking #1 for an important keyword in your niche) and then building a content release schedule to get you there. 

What types of content should they create?

That will depend on your budget, but the most popular types of content include the following:

• Blog posts
• Videos 
• Infographics 
• Podcasts
• Social media marketing 

Your content creators should also understand how content changes at each stage of the sales funnel. As a result, they should create content specifically for the funnel’s top, middle, and bottom stages.

Lead generation team 

If you want your business to grow, you’ll need a steady influx of new customers, which is where your lead generation team comes into play. 

In particular, they should focus on email marketing and nurturing campaigns to spark relationships with new customers and maintain existing ones. 

They should also oversee your paid and organic campaigns and track your primary KPIs (key performance indicators). Analytics play a huge role in marketing, so you’ll want to dedicate some of your lead generation team’s time to examining them. 

Revenue maximization team 

Last but not least, you need to dedicate at least one marketer toward maximizing your revenue. That includes tactics such as split testing ads and brand messages, optimizing SEO content, and finding ways to increase conversion rates and click-through rates. 

As long as you have at least one person working to maximize your revenue, you’ll know that you’re squeezing the most value out of your marketing efforts, which will help you grow your business. 

How to Find Marketing Talent for Your Company 

By now, you should have the roles of your marketing team mapped out. Now all you have to do is locate top talent and make the best possible marketing hire. 

Of course, this is easier said than done, as there’s fierce competition out there for the best marketers, especially at small companies and startups that can’t afford robust marketing agencies. 

That means you’ll need an airtight recruiting strategy if you want to land the right talent for your company. 

The good news?

We have plenty of effective tips for convincing skilled potential candidates to choose you over the competition. 

Tip #1: Positive company culture attracts the best talent 

Which company would you rather work for?

Company A has a strong employer brand and a notoriously excellent company culture. As a result, its employees sing its praises every chance they get. They’re constantly telling you how rewarding their job is and how enjoyable it is to show up to work every day. 

Company B is constantly harassing you with recruiters on social media and through email. They’re adamant in their claims that the company is a great place to work, but you haven’t heard a peep from their actual employees. 

It’s clear that Company A is the better place to work, as its actual employees are thrilled to work there. Since there are positive testimonials from the staff, it’s more convincing than Company B, which entirely relies on a sales pitch from recruiters. 

It’s the equivalent of seeing glowing customer reviews for a product you’re considering buying. It’s far more convincing to read a review from an actual customer than it is to read sales copy written by the company. 

If you elicit a positive and rewarding company culture at your organization, your employees will become loyal brand evangelists who will help you with the recruitment process immensely. More importantly, the most talented marketers out there will be chomping at the bit to apply to your company. 

Tip #2: Use Employee Referrals 

Speaking of using your employees to attract top talent, a great way to put that into practice is to start an employee referral program. 

That’s where you offer a bonus in exchange for your employees helping you find qualified new hires. A popular tactic is to offer cash rewards for onboarding new employees that last. 

For instance, you could offer a $1,000 bonus for any employee that brings in a new team member that lasts at least a month. 

The incentive for your employees is two-fold. 

First, they’ll be motivated to go after the monetary reward (or another type of bonus), especially if they already know some qualified candidates. 

Next, they’ll want to bring talented new marketers in to help lighten the workload for themselves. For example, if you only have one or two team members handling the entire marketing workload, they’ll be more than happy to look for prospects for you in their existing networks. 

Also, if you already have skilled marketers, the chances are high that they’ll know other skilled marketers, either directly or through their social networks. 

Tip #3: Check online communities, marketing forums, and LinkedIn Groups 

Take to online communities and groups on sites like Reddit to find marketers with a particular skill set. Groups like r/SEO on Reddit are great places to find talented SEO gurus looking for a new home. 

Twitter and LinkedIn are enormously valuable for this reason, as is Facebook.

Do a search for groups related to the types of professionals you want to recruit, such as digital marketing, graphic design, and lead generation. 

Your best bet is to follow the groups that have the most users and clicks, so pay attention to those metrics on platforms like LinkedIn. The more followers there are, the greater the chances you’ll find a talented professional that’s looking for a new company. 

Also, look for the users that are providing the most value in the discussions. 

Who’s considered the ‘guru’ of the group?

These users are often the most talented and have the most experience, so they make fantastic starting points. If you can’t tell if they’re currently employed (or even if they are, don’t let that discourage you), reach out to them via a private message and introduce yourself. 

Let them know that you’ve been paying attention to their posts and that they’d make an excellent fit for your organization. From there, throw out your best elevator pitch for why working for your company is an upgrade for them and will lead to bigger, better things. 

If you’re convincing enough, you may end up acquiring a solid new hire that wouldn’t have known about your company otherwise, so it’s worth the effort. 

Tip #4: Scout the competition for talent 

Your competitors can become a source of new talent, so don’t get discouraged if all the best marketers are currently working for the competition. 

You shouldn’t be afraid to aim big, either. 

Go to the biggest competitors in your field, and take a look at their top performers on LinkedIn. From here, you can reach out to them – or you can scour their network for marketers with similar titles and experience. 

Remember to bring up your unique differentiator (what makes your company different from the others), including your unique and rewarding company culture. 

There’s no shame in going after the best, and there’s no ethical breach in targeting another company’s employees, so don’t be afraid to be a bit tenacious in your approach. 

Tip #4: Check specialized marketing job boards 

When most people think of job boards, they think of sites like Monster and Indeed. While there’s nothing wrong with those types of boards, they’re far from the only ones out there. 

There are plenty of specialized marketing job boards where you can find marketers with unique skills and experience. 

This is an excellent option for recruiting top marketing talent, especially if you’re open to remote workers. 

Where can you find these types of job boards?

There are plenty of lists online, but here are a few of the most popular:

• American Marketing Association 
• MarketingHire
• Society for Marketing Professional Services
• ProBlogger (for content writers) 
• Insights Association 
• Communo 
• VentureBeat Careers 
• We Work Remotely 

It’s crucial to note that many of these boards will require you to pay to create job posts, but it can be worth it to access their extensive talent pools filled with skilled marketers that you won’t find elsewhere. 

The Top Sites for Hiring Freelance Marketers

We’ve only scratched the surface of how to find marketing talent so far. Besides job boards, social media platforms, competitors, and referrals – there are also many websites that allow you to hire freelancers to take care of your marketing needs. 

You can find writers, editors, marketing managers, graphic designers, web developers, and many others on these types of sites. 

They’re especially popular amongst startups and small businesses that lack the budget for hiring full-fledged marketing agencies. You can also use freelancers to bolster the efforts of your dedicated marketing team. 

For instance, your content creation team may consist of two in-house employees that brainstorm topics and outline posts. From there, you turn to freelance writers and designers to actually create the content and then have your marketers edit it/tweak it, so it fits your brand. 

It’s a winning strategy because it’s effective and affordable, so let’s take a look at the most reliable freelance websites online. 

UpWork 

UpWork is one of the largest freelance marketplaces on the internet, with millions of registered users spanning nearly every industry. 

With a few quick searches, you’ll be able to find musicians, writers, designers, developers, and, you guessed it, marketers. What’s great about UpWork is all the information they provide about each freelancer. 

You’ll be able to see their user reviews, hourly rates, resumes, skills, credentials, and examples of their past work. 

That way, you’ll be able to quickly gauge if a freelancer is an appropriate fit for your brand or not. 

They also have an internal messaging system that enables you to conduct detailed job interviews for potential candidates. In fact, you can use this system for interviewing multiple candidates at a time to ensure you wind up with the best possible fit. 

Last but not least, UpWork has an escrow system that ensures you won’t have to pay a dime until you’re 100% satisfied with the end product/service. 

iWriter 

If you need content writers, iWriter contains one of the largest networks of freelance writers across the globe. 

It’s a reliable service you can use to generate content for your blogs, ebooks, video scripts, press releases, and whitepapers. 

There’s a rating system you can use to show the level of satisfaction you have with a writer’s work. If the work is completely unsatisfactory, you can reject the article and won’t get charged. Once you find a writer that suits your needs, you can send them special requests to collaborate with them again in the future. 

ClearVoice 

ClearVoice provides managed freelance teams to its clients, and they have many talented individuals in their database. 

You can find top digital marketing experts, SEO gurus, content strategists, videographers, and other marketing specialists with ease. 

ClearVoice works in a unique way, as you start by setting your guidelines and budget level. From there, the platform will recommend a team for you based on your needs. You can accept or deny as many freelancers as you want to ensure you wind up with your dream team. 

Final Takeaways: How to Find Marketing Talent 

You should now know how to find marketing talent in several different ways. 

Between social media, freelance recruiter sites, specialized job boards, and your competitors – you’ll have more sources of great talent than you know what to do with. 

From there, you should have no problem growing your business and expanding your influence. 

Do you need help with your digital marketing strategy?

Then you need to consult with our digital marketing specialists at The HOTH. Our team will revolutionize your marketing approach, so don’t wait to book a call today.

The post How to Find Marketing Talent for Your Small Business or Agency appeared first on The HOTH.

That’s a question 68% of marketers need help answering, as they don’t actively measure their marketing funnels. 

In fact, you may not even know that you have a marketing funnel in the first place. 

If you have content on your websites, such as blog posts (with CTAs), email lists, and product pages, you have a marketing funnel (also called sales funnel or conversion funnel). 

The term ‘funnel’ represents the journey customers take from being introduced to your website to making a purchase, including everything that happens in between. 

Why should you bother with optimizing your marketing funnel?

You should because 95% of buyers prefer vendors that provide sufficient content that helps them navigate each stage of the buying process. 

Read on to learn more about marketing funnels, including how to create and optimize one for your website. 

What’s a Marketing Funnel?

In a nutshell, a marketing funnel is a roadmap laid out by marketers to guide prospects from their initial interaction with the company to ultimately converting into a customer. 

Marketing funnels contain a series of stages (top, middle, and bottom) and involve many different marketing channels, including:

• Paid ads 
• Social media posts 
• Blog articles 
• SEO
• Content marketing 
• Email marketing 
• Testimonials 
• Webinars 
• Case studies 
• Demos
• Whitepapers 
• Calls-to-action 
• Many other channels 

Each stage of the funnel requires different types of content to be successful. For example, customers at the top of the funnel are blind prospects, and they need to learn more information about your brand, products, and services. 

In this scenario, paid ads, social media posts, and blog articles are the most effective types of content for TOFU prospects. 

You wouldn’t want to start sending nurturing emails or demos to prospects that aren’t even sure if they need to make a purchase yet. 

Your prospects will also have varying pain points and reasons to purchase your products and services. For instance, if you sell a software survey tool, a lawyer will have different needs for it than a teacher will. 

These complexities are why marketing funnels are necessary in the first place. The fact is that most sales cycles are long and complicated (45% to be exact), and if you don’t have a funnel to guide prospects through the cycle – they’ll likely get bored and go elsewhere. 

Not only that, but most businesses have more than one marketing funnel in place that targets multiple channels at once (i.e., drawing in prospects with blog posts, paid ads, and influencer marketing simultaneously). 

The 5 Stages of the Marketing Funnel 

Now let’s take an in-depth look at the different stages of a marketing funnel, as well as the types of content that go along with each one. 

That way, you’ll know whether you need to release an educational blog or a targeted PPC ad. 

A marketing funnel works in the same way a paper funnel does that you would use for pouring oil into a car, for example. 

In other words, the top of the funnel is the broadest, which is meant to draw in as many people as possible. The middle of the funnel gets a bit narrower and is occupied by interested prospects and qualified leads. 

Lastly, the bottom of the funnel is the most narrow, and it’s filled with prospects ready to convert into new customers. 

The entire funnel represents the customer journey from discovering your brand to becoming a buyer. 

For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be referring to each stage as TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU to save space. 

Pro tip: Your marketing funnel will make the most sense when you look at it from the customer’s perspective. Your customer persona will help determine the type of content you create at each stage, including the proper tone of voice to use for your target audience. 

Stage #1: Recognize your audience’s problems and needs (TOFU)

The first stage of the funnel is known as the awareness stage. It’s where your prospects realize that they have a problem, prompting them to search for a solution. 

Here, your goal is to attract prospects by not only offering solutions to their problems but also pointing out that they have a problem in the first place. 

That’s because some problems and needs aren’t immediately apparent, which is why you need to point them out. 

For instance, if you offer financial services that help clients save money, your promotional material could bring up how much money the average person wastes each month. That can prompt someone to realize that they could save more if they follow your advice. 

Content-wise, this stage is all about raising brand awareness by releasing the following:

• PPC ads on Google and Facebook 
• Guest posts on popular blogs in your industry (with a link to your website) 
• Educational blogs with a link to your website as the CTA
• Landing pages featuring free webinars or live demos of your product 
• Infographics that introduce your products and services to new customers 
• Social media posts that highlight how you solve user pain points 

These are all examples of content that will raise awareness and generate leads for you. 

Remember that you’re not pushing for conversions at this point. Instead, think of it as your brand introducing itself to new people. You want to avoid going for the hard sale right off the bat, so focus on highlighting what makes your business unique and special. 

Stage #2: Searching for information/doing research (TOFU)

The second half of the top of the funnel is when users are actively searching for information. They know they have a problem now, and they’re looking for a solution. 

How long it takes to find what they need can vary depending on the sales cycle length. 

For instance, if the user is hungry, they can solve that problem with a quick search for the best restaurants in their area. 

Yet, if they want to renovate their basement and turn it into a home theater, they’ll need to spend a lot of time reading contractor reviews, comparing prices, and talking to salespeople. 

Effective marketing is about accurately predicting your prospects’ next step. For this funnel stage, your content should focus on solutions to problems instead of promoting your business. That will increase the chances of your content showing up during user searches during this phase. 

As an example, if you offer home renovation services, a landing page covering basement renovations is a great idea. On it, you should go over all the ways you can renovate a basement, including a home theater, guest room, and playroom for the kids. 

That way, with the right SEO in place, your content will show up during search queries related to basement renovation – such as for the person we mentioned previously. 

This stage is a crucial one for digital marketing, as 78% of consumers spend more time researching brands and products online than they do in stores. 

Stage #3: Evaluating alternatives (MOFU)

We’ve now entered the middle of the funnel, where your potential customers are evaluating all their options. In other words, they’re looking around the internet to see if a better deal than yours exists. 

Once again, the length of this stage will depend on the types of products and services you offer. 

If a prospect is hungry and wants food, it may take them 10 minutes to decide between Italian and Chinese food. 

Yet, if they want to renovate their basement, they’ll likely spend a few hours (or even days) comparing prices, reading reviews, and visiting showrooms. 

The content that you release during this stage is the most crucial. 

Why is that?

It’s because this is the stage of the funnel where you have to outshine all your competitors. Not only does your offer need to have more appeal than others online, but the customer experience you provide is just as important. 

Recall the statistic linked in the intro, where we stated that 95% of buyers prefer brands that guide them through each stage of the buying process. 

Well, this stage is where that statistic matters most. 

In particular, you need to knock it out of the park with your educational content. That means providing user pricing guides, case studies from satisfied customers, webinars, and white papers. 

If you’re able to nurture your leads better than competitors, you’ll likely win their business. 

This is the stage of the funnel where prospects are more serious about making a purchase. So if you have limited resources for content creation, you can skip the TOFU and go straight to the MOFU and BOFU. 

Stage #4: Making a purchase decision (BOFU) 

Now we’re at the very bottom of the funnel, which is the narrowest, but it’s where all your conversions occur. 

At this point, the prospect knows they have a problem, and they’ve researched all their options. At the BOFU, they’re reaching for their wallet to purchase a solution. 

How do you help seal the deal?

First and foremost, you should optimize all your web pages for conversions to increase the likelihood of landing a sale. Every piece of content should include a convincing call-to-action that lets users know what action they should take next – be it signing up for your email list or making a purchase. 

This stage is all about why users should choose your brand over everyone else. Content examples include:

• Risk-free trials so prospects can try out your products for themselves 
• Live or recorded demos of your products and services
• Enticing money-back guarantees that show confidence 
• Social proof, like testimonials and case studies 
• Feature and price comparison charts 
• Engage in retargeting marketing campaigns (such as customers that abandon their carts) 

These are all great ways to encourage prospects to take the final leap of faith and try out your products and services. 

Do whatever you can to make buying from your brand a no-brainer, such as including a price comparison chart showing that you offer the best deal on the market. Testimonials and glowing customer reviews also come in very handy during this stage. 

Stage #5: The post-purchase phase (BOFU) 

Your marketing funnel continues after a prospect converts into a paying customer. Instead, your marketing efforts can and should continue after the initial purchase. 

Why is that?

It’s because you want to ensure their total satisfaction so they’ll potentially write a glowing review or recommend your brand to their friends – essentially becoming brand advocates for your business. 

Not only that, but your goal post-purchase is to ensure customer retention. You’ll want to do what you can to heighten the chances they’ll become repeat customers, which are goldmines for your business. 

In fact, you have a 60 – 70% chance of landing a sale with a returning customer, and that number drops to 5 – 20% for new customers. 

Beyond that, obtaining new customers is 5x more costly than maintaining your current customers. 

Also, if a new customer has a bad experience with your brand, they may request refunds, write negative reviews, or recommend your competitors to their friends. 

To ensure a stellar customer experience, provide a welcoming onboarding process for new customers, including a welcome email and easy access to your customer support. 

You should also do your best to provide all the resources they need to use your products properly. That will increase the chances that they’ll become champions for your brand. 

Of course, the best way to ensure a positive post-purchase experience is to provide excellent products and services. 

The AIDA Model: Another Marketing Funnel Template 

Besides TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU, there’s another popular model for marketing funnels known as AIDA – which stands for:

• Awareness 
• Interest 
• Desire 
• Action 

Here’s a brief look at each creation stage. 

Awareness

During this stage, the customer is experiencing a problem, but they still need to be fully aware of what it is and how to solve it. 

Your job is to provide content that draws attention to the problem and introduces them to your brand. 

Interest 

The customer is intrigued now and eager to learn more about how they can solve their problem. 

This is where you sweep in with informational content that educates them while guiding them to the next phase. 

Desire 

By now, the customer is invested and wants to find a solution – but they’re not quite ready to commit to yours. First, they need to evaluate all their alternatives. 

To salvage their business, your content during this stage needs to decisively convince them that your solution is the absolute best. 

Action 

You’ve swayed the customer in your favor, and now they’re ready to convert. Yet, you still need to provide helpful content during this stage, too. 

The winning formula to emulate is to provide a concise call-to-action that lays out how to complete the sale. Ideally, you want to make this step as simple as possible for prospective customers. If your conversion forms are too lengthy or complicated, you might cost yourself the sale. 

Constructing a Marketing Funnel from Scratch 

A funnel should definitely be a part of your marketing strategy, so you must know how to build one intentionally. 

One of the most significant components of creating a marketing funnel is selecting the proper marketing channels to use at the appropriate funnel stage. Not only that, but you also need to consider your budget when planning your content. 

Only some companies will have the resources to create podcasts, whitepapers, eBooks, and webinars, so it’s crucial to use your money on hard-hitting content in the right places. 

If you have limited resources, it’s best to ignore the top of the funnel and focus only on the middle and the bottom. That’s because prospects at those stages are closer to making a purchase and will be easier to convert without as much content. 

For the purposes of this article, we’ll provide the ideal types of content for each funnel stage to give you an idea of a picture-perfect marketing funnel – just know that you don’t have to copy it to the T for your funnel to be successful. 

TOFU marketing channels that get results 

TOFU prospects have yet to realize that a solution exists to their problem, so the content here is all about getting the word out. 

You also want to introduce everyone to your brand, and you want to make an excellent first impression. For this reason, TOFU content tends to be outbound, as your prospects don’t yet know about you or your solutions. 

For instance, say that you invent a device that improves the fuel efficiency of any vehicle. Without lots of outbound content to get the word out, your prospects won’t even realize that they could be spending less on gasoline. 

The ideal marketing channels for TOFU prospects are:

• Paid ads 
• Podcast advertisements (sponsors) 
• Billboards 
• Influencer advertising (Instagram, TikTok) 
• TV and radio advertisements 
• Promotional emails 

Before spending money on any of these, do a bit of research to see which channel your competitors advertise through the most. 

Why do that?

You should because it’s a clear sign that it’s the channel that leads to the most conversions. Also, TOFU is the farthest away from purchase intent, so you should optimize your funnel for it last (go in reverse order). 

Effective MOFU marketing channels 

Moving down to the middle of the funnel, you can make the switch to inbound marketing tactics. This stage is particularly important for longer sales cycles, such as for B2B companies. 

Your TOFU content should include a CTA that directs users toward this stage or toward the BOFU if they’re ready to make a purchase – such as prospects that want to buy from seeing your products used by influencers. 

This content should establish your brand as a thought leader and guide customers further down your funnel. 

It’s time to put your marketing team to work here, especially if you have in-house content writers. Effective channels here include:

• SEO 
• Blogs
• YouTube videos 
• Infographics 
• eBooks 

Remember, your customers are in the consideration stage, so your content needs to educate them and convince them that they need to take action. 

This is also when they’re considering all their available options, so you should include content that makes your brand outshine others, such as:

• Positive user reviews
• Case studies of how your brand changed a customer’s life for the better
• Price comparison charts 
• Testimonials 

Also, don’t forget to make it as easy as possible for prospects to make a purchase. 

BOFU marketing channels 

At this point, the majority of the leg work is already done. All that’s left is to seal the deal by guiding the customer through the last steps. 

More than anything, your goal during this stage should be to optimize your conversion rate, and there are a few ways you can do so, such as:

• A 30-day money-back guarantee 
• Free trial offers 
• Live customer chat to answer questions/move toward converting
• An FAQ section dispelling any misconceptions to sway those on the fence 
• Provide a free demo 

These are all great ways to encourage prospects to take the final leap of faith, so they’re worth the time if you have the resources. 

Concluding Thoughts: Marketing Funnels 

Marketing funnels are essential to any digital marketing strategy, whether the marketer realizes it or not. 

After all, only 32% of companies have measured and optimized their sales funnels, which is why doing so will provide you with a competitive edge. 

If you can refine every stage of your marketing funnel, you’ll enjoy increased lead generation, more organic traffic, and a much higher conversion rate. 

While it’s not necessary to focus on every stage of the funnel, especially if you’re light on resources, the middle and bottom stages are crucial for any business. 

Do you lack a cohesive marketing funnel/content strategy at your organization?

Then don’t wait another minute to check out our managed SEO services at HOTH X. Our expert writers and SEO gurus will construct a winning strategy for you, and we’re always available for consulting – so feel free to book a call today.     

The post How to Optimize Each Stage of the Marketing Funnel for More Conversions  appeared first on The HOTH.

In this article, we will explain call tracking, how it works and what data it can provide from phone calls (besides the typical phone numbers). Also, why your business needs and should be using call tracking. We’ll also look at Google Ads Call Tracking (which has some notorious drawbacks) and present a better call tracking solution. Read on if that sounds like the valuable, actionable info you’re searching for.

What is Call Tracking and Call Tracking Software?

Call tracking is a reporting and call recording software that empowers your business to track important details of incoming business phone calls. The data call tracking collects from inbound calls is as valuable as it gets, including who called, when they called, and what organization, if any, they represented. 

Call tracking software also tells you where the caller was located and, most importantly, provides a transcript of all phone calls. In short, it gives you hard data on phone calls that your business can then use in a variety of business-building ways. You can use it to optimize your website content, for example, and to engage and attract more searchers and visitors.

Another excellent benefit of call tracking software is that marketers can identify which marketing campaign prompted the phone call, which greatly improves KPI measurement. It can also identify the keywords, ads, and web pages that drove the call to be placed.

Call tracking can also better measure online and offline marketing campaign performance. Sales teams employ call tracking software in advertising like Google Ads (PPC) to attribute which phone calls came from which place (and which phone numbers), so you know what marketing strategies are working and, more importantly, aren’t working. 

How Does Call Tracking Software Work?

At its most basic, call tracking is when unique phone numbers are used for every marketing campaign a business runs. The reason for the unique phone numbers is simple; to tell the campaigns apart. When phone calls come in from a specific number, you know immediately to which campaign the caller is responding.

So, for example, XYZ Company decides to launch a marketing campaign (or several of them). The first thing that happens is that unique phone numbers are assigned, either local or 800 phone numbers. Those numbers can also lead to any desired department, including an office phone, marketing department, or 3rd-party answering service.

Once set up, phone calls go through phone tracking software when those phone numbers are called. The software is the key, allowing phone calls to be attributed to paid search, organic traffic, social media, and several other sources. 

Dynamic phone numbers are also available that empower an advertiser to use as many numbers as they like and cover a variety of sources, marketing campaigns, and keywords. Call tracking software also incorporates scrips, cookies, “call whisper,” conversion settings, and more, giving an advertiser tremendous flexibility, improving their marketing campaigns significantly, and even working offline.

What are the Benefits of Call Tracking?

Call tracking with unique phone numbers, and call tracking software has many excellent benefits that today’s business owners simply can’t ignore. Most of them have to do with providing valuable call data and metrics. Still, all will help you improve your marketing campaigns, optimize content and give the correct attribution to the correct campaign. Some of the best benefits of call tracking software include:

• Call recording. Using call recording, you can identify customer service challenges and areas where improvement is needed, increasing conversions and sales.
• Call tracking lets you know which keywords are driving the most traffic to your website or landing page.
• With call tracking software, you can track the performance of your PC landing pages and determine which has the best conversion rates.
• Call duration is another excellent benefit of call tracking software. Statistically, longer, more in-depth calls produce higher conversion rates.
• Call tracking software identifies the marketing campaigns generating the most calls.
• With call tracking software and place, you will be able to market smarter using call attribution.

The Problem With Default Google Ads Call Tracking

Google’s default call tracking program is included in Google ads, but, unfortunately, it has some serious issues. For example, Google’s call tracking provides very few details about the caller and why they called. The limited data from Google’s call tracking include:

• The area code of the caller
• The length of the call
• The time of the call
• Which keyword or campaign drove the call

Worse still is that Google’s call tracking is unable to provide services that many other call tracking programs do provide, including:

1. Conversion tracking is limited to the search network.
2. The system can’t track multiple numbers.
3. Call tracking is limited to AdWords.
4. There is no call recording feature.
5. All calls are recorded as conversions.
6. Dynamic numbers expire after 90 days.
7. Call tracking data can’t be integrated into Google Analytics.
8. The system doesn’t provide a “request a call back” function

The lack of these 8 main features presents several drawbacks for businesses big and small:

1. Your people won’t record many conversions triggered by Google ads.
2. It’s impossible to know which number was used on the phone calls.
3. You can’t compare the call volume from various sources.
4. You can’t improve or optimize customer service.
5. It’s impossible to tell if a phone call was a conversion or not.
6. Users who call after 90 days won’t get through as the phone numbers will be expired.
7. You can’t use analytics to make improvements or optimize content and SEO.
8. Your business will inevitably miss sales as inbound calls are often missed.

A Better Call Tracking Solution

One way to fix Google’s out-of-the-box call tracking is to implement a separate, more advanced call-tracking solution. There are many call tracking software apps on the market today, including:

1. Hubspot
2. WhatConverts
3. 800response
4. ActiveDemand
5. CallAction
6. CallFire
7. CallSource
8. FluentStream
9. Convirza
10. Infinity
11. Invoca

In our humble opinion, the best call tracking software is CallRail which we use for all our call tracking campaigns and inbound calls.

CallRail is a 3rd party software that allows a business to build tracking numbers and procure important details about phone calls not available in the standard Google Ads call tracking.

For call tracking to work, we first build tracking phone numbers that automatically forward the call to your main business line, allowing us to collect statistics on the phone call.

Doing this allows us to collect more detailed information, like:

• Exact Caller Number
• Call Time
• Call Length
• Call Source
• Call Recording

Here’s what it looks like:

This type of reporting gives much more detail, allows you to listen to recorded phone calls, and is significantly more accurate based on our research.

The Benefits Of Using Advanced Call Tracking

There are many excellent benefits to using advanced call tracking in your ad campaigns, especially to optimize them. So much so that we believe every paid ad campaign should include call tracking for the best results. 

More Accurate Call Tracking

Most modern call tracking systems use cookies to track online activity. We’ve seen major differences between out-of-the-box Google Ads call tracking and our upgraded call tracking system using CallRail.

For example, using the CallRail call tracking software, 14-40%+ more phone calls are being reported. That means your business can:

• Determine who called, from where, and why
• Make significantly more callbacks to those phone numbers
• Better optimize your ad campaigns 

You can use call analytics provided by the CallRail call tracking system to measure call-related metrics to determine conversion data effectively. For example, which Google Ads campaign generates the most phone calls for your business? 

Answering that question is the call attribution report, one of the major call analytics provided by this improved call tracking system. Call attribution provides information on the marketing sources and interactions that generate the calls. 

Killer Reporting Detail

In the past, with standard Google “Out Of The Box” tracking, you could see where calls were coming from, but qualifying them was almost impossible. That’s because Google’s Call Details report was severely limited.

With our advanced call tracking system, you get a whole new level of detail, including:

• Full phone number
• Call time
• Call length
• Call campaign
• Call recording

All of this valuable call recording data is provided on an intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard! There it’s simple to analyze each phone call quickly, see if the caller is qualified, export the call recording, or playback the call recording.

Call Recordings

Listening to call recordings may seem odd, but it is one of the most powerful tools to optimize marketing campaigns, improve conversion rates and revise, if necessary, your marketing strategy.

For example, if we hear prospects are interested in learning more about a specific service or feature, we can update the ad & landing page copy to match that need.

This single optimization increases conversion rates and brings in more qualified leads!

Listening lets you know which campaign produces qualified leads and double down on those efforts. A great example of this is below for a roofing company:

In the past, calls over 1-2 minutes were often seen as a positive lead indicator. However, gauging lead quality solely on the length of phone calls isn’t enough. We need to know if the phone call was a qualified lead, and the call content can give us that information.

In this 6-minute+ example, we found it was not for getting a new roof installed or repaired (the client’s main service) but instead was for roofing materials, a service they don’t offer.

The recording allowed us to identify this fact and optimize the campaign to prevent future irrelevant calls, saving the client time and money!

Removing Junk Call Sources

The final element of call recordings we use for optimization is figuring out where junk leads are coming from. You couldn’t qualify the leads with Google call tracking, which was a major drawback. Using Callrail, however, we know exactly where junk leads are emanating.

With CallRail, you can turn off specific aspects of your PPC campaign bringing in those junk leads, saving your team significant time and effort. Indeed, it’s given us the ability to optimize the campaign at an entirely new level.

Some of the optimizations we can make after listening to call recordings include:

• Ad copy adjustments
• Landing page copy adjustments
• Offer adjustments
• Follow up process adjustments
• Keyword changes
• And much more.

In short, call tracking with CallRail provides killer insight into what’s happening with the campaigns.

Call Tracking Case Studies & Results

Finally, let’s dive into the discrepancies we have seen while running this system for our HOTH PPC clients over the past few months.

Client Experiment #1

The first set of results is from a Lawyer. Calls and qualified leads are the heart of this campaign.

Inside Google Ads, we had 93 calls tracked. However, the same phone number using CallRail, had 142 calls tracked!

That’s 41% more calls tracked. Put another way, Google’s call tracking solution missed 41% of calls.

Even better, by listening to the calls, an important discovery was made: most of the calls were going directly to the client’s voicemail and not being picked up by an actual person!

We communicated this to the client and suggested a live receptionist take the incoming calls.

As you might imagine, the client was ecstatic that we uncovered this simple but vital piece of data!

Client Experiment #2

This client, also an attorney, informed us that inbound calls were extremely important to their business.

With Google Ads, we had 44 phone calls tracked.

With Callrail, we tracked 51 phone calls, a 14% increase.

More important than the increase, the call data allowed us to optimize the campaign. For example, we originally had 2 campaigns set up for this, one state-wide and one focused on a local area.

After listening to the recorded phone calls, we found that the city-specific campaign was producing higher call volume and higher quality leads. Our solution was to reallocate a portion of the monthly budget to the city-specific campaign.

Once done, more qualified leads started coming in, and the client is now seeing a significantly higher ROI for his campaigns.

Client Experiment #3

This last example is a roofing company. Their desire was as many qualified leads as possible for homeowners needing a new roof.

Before installing call tracking, we had decent metrics based on our predictions for this highly competitive market.

After we installed call tracking software, however, we were able to identify that callers were asking about competitors, jobs, and roofing supplies. In other words, many of the leads were not qualified leads.

Editor’s note

Today, we pre-optimize campaigns before we begin, using negative keyword lists to ensure we’re not showing up for terms that don’t fit the campaign.

Additionally, as part of our post-launch optimization process, we check the search term report daily to add new negative keywords and optimize campaigns even further.

Listening to calls gives us an entirely different data point – we’re able to find negative keyword ideas that don’t even show up on the search term report based on what the callers were asking for. This helps usensure you’re getting quality leads – not just hitting the numbers.

With this new data, we were able to add new negative keywords for specific competitors, jobs, and supplies. We also continue to monitor call quality, and we’re able to see a substantial improvement in inbound calls.

The thing is, numbers don’t tell the whole story. As a business owner, you don’t want a bunch of leads; you want a bunch of quality leads. A better call tracking solution can make all the difference in your campaigns, enhance your marketing efforts, and improve your SEO.

Conclusion- Call Tracking Makes Good Business Sense

When you’re spending money on PPC, getting as much raw data as possible is essential. This raw data allows you to optimize your marketing campaigns, which is why advanced call tracking is a service we believe all businesses should employ! Call tracking eliminates wasted efforts, maintains quality, and keeps new leads rolling in.

There’s no legitimate reason to miss the mark by 40% or more on campaign reporting with call tracking software in place!

Need help with your PPC campaigns? Have questions about call tracking, optimizing ad campaigns, or implementing CallRail call tracking for your business? If yes, check out HOTH PPC today or contact us, and someone will get back to you asap.

The post What Is Call Tracking? (And Why Your Business Needs It) appeared first on The HOTH.

We’re here to tell you that this app, which is the fastest-growing in the world with 656 million downloads in 2021, is not just for sharing silly dance videos.

Here’s some context: social media giants Instagram and Facebook only had an average of 480 million downloads last year. 

TikTok may not be as large as Facebook (yet) but it’s catching on faster than any other app on the market. 

Why is it growing so quickly?

People love using it. In 2020, 88% of TikTok reviews were positive. It’s possible some users are migrating away from other apps that make them feel anxious or depressed to others that bring them joy. 

The other reason for TikTok’s success is its incredible algorithm that personalizes the experience for every single user. 

If you’ve never thought about using TikTok ads for your digital marketing strategy, now’s the time to consider it. It’s easy to use, affordable, and effective.

Keep reading the rest of this blog to learn more about the app and how you can use it to grow your business!

TikTok 101

Before diving into the specifics of marketing with TikTok, let’s cover the basics.

This Chinese app was first launched in 2018 by the company ByteDance. Known as Douyin in China, it was developed as a video-based app where users can share content like dances, pranks, or jokes.

Most videos are only a few seconds long but users can upload content that is up to 10 minutes in length. 

Shorter content will obviously perform better and TikTok experts recommend shooting for only 7 seconds if you want to hit the algorithm’s sweet spot. 

TikTok operates with hashtags like other apps and specific videos will trend, pushing others to replicate that content in their own unique way. Check out some of the trending videos here.

Like Snapchat or Instagram, TikTok also features sophisticated filters and effects. Users can also search through thousands of original sounds (recorded by users) to use in their videos. 

Many businesses or TikTok influencers will post videos about specific products or services. They allow a user to see how something works and TikTok’s algorithm ensures it reaches someone with that interest. 

The cosmetics industry has been killing it on TikTok but there are also videos on a variety of products.

TikTok gives your business the opportunity to promote its products or services organically, but there is also an ads manager that is similar to the one on Facebook. 

How Do TikTok Ads Work?

Once you’ve created a TikTok account for your business, it’s time to set up TikTok For Business. 

As stated above, the program works similarly to the Facebook Ads Manager. You select a campaign objective (Traffic, Conversions, or App Install) and set a budget.

Marketers are able to create up to 999 ad groups per campaign. 

TikTok also offers multiple placements: 

• TikTok video ads
• On the News Feed apps 
• Pangle Placement 
• Automatic Placement

TikTok operates other apps (BuzzVideo, TopBuzz, NewsRepublic, and Babe) where you can place your ads on the News Feed. 

A Pangle Placement allows you to extend audiences through TikTok’s audience network. 

And an Automatic Placement gives TikTok the power to optimize your ad delivery. 

The TikTok For Business platform allows you to select from three types of bidding: a cap on bidding, costs, or focusing on getting the lowest cost per event. You can even choose whether to separate your ad delivery equally or to go through as fast as possible. 

Another great option is to boost existing content, a quick and easy decision that is also popular on Facebook. 

Who Is TikTok’s Primary Audience?

No social media advertising campaign will be effective unless the marketer running it understands the primary audience on that app. 

If you didn’t know, social media apps have different audiences.

Globally, 35% of TikTok users are between the ages of 30 and 39. The second-largest audience segment of 28% is made up of users between the ages of 19 and 29. 

Women are the majority of users. They make up nearly 60% of the audience. 

While this app is the most popular in China, its other major markets include the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil. 

It’s clear that the primary audience on TikTok are young women. 

Overall, the app is an opportunity for businesses to start cultivating younger potential customers. They may not be a customer immediately but that may change in the future. Brand recognition would ensure that they reach out to you first. 

Some companies are even surprised by how well their products or services resonate on TikTok, even though they never considered targeting younger people directly. 

And one effect of TikTok’s rapid growth is that the population of older users will begin to increase as it did on Facebook. 

TikTok Ads vs. Facebook Ads: How Are They Different?

Previously, if you asked a PPC expert how these two systems were different, they would point out how Facebook is far more precise because they have collected so much data over the years.

That’s been true, until now!

We wrote another blog recently about using Facebook Ads after the iOS14 update. To summarize, Apple devices are now prompting users to decide if they want to be tracked across devices. 

Most users are saying no and, as a result, the data is not as reliable as it once was. It’s also forcing businesses to focus on smaller audiences and 1st Party Data.

We’ve been using TikTok here at The HOTH to promote our services. Ads through TikTok are cheaper than on Facebook and they are effective at finding the right audience.

In our opinion, using TikTok is like the gold rush days of Facebook Ads in 2010. 

There are four available ad options in TikTok For Business: 

1. TopView: the first video users see when they open the app
2. In-Feed Ads: these ads appear in a user’s feed as they explore videos
3. Branded Hashtag Challenge: allows brands to start their own trends
4. Branded Effects: connects brands with stickers, filters, or effects for engagement

What other ways is advertising on Facebook or TikTok different? 

You can only do videos on TikTok because that’s the format (plus it’s only available on mobile devices).

Some Facebook Ads seem to go on forever but successful TikTok ads need to connect with viewers in seconds. Advertisers on TikTok target by interest and the algorithm is more precise the longer someone spends on it.

The average TikTok session is 10.85 minutes! That’s higher than any other social media app.

How To Develop a Winning Lead Gen Campaign on TikTok

Once you’re ready to dive into TikTok Ads, we would recommend setting up lead generation campaigns. Here’s how you do it.

Start by creating a new campaign. As you can see below, you have multiple options.

When you create a lead generation campaign on TikTok, users complete your lead form on the app rather than being sent to a separate landing page.

Your next step will be selecting an audience by age, gender, and location. Check out the top right-hand corner where our selections can potentially reach more than 133 million users.

In the beginning, you have to do your best to reflect what interests your potential customers have. After a few days, TikTok will analyze the data from its algorithm and give you recommended interests.

Some of these recommended interests are relevant (like for us, IT services or Marketing & Advertising) but other interests are ones you never would’ve expected (for example, Agriculture, Forest, Animal Husbandry & Fishing). 

You should still run all of these recommended interests because nothing beats the TikTok algorithm.

Next, you will upload or create your content for the ad. A stellar blog post or lead magnet will work perfectly. 

TikTok also has an incredible editing system in its manager where you can create an effective ad without needing professional help.

You can search through TikTok’s library of music or sounds, and even search by which “tracks” are getting the “highest spend.” Text and stickers can be added as a user would on the app.

After getting the video looking how you want it, your last step is to create a simple landing form to collect customer information. It only takes a few seconds and then your ad can go live!

Like TikTok—Then What Are You Waiting For?

The TikTok app is offering a big opportunity for many businesses to gain more exposure and collect more leads. 

Getting started with this popular app is as easy as opening an account. 

Once you get the hang of navigating the interface, finding trends, and posting your content using its sophisticated tools, you can establish your first-ever TikTok marketing strategy. 

As you read above, it’s cheaper than Facebook and runs off an incredible algorithm to connect you with the right users. 

Do you need help getting started with TikTok For Business? Simply schedule a consultation with our PPC team and we can guide you through every step. 

The post Cash-In On TikTok Ads To Get More Leads appeared first on The HOTH.

With so much money on the line, it’s important to see if your ad campaigns are actually effective — are they generating the desired revenue? Are they driving conversions? Or aren’t they creating the expected impact?

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is a critical metric that is used to measure advertising campaign performance. It indicates how much revenue your ad campaign is generating and is a key marker of a successful campaign. 

In this article, we will explain what ROAS is, how it differs from ROI, how to calculate it, what a good ROAS is, and give you seven expert tips on how to maximize your ROAS.

What Is ROAS?

Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) is a PPC metric that measures how much revenue a single ad or entire campaign generates for each dollar you spend on that ad or campaign.

ROAS essentially measures the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. A higher ROAS is a good sign — it means you’re squeezing more revenue out of every dollar spent on ad campaigns.

How Is ROAS Different From ROI?

Return on Investment (ROI) is a broad metric measuring the total revenue generated per dollar spent on a specific action.

ROAS is technically a subset of ROI. It’s simply the ROI of a specific ad campaign.

That said, most people use ROI to refer more broadly to a project, such as a new product.

Imagine you launch a new product. Your ad campaign generates a high ROAS, but the overall product delivers a low ROI. 

This could indicate that your campaigns are effective at selling the product, but perhaps you’re not charging enough to cover the rest of your operating expenses.

On the other hand, you might have a low ROAS for an ad campaign but a high ROI on the product. This could indicate that although your ad campaign isn’t generating a lot of sales, each sale offers enough profit margin to deliver a high ROI.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that money spent on salaries and wages for advertising team members doesn’t count in your ROAS. Only the amount spent on the actual campaign is part of ROAS.

How To Calculate ROAS

Calculating your ROAS is quite simple. Divide the total revenue attributable to your ad campaign by the total cost of those ads. The resulting number represents the number of dollars you earn per dollar spent.

Here’s a formula:

ROAS = (Revenue / advertising cost)

For example, imagine you sell 1,000 units of a $20 product via ads. That puts your revenue at $20,000.

Let’s also say that you spent $5,000 total to run that ad campaign.

Plugging these numbers into our formula:

ROAS = $20,000 / $5,000

Your ROAS for this ad campaign is 4. That means you earned $4 on your ads for each $1 you spent on those ads.

Why Does ROAS Matter?

ROAS gives you an idea of how well you’re using your ad dollars. This offers you several benefits:

Better decision making

Gathering more data surrounding your ad performance helps you make more informed decisions in the future.

For example, you might score a particularly high ROAS after implementing a specific marketing angle in your ad copy. You might consider upping your investment in this marketing angle and continuing to run this campaign.

Track campaign performance

Revenue is a crucial KPI for ad campaigns because it gives you an idea of your campaign’s performance. 

You may be able to look at your ROAS in real-time. This could help you report on the campaign’s performance to stakeholders on the fly. It could also allow you to make adjustments right away, instead of at the end of a campaign.

Determine campaign renewal

ROAS is one of the best metrics for determining if the marketing campaigns you run are good — and thus, worth renewing. If a particular campaign had a higher ROAS than usual, there’s no need to change things. Consider renewing it.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t renew a campaign with a bad ROAS. Scrap old campaigns and try something new.

Keep stakeholders informed

Most stakeholders — especially executives — want to know how many dollars you’re earning per dollar spent on your ads. 

The same goes for partners in the business. Anyone who owns part of the business will want to make sure every dollar that’s put into growth is used as effectively as possible.

Keeping tabs on your ROAS provides them with a convenient metric that keeps them informed on how well you’re using ads to grow and can help them get an overall picture of business growth.

What Is a Good ROAS?

Like any other advertising or marketing metric, ROAS depends on the platform you’re analyzing. 

For example, Jungle Scout estimates that Sponsored brand ad campaigns have the highest ROAS on Amazon, garnering $6.28 for every $1 spent. 

On Facebook, a Databox survey revealed that 30% of marketers got a 6–10x return on ad spend, while around 5% said their ROAS was higher than 80x.

Google Ads is another common platform for marketers and advertisers. The average ROAS on that platform is 2:1 or 200%. That means Google Ads users, on average, double each dollar they invest in campaigns.

Many consider that the overall average ROAS for a successful campaign is around 4:1, which is $4 in revenue for every dollar spent.

Remember that these are just averages and that your actual ROAS depends on a variety of factors. A good ROAS depends on your industry, profit margins, and the average cost-per-click (CPC).

How To Improve ROAS

Improving your ROAS unlocks a lot of potential business growth. It helps you identify ad campaigns that work, letting you scale up your investment and redirect some efforts elsewhere.

At the same time, you can invest your extra revenue into other aspects of your business once you make significant ROAS improvements.

With these benefits in mind, let’s look at several ways to boost your ROAS.

1. Track the right data

First, ensure you’re looking at the correct data for ROAS. 

Ignore data that doesn’t deal directly with your ads, such as marketing software costs, salaries and wages for marketing or advertising team members, agency fees, and so on.

For Google Ads, you’ll also need to pick a Google Ads attribution model that fits your needs. Each model credits the conversion to different parts of your ad funnel.

For instance, the Data-Driven model credits ad interactions based on how important they were to the conversion process. This model is the default and uses automation to take out some of the guesswork.

However, there are six others that you can choose from based on your goals and needs.

2. Lower your CPC

One way to lower CPC is to target the right audience, which helps you bring in leads that are more likely to need what you sell.

This generates more revenue but could help you score a lower CPC. This is because Google might give you a higher Quality Score, which reduces your CPC.

You can also use different bidding strategies. Different bidding strategies focus on different goals, so some may be more cost-effective than others.

3. Use the right keywords

Researching and targeting the right keywords in your ads helps you get in front of users that most closely need what you offer and will click through.

Go after long-tail keywords. These are low-volume, longer keyphrases users are more likely to use closer to the purchase.

For example, “running shoes” is a broad keyword. A long-tail version for someone interested in running might be “supportive running shoes for flat feet” — that’s very specific and indicates a higher purchase intent.

Create single-theme ad groups as well. These organize keywords by theme instead of keyword. A good example would be “trimming hair” and “cutting hair.”

Now, include negative keywords, too. These screen out irrelevant leads using similar search terms.

For instance, if you’re an orthodontist, you probably offer to install braces on your patients. You might consider adding negative keywords like “arm braces” or “elbow braces” — both use the word “braces” but are a different type of product entirely.

4. Focus on bottom-of-funnel keywords

The bottom of the funnel is where the customer buys. 

Focusing on bottom-of-funnel keywords in your PPC ad campaign helps you target these customers and nudge them toward the sale. 

This can improve your campaign’s ROAS by increasing the chance any given lead buys from you. 

That means more revenue for you per dollar spent, boosting your ROAS.

Make sure you target some branded keywords here. Some customers may be looking directly for your brand or products, basically guaranteeing the sale if you serve ads to them.

5. Use landing page best practices

Getting a high number of clicks on your ads won’t matter much if your landing page doesn’t convert those leads into sales.

A key piece of a high-converting landing page is getting all the important stuff “above the fold,” meaning the visitor can see it all before scrolling.

This minimizes the chance of a user clicking away or getting distracted and failing to convert.

Here’s a good example:

(Image Source)

This business has a headline, persuasive bullet copy, and a CTA form all above the fold. This reduces the amount of work the user has to do to convert.

Throughout the page, use bite-sized, easy-to-read copy. Include a section briefly explaining the benefits, and sprinkle in testimonials for social proof.

Lastly, make sure you optimize your landing page for mobile. The majority of global traffic is now mobile, so getting mobile-optimized is critical.

6. Do conversion rate optimization on your landing pages

Conversion rate optimization involves routinely testing and tweaking your ads to try to improve your conversion rate.

This starts with personalizing the customer journey. This helps you tailor ads more closely to each customer, increasing their chance of converting from an ad.

After that, optimization never truly ends. Markets change, and customer preferences shift. You should periodically update that customer journey. Plus, you need to do regular A/B testing — basically, test your current ads against new ones to see if you can boost your conversion rate.

7. Increase revenue per conversion

Generating more revenue from each lead means more dollars from that lead per dollar spent to get them.

This starts with tailoring ad campaigns. The better your targeting and messaging, the better customers you’ll get. They will fit your brand better, meaning they might want or need more of what you sell.

There are some tactics you can use post-click as well. 

For example, you can try to bundle offers together. Find products or services that complement each other, then sell them together with a bundle discount.

Another post-click tactic is upselling. When a customer adds something to their cart or is on the checkout page, you can put another offer in front of them that makes sense for the product.

For instance, say you’re a fitness supplement company. Someone adds protein powder to their cart. You could upsell them on a subscription to regular protein powder deliveries. Alternatively, you could upsell them on buying a bigger container.

Regardless, you’re getting more revenue per ad by upselling.

Grasp Your Ad Performance With ROAS

ROAS is one of the most vital metrics to track if you’re advertising online. It helps you screen out ad and campaign ideas that don’t work while reinvesting more ad dollars into those that do work.

Although there are too many factors to nail down a “good” ROAS, you should always be looking for ways to improve after establishing a baseline.

That’s where The HOTH can help. We can handle every aspect of your PPC campaign, maximizing your ROAS while letting you get back to what you do best. Schedule a call today to see how we can help.

The post What Is a Good ROAS? How to Calculate and Optimize Your Ad Spending appeared first on The HOTH.

In short, Google Ad campaigns shouldn’t be performed in your spare time. The right keyword research, optimization, digital marketing, keyword ideas, metrics, and SEO must be in place for the best results. That holds true for a traditional business website or an eCommerce store. Either one requires the work of an experienced marketer, working full-time on your Google Ads account. 

If you’ve tried running Google ads campaigns in the past but couldn’t keep your metrics and match types consistent, the culprit is likely your keyword ideas – or lack thereof. Google Ads keywords play a massive role in the success of your campaigns, so you need to know how to use them properly. 

This article will show you how to perform emergency surgery on your Google Ad campaign (namely your keyword research and keyword strategy) and how to fix it. Let’s get started.

What Are the Main Concepts of a Google Ad Campaign?

When researching keywords for your ad groups, there are several concepts you’ll need to understand: 

Why Google Ads keywords matter for your SEO

We all know that the right keywords are the lifeblood of your website’s SEO for showing up in organic search results. You might not know that keywords (or search queries) are also pivotal to a successful pay-per-click (PPC) campaign and Google ads campaign.

Google will use these keywords to match your advertisements with search terms potential customers are using to find what you’re selling. 

It’s Google’s goal (and the goal of any search engine) to match search queries (or keywords) with the highest quality and most relevant content online. That’s true for both organic and paid searches. 

Furthermore, your ad could reach other potential customers or sites with similar keywords or keyword match types (more about that below). In that way, your new keywords can connect you with new audiences you never considered before.

The right Google Ads keywords for the right Google Ads campaigns

It’s essential to realize that there is a difference between the right keywords you use for SEO (which tend to be lower intent) and the ones you use for PPC (higher intent).

It’s also about more than compiling a massive list of keywords. For PPC ads, how you group and organize your new keywords are equally as important. 

For example, let’s say that you wind up with an 80,000-strong list of keywords to use in your Google ads campaign. There’s no way that you can write targeted ads or create a landing page for every single new keyword or keyword phrase. At the same time, you can’t create a handful of Google Ads campaigns that represent all 80,000 queries. 

The answer is to use keyword grouping to break up your search terms into manageable ad groups. That way, you’ll be able to create targeted ads for small groups of specific keywords. That will make it far easier to manage thousands of keywords without sacrificing your optimization quality. 

If you need a keyword research tool to get keyword ideas, you can use our FREE Google Keyword Tool or paid options like Ahrefs or SEMrush. They will help you discover new keywords to use for your Google Ads campaign. 

The intent behind the Google Ads keywords

It’s not enough to simply compile a list of relevant keywords during your search queries. It would be best if you also determined the searcher’s intent behind their search queries.

Digital marketers label keywords as having high or low intent. When a searcher is eager to buy something or perform some type of action, the right keyword or keyword phrase would have a higher intent.

If all a searcher is after is to learn more information about something, the relevant keywords have lower intent. As stated before, low intent keywords are more effective for SEO campaigns rather than eCommerce campaigns where you aim to educate and provide information through content marketing tactics. 

Search queries are broken down into three types of intent: informational search queries, navigational search queries, and transactional search queries. 

As a business owner using PPC ads, you’ll want to use transactional keywords exclusively. 

Why’s that?

It’s because these keywords have the highest intent – or the strongest chance to convince potential customers to make a purchase. Common transactional keywords include high intent phrases such as “buy now” or naming specific products like “Playstation games.” 

These keywords are precise in their intent, and the users are looking to buy something. That’s why these types of keywords are great for improving your conversion rates. 

Negative keywords

Selecting the right keywords with high intent will put you on the path to an effective Google Ads campaign on Google search. But, there is one more step: adding negative keywords. 

A negative keyword prevents your ad from being triggered by a specific word or phrase.

Here is an example of a search ad that appears for one of our clients:

But, we use negative keywords for searches that would be irrelevant or not qualified for our services. Examples of these include “free,” “DIY,” or “cheap.” 

None of these words would serve our client, so we added them to our negative keywords list. In other words, keywords are the queries you WANT to show up for, and negative keywords are the queries you DON’T WANT to show up for on your Google Ads. 

See below how the company’s ads are blocked when “free” is used in the search query.

Choosing Your Keyword Match Types

It’s essential to remember that Google Ads are delivered through a bidding process. Therefore, you need to specify how aggressive or restrictive you want to match advertisements to keyword searches.

Here are the keyword match types:

• Broad Match: Your Google Ad could appear when a search includes any words in your keyword phrase, in any order.
• Phrase Match: This one allows you to lock in a phrase using your keywords in the exact order you entered them.
• Exact Match: As the most strict of all match types, this one will only deliver your Google ad when there is an exact match of keywords.

All keyword match types have their advantages and disadvantages, and some may work better with certain products than others. Check out this graphic from Google.

The best way to find out which keywords convert best for your campaign is to start with phrase match and exact match keywords. These match types will give you the cleanest and most relevant traffic (and higher conversion rates).

Once you start getting the hang of what is working for your business, cut the keyword match types that aren’t getting more eyes on your products. Generally, it’s a smart move not to go too broad or too tight.

Seeking a Lower CPC Is Often the Wrong Choice

The next step in building your Google Ads campaign is calculating your cost-per-click (CPC). That is how much money will be charged to you every time a customer clicks on your Google ad.

One thing we always notice new clients trying to do is to shoot for the lowest CPC. It seems like common sense, but the truth is a lower cost per click doesn’t always mean more money in your pocket.

CPCs also vary depending on the industry. We see rates for different companies ranging from $50 to $200 – and we don’t shy away from the more expensive ones.

A higher cost-per-click is actually an indicator that the keywords are more profitable. 

For example, we work with a lot of lawyers. As you all know, there are a lot of law firms, and hundreds of them bid on Google Ads every day. 

Why are legal keywords so high? Because the search intent discussed above is so high that we want someone searching specifically for exact keyword match types. For example, “personal injury lawyer”.

If someone is searching for that specific keyword phrase, they’re most likely looking for a personal injury lawyer.

On the other hand, if you use “personal injury lawyer” as a keyword but use a broad match, then the search could be a mix of anything. That is a case where using very specific keywords and exact match keywords will benefit the client.

Out of these five search queries, only one of them is the search query we want our ads coming up for on Google. The rest are too broad and a waste of our money.

How To Structure Your Keywords

One of the last pieces of advice we’ll offer you in this article is about how to structure your keywords. When we start working with a new client, we advise them to begin with phrase match and exact match.

We want to make sure they’re getting clicks from potential customers who are actually interested in what they’re selling. 

While this limits the total amount of people clicking on your ads, it’s more likely to result in higher conversion rates.

After a month’s worth of data and having our search teams clean, the HOTH PPC team will sometimes open up our keywords to a broad match. That will allow us to find other search queries that potential customers are actively looking for and give us ideas for new Google Ads keywords.

Bear in mind that a broad match delivers a bigger pool of potential customers, meaning you need to be on top of your negative keywords to avoid wasting money on irrelevant ads.

How Many Keywords is Good for Google Ads?

One mistake many make is putting too many keywords in their PPC and Google ad groups. The old adage about “less is more” fits well in this situation. It’s recommended that 20 to 25 keywords per group is best, with a maximum of 30. If you don’t reach 30 it’s fine. If you’ve got less than that in your list of keywords, it’s likely because you have done your keyword research efficiently.

Fact is one of the most common mistakes in PPC is using too many keywords in your Google ads campaign. Many of our clients at The HOTH have ad groups of 4 or 5 keywords and their results have been excellent. More important is that your relevant keywords are closely related and your ad copy as specific as possible.

How to Choose the Right Google Ads Keywords for Your Campaigns

Choose keywords with a high search volume

A high monthly search volume (between 100 and 1000 searches a month)  is vital to reach the most searchers and potential customers. Indeed, if your keywords have low search volume, Google Ads will flag them.

Choose topic-specific keywords 

Specific, long-tail keywords and keyword phrases improve intent and increase your chances of reaching your potential customers. They improve your SEO and metrics and increase your conversion rates. Here’s how to choose them:

1. Write a 1 or 2-sentence description of your topic in the form of a question. 
2. Choose the most important 4 words from your question(s). These will be your key concepts.
3. For each key concept word, list several similar or related words. These will be your topic keywords.

Put the same keywords in your landing pages

Most, or all, of your relevant keywords in your Google Ads should also be present on the landing pages linked to your Google ads. To do that, your landing page content should use your keywords liberally. That means writing content (or having it written) following your keyword recommendations.

Follow best practices

Single word or branded keywords are a no-no, as well as overly generic keywords like “free information”. Your list of keywords needs to be specific and relevant keywords geared toward your potential customers. According to Google, best practices include:

• Thinking like a customer and what they would search for.
• Avoid using terms that are too general. “Wedding”, for example, is too general. “Wedding flowers”, “wedding cakes”, “wedding dresses”, etc, would be better.
• Have a website and use your keywords there.
• Include the name(s) of well-known brands that you’re selling.
• Don’t start your keyword research with an adjective. For example, “wedding dress” is better than “best wedding dress” or “prettiest wedding dress”
• Use multiple keywords and keyword phrases. 
• Be cautious using location. If your customers are in a specific locale, yes. If you’ll be using location targeting, no.

Here Are Several More Tips to Find the Best Google Ads Keywords

• Think like one of your potential customers. What search terms would they search for?
• List different keyword variations, including colloquial terms, synonyms, alternative spellings, and plural and singular terms.
• Choose language and location setting carefully, including territories, countries, regions, cities, etc.
• Avoid keyword terms that are too general.
• Know what, specifically, you’re selling. (You’d be surprised how many can’t say exactly what they sell.)
• Don’t take keyword research lightly.

Where to Find Google Ads Keywords

Below are several keyword research tools you can use to find the top Google Ads keywords for your campaigns and ad groups.

Existing Search Queries

Existing search queries are a treasure trove of excellent keywords for your Google Ads campaigns. The acquisition report in Google Analytics can show you which terms are best and are being used by potential customers.

Your Website and Landing pages

Use Google Ads Keyword Planner tool to get recommendations on keywords used in your own content, landing pages, and website. 

Keywords Used by your Competition

If your competitors are using the right keywords and having success, you should be using them also. iSpionage will help you see which keyword ideas are being used, or bid on, by your competitors. 

Current Events 

Depending on your products and services, current events and pop culture might have some relevant keyword gold when attracting potential customers.

Final Thoughts on Google Ads Keywords 

We hope this post has helped you understand what happens behind the scenes with PPC advertising. Businesses wanting to launch their own Google Ad campaigns need to do keyword research, determine intent, figure out phrase match, choose relevant keywords, include negative keywords, and be prepared to make many adjustments.

One thing we want to stress is how difficult it can be to manage Google ads campaigns and PPC campaigns on your own. We’ve worked with many clients who lost hundreds or thousands of dollars on new Google ads because their keyword research was lacking or their keywords were structured too broadly.

We help companies like yours configure paid advertising (PPC) campaigns to get a high ROI. Part of our PPC service is also working with clients to optimize landing pages, so potential customers are more likely to convert.

If you need help with Google Ads, book a call today with one of our PPC experts here at The HOTH.   

The post How Google Ads Keywords Affect Your PPC Campaigns appeared first on The HOTH.

Running Facebook Ads is great for two reasons: they’re laser targeted for custom audiences, and they tend to be cheaper than other ad types. 

In short, if Facebook campaigns don’t account for at least some of your ad spend, they definitely should.

Yet, you’ll need to watch out for some pitfalls, especially if you’re a beginner. 

The Facebook Ad Manager is user-friendly for the most part, but there are some simple mistakes you can make that will cost you money. In fact, 62% of small business owners say their Facebook ad campaigns never work out well. 

Why is that?

It’s usually due to missing an important detail that makes a big difference in their campaign, such as catering to the wrong audience without even knowing it. 

In this article, I’m going to show you how to avoid the most common Facebook ad mistakes so you can stop wasting your online marketing budget. Use this post as a skeleton outline for your next Facebook ad campaign as a rule of thumb. 

Mistake #1: Not Using a CTA in the Ad Copy 

As digital marketers, we know the tremendous value of the call to action (CTA). These brief sentences can make or break the sale depending on their quality. After all, your CTA lets your customers know how to take the next step in purchasing your product or service. 

For a Facebook ad, the CTA is what makes a prospect want to click on your ad to learn more. It’s Marketing 101 to include a CTA in any ad, and not including one is like forgetting to sign your name on a term paper. 

Yet, after auditing hundreds of Facebook ads over the past 6+ years, I continue to see business after business fail to include a CTA in the copy. 

Even if you pay for the ad, you still need to let visitors know what action you want them to take with a clear CTA. Otherwise, you’re paying Facebook for ad views, not clicks, traffic, or conversions. 

That’s made an even more significant problem when you discover how Facebook charges you for ads. There’s no cost-per-click (CPC) like PPC ads with Facebook. Instead, you’re charged based on impressions – which is the number of people that view your ad in their feed. 

So if your ads don’t have a CTA, that’s a sure-fire way to flush a chunk of your marketing budget down the toilet. 

We did a little digging through the Facebook Ads Library and found three examples of ads without a CTA in the copy. 

As you can see, each of these ads is visually appealing and written well. Yet, they aren’t directing Facebook users toward taking the next step, so they’re far less powerful. 

Correcting the mistake

Do your Facebook ads look like the examples shown above? If so, don’t panic, as this problem is straightforward to fix. 

First, take stock of all your current Facebook ads to identify those without CTAs. Ideally, it would be best to have a CTA in the ad copy AND the headline. 

Why the headline too?

It’s so that there’s no missing the CTA. If your prospects don’t catch it in the copy, they’re sure to see it in the headline. When writing a CTA, you want to layout the next step for your customers in plain English. Don’t worry about seeming too transparent here (it’s an ad, not a blog post), as your goal is to acquire customers above all else. 

Let’s take a look at an effective Facebook ad in action. 

Here’s an example of a Facebook ad we wrote at The HOTH. It has all the necessary components of a successful ad, including an offer and CTA (20% off when you test services). It also contains the offer and CTA in the headline (get 20% off, don’t miss out). 

To sum it up, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel with your ad copy. Keep it concise, focus on action, and bring it home with a convincing CTA. 

Mistake #2: Neglecting to Track Results 

If you aren’t tracking your ad performance, you’ll never know if you’re wasting money or not. As such, you should keep a close eye on your analytics and KPIs. Your analytics will also let you know if you’re reaching your target audience with your Facebook marketing. 

Google Analytics is an excellent tool to use, especially for tracking conversions, so make sure that it’s connected to your website. Beyond that, you’ll definitely want to set up the Facebook Pixel – as it will provide you with the most valuable metrics for your success. 

You can track, measure, and optimize your ad campaigns with it. You can even tweak your audience targeting if you feel you aren’t reaching the right crowd. 

Using Facebook Pixel 

The Pixel is a few lines of code that you add to the header section of your website. Once you’ve installed it, Pixel will track the actions users take on your website after clicking on your ad. That way, you can ensure that your ads are performing the way you want. 

Tracking your ad performance is critical. Analytics can show you if the ad is effective or needs to be revised to reach your target audience. You’ll also want to verify that you’re getting your money’s worth.

Most digital advertising platforms include a tracking tool. You probably already have Google Analytics connected to your website, but you’ll also need to set up the Facebook Pixel if you’re using Facebook ads.

There are many robust advertising features contained in Facebook Pixel, including:

• Lookalike audiences
• Facebook Retargeting
• Ad optimization for conversions
• Many more

You can also use A/B testing with Pixel to experiment with variations of a few different ads. It’s yet another way you can use the tool to refine your ad format. 

Correcting the mistake 

You’re in luck – installing Facebook Pixel only takes a few minutes at most. As previously stated, the installation consists of a simple copy and paste of a line of code, and you’re all set. So if you’ve never used it before, there’s no need to be intimidated. 

First things first, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t have Pixel running already. You’ll also need to know if it’s installed properly. You can use a free plugin called Facebook Pixel Helper to do so. 

If it detects the presence of a Pixel, the plugin will begin to light up. Clicking on the plugin will also provide details about the Pixel, such as if it’s installed correctly. 

Once you’re done, you’ll finally be able to visit your website’s conversion pages to see what’s active. In the example you see below, there’s the promise of new leads coming from the conversions. 

Pixel is an excellent tool for auditing each campaign objective to ensure everything is perfect before going live. You can also audit your teams and use Pixel to open up conversations with potential customers. Moreover, you’ll be able to measure the success of your campaigns to avoid wasting large amounts of money. 

Mistake #3: Targeting the Wrong Audience 

Mastering audience targeting is a core component of any ad campaign, whether you’re using Facebook or not. 

You need to clearly understand who your audience is, what makes them tick, and what they want/need the most. That will help you develop the most attractive value proposition for your products and services. 

A big mistake I see businesses making with their Facebook audience is going too broad or too narrow. 

The good news is Facebook Ads Manager has a tool designed specifically for this reason. It’s the ‘Audience Size’ tool, and you should use it to your advantage. It will appear in the top-right corner of the screen and let you know if you’re going too broad or too narrow. 

Learning the Audience Builder

Take a look at the screenshot you see below. 

Notice anything strange?

The default settings in the Audience Builder don’t show options for interests and behaviors – only basic demographic information like age, location, and gender. 

As you can imagine, interests and behaviors are a massive component of Facebook’s algorithm for matching ads with the right audience. That’s why you’ll want to discover your audience’s behaviors and interests so you can use them in your ad. 

Many people don’t know that you can’t go beyond the default settings by selecting Show More Options. There, you’ll be able to see far more insights about your target audience that you can use for your Facebook advertising. The platform compiles a TON of data on its users, so use it all to your advantage. 

If you aren’t optimizing your ads for your target audience, you could be burning through thousands of ad dollars. 

Correcting the Mistake 

Have you ever checked your audience settings in the Facebook Ads Manager? Did you not even know you could? If so, now is the time to check it out to review your target audiences. 

Make sure that you’re using a mix of demographics, behaviors, and interests. If you’re focusing solely on demographic information, you’re leaving a lot on the table. The more refined you can be with your audience, the more success you’ll have with social media marketing – not just Facebook. 

While you’re at it, take the time to add new interests or behaviors you discovered about your audience through research. You can also clear outdated information (such as an interest that’s fallen out of style). 

Also, make sure the expansion to see interests and behaviors is turned on, and don’t forget about the Show More Options section. 

Mistake #4: Not Optimizing Your Ads 

A Facebook ad campaign is similar to an SEO strategy or PPC campaign in that it requires regular optimization. 

So if you set your ads and forget about them, you’re making one of the most common Facebook ad mistakes. 

Your target audience is constantly changing and evolving, so your ads should reflect that. Just as you would optimize and update an old blog post, you should do the same for your outdated Facebook ads. 

Too many businesses waste ad costs by not optimizing their ads or doing them incorrectly. 

When optimizing, it’s best to focus on generating traffic and converting customers. I’ll focus on traffic for this article, but you can schedule a call with my team to talk about conversions. 

Pro tip: Get into the habit of checking on your ad campaigns every day. That is, at least, until they start performing the way you want by producing calls, leads, or sales. 

Why bother with daily checkups?

It’s because if you aren’t seeing results after two weeks, you probably have a traffic problem. It’s best to realize this sooner than later so you don’t waste too much money. Also, you won’t see any conversions until you fix your traffic issue. 

Correcting the mistake 

These are the most crucial metrics for ad optimization:

• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Conversions 
• View time for video ads 

These KPIs will let you know which ad sets are performing the best. A stellar ad will have an excellent CTR, high conversion rate, and long view time for a video ad. 

In a nutshell, the simplest way to optimize your Facebook ads is to turn off the ads that aren’t performing. I’ll go into more detail on this in a moment in the section ‘Split Testing.’ 

You’ll be able to tell if a campaign converts within the very first week. 

If you’re getting less than 50 clicks on your ad, try looking at your destination first. As far as lead generation goes, you need to optimize your landing pages. If you run an eCommerce store, you’ll want to optimize your product pages more than others. 

Pro tip: NEVER drive traffic to your homepage from a Facebook ad. That’s because your homepage is there to drive brand awareness, not convert customers. Your ads should exclusively link to landing pages and product pages.

Mistake #5: Not Using Split Testing 

A big Facebook ad mistake is only running one version of your ads. Advertisements tend to be unpredictable – as sometimes picture-perfect ads seem to fall flat for no reason at all. 

That’s why we encourage the use of ‘split testing (also called A/B testing) at The HOTH. That’s where we create a few versions of the same ad to see which one performs best. Each ad needs to have something that makes it unique from the others. 

Correcting the mistake 

You can try different copy, images, CTAs, or even add a video for split testing. 

You’ll want to run a limited campaign for each ad and then check out the data. From there, it’s pretty simple – all you have to do is select the ad that performed the best and create a more extensive campaign around it. 

We’re always running ad campaigns on Facebook and other platforms, and split testing is a huge secret weapon for us. As an example, check out how we swapped ad copy for this advertisement:

Based on the results, we turned off our non-performers to save money. 

Mistake #6: Not Using Remarketing 

At HOTH PPC, we’re harping on all the time about the benefits of remarketing – but it also works for Facebook ads. 

What’s remarketing?

It’s an ad strategy where you create specific ads targeted at people who visited your site but didn’t convert. 

For these scenarios, the chances are high that they looked at specific products and may have even left something in the cart. 

You can use that to grab their attention again with a remarketing campaign. 

Correcting the mistake 

While it may sound intrusive, the evidence says otherwise. In fact, 25% of online shoppers said they liked being targeted again. A majority claimed they were neutral about remarketing campaigns. 

It makes sense if you think about it. The customer already expressed interest in your product or service by clicking on your ad. That’s even more true if they put something in the cart but didn’t check out. Maybe they realized they didn’t have the funds at the time, which is where a remarketing campaign shines. 

By retargeting them, you might reach them at a time when they do have the funds, leading to a conversion. It’s also a great way to personalize the customer experience, which reflects well on your brand. 

Mistake #7: Lacking Patience 

Patience is a virtue – and that’s certainly the case when running a Facebook ad campaign. Businesses will often set up a new campaign but won’t give it enough time to perform. 

A huge benefit of advertising on Facebook is you get instant analytics. The day after going live with your campaign, Facebook Ads Manager will report on your impressions, clicks, and engagement. 

Correcting the mistake

Yet, that doesn’t mean you should start tweaking your ad strategy within a day or two. Instead, stay passive for at least two weeks. That will give your ads ample time to show their actual effectiveness. 

It’s hard for businesses to wait because they want to see that they’re getting the bang for their buck – but waiting two weeks is necessary. It’s our golden standard at The HOTH, and it’s served us very well. 

Tracking analytics is essential, but changing things up too quickly can do more harm than good.

Concluding Thoughts: Common Facebook Ad Mistakes 

Advertising on the largest social media platform globally should be a no-brainer – but Facebook Ads aren’t a guarantee of success. 

Instead, you’ll need to actively avoid these common blunders to ensure your Facebook ad campaigns achieve your desired results. 

Need help creating Facebook ads for your business? Feel free to reach out to our paid advertising team, and we’ll provide you with our expertise and fleet of secret weapons. 

Also, The HOTH is developing a new Facebook Advertising tool for our clients, but we need your help. Take our survey so we can learn which services you need to find the most success.     

The post How to Avoid Common Facebook Ad Mistakes appeared first on The HOTH.

Not only that, but the Google Advertising Network reaches 90% of internet users.

These stats prove that PPC campaigns are still well worth the investment, especially when combined with an optimized sales funnel on your landing pages. 

Plus, it’s no secret that organic methods like SEO take a lot of time to start working. That’s why many companies fill in the gaps with PPC marketing. That way, you’ll continue to generate new traffic, leads, and conversions while building your organic efforts. 

According to Google, PPC advertising is also one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness for startups. 

Whether starting a new business or managing digital marketing for a large enterprise, a solid PPC strategy will benefit companies of all sizes. 

This post is for you if you’ve never developed a pay-per-click campaign before. I’m going to break down all the steps you need to take to find success with your paid ad campaigns, including how to do keyword research and retarget known leads. Without further ado, let’s dive right in. 

Understanding the PPC Marketing Strategy 

PPC or pay-per-click is a form of paid advertising where you pay a search engine or social media platform to display your ads for specific keywords. Each time a user clicks on the ad, you get charged a fee – hence the name pay-per-click. 

For search engines like Google, your PPC ad will display at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), even above the organic results. 

That’s incredibly advantageous as your ads will likely be the first thing someone from your target audience sees. 

As an example, let’s say that you sell bicycle repair services and want to display your ads on Google in front of bicycle enthusiasts. 

To do so, you’d need to do keyword research to discover what bicycle enthusiasts search for online. After doing some digging, you decide to pay Google Adwords to display your PPC ads for the long-tail keyword ‘bicycle repair near me.’ 

In this scenario, your ad will show up at the top of the SERP any time someone searches for that keyword (more on match types in a bit). 

That’s a simple example of using PPC ads to market your products and services. It gets more complicated when you factor in CPC, your advertising budget, and ad rank. 

CPC (cost-per-click) and how to calculate it 

How much you pay for each click is your CPC or cost-per-click. Yet, it’s more than a simple fee; it’s actually a bid in an auction. 

What’s being auctioned off?

Ad placements on Google, that’s what! (Or a social media platform if that’s where you’re focusing your PPC campaign).

It works like this – you set the maximum amount of money you’re willing to pay for a click. Yet, that amount is often not what you’ll end up paying. Instead, what you actually pay gets determined by the following formula:

• (Competitor ad rank/your quality score) + 0.01 = Your CPC 

Why the complicated math?

It’s due to how the paid search model works. You see, you aren’t the only company wanting to run ads for specific keywords in your niche. Instead, there’s steep competition involved, which is why ad placement takes the form of an auction. 

To see how you stack up to your competitors, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with your quality score. 

Quality Score and Ad Rank 

In the formula listed above, notice that your quality score is a significant part of the equation. Your quality score is how search engines (or social media platforms) view the strength of your website in relation to others. 

Here are the metrics used to determine your quality score:

• Your click-through rate (CTR) and how it stacks up to the CTRs of competing websites
• The relevancy of your keywords
• Your past performance on SERPs
• The quality of your landing page 

The other term listed in the formula is competitor ad rank. 

How is ad rank determined?

By another formula, of course! In this case, the magic equation is Maximum Bid x Quality Score. 

I’ve already gone over the maximum bid – it’s the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click. So when a search engine like Google ranks your paid ad, it will measure the quality of your website with how much you’re willing to spend for a click. 

As you can imagine, the highest quality website with the highest bid will rank the highest. 

So by now, you should have all the data you need to calculate your CPC, ad rank, and quality score. These are all vital to know and will help you devise bidding strategies. 

Ad Groups 

To succeed with your PPC strategy, you’ll need to cast a wide net – which is what ad groups do best. 

An ad group serves as a container for ‘groups’ of tightly related keywords, ads, and landing pages. Every PPC campaign consists of one or more ad groups, so it’s a crucial concept to grasp. 

How do you know what to include in an ad group?

The rule of thumb is the ads should all share similar targets. For example, if you have several ads promoting a particular service (like bicycle repair from before), that’s a perfect theme for an ad group. 

Your ad groups play a big part in how search engines determine which ads to show for your keywords, what your ad copy says, and where visitors will be taken when clicking on your ad. 

That’s why it’s imperative to organize your ad groups consistently in a way that makes sense. 

Always group similar ads together, especially if they’re promoting the same product or service. Also, don’t forget to group relevant keywords together if they relate to the specific product you want to sell. 

An example would be including the keywords bicycle repair near me, bicycle repair, and bicycle fix together in the same group as they all promote the same service. 

Match Types 

You’ll have a few targeting options when it comes to your keywords. In particular, you can choose from several match types that will determine which keyword ‘matches’ will trigger your ads. 

There are four keyword match types, and they each have varying levels of restrictiveness:

Exact match

The first and most restrictive option is the exact match. In a nutshell, only word-for-word matches for your keywords will trigger your ads. It’s important to note that there are a few exceptions to this rule. 

Google will still count misspelled keywords, singular or plural, changes in word order, and synonyms as exact matches. To format an exact match keyword, you need to encompass it in brackets (i.e., [bicycle repair near me]).

Phrase match 

If you format your keyword in quotations (i.e., ‘bicycle repair’), you’re telling Google to match your ad with phrases containing your keyword. 

For the example given, your ad will show up for search queries such as ‘bicycle repair near me, ‘the best bicycle repair,’ and so on. As long as the phrase contains ‘bicycle repair’ in it, there can be extra words before or after your keyword. 

Broad match

If the exact match is the most restrictive, the broad match is the most open. When you select a broad match, your ad will trigger the most comprehensive range of keywords that still somewhat relate to your original search term. 

Negative keywords

Lastly, you’ll want to tell the search engine which keywords you DON’T want your ads showing up for – which are negative keywords. 

It’s an important step to take because you don’t want your ads triggering for unrelated keywords or keywords that may interfere with another one of your ad groups. 

In the past, it was possible to modify broad match keywords with a broad match modifier. Yet, Google and Bing both stopped supporting it in 2021. 

Considering your budget for match types 

Also, you’ll want to factor in your ad budget when selecting match types. If your budget is tight, it’s better to use exact matches a majority of the time. That’s because, with an exact match, you’ll know for sure that your ads are triggering for your most relevant keywords. 

With broad match and phrase match, your search ads will trigger far more often, translating into you spending a lot more. Not only that, but you could wind up spending money on clicks that don’t convert because the keyword that displayed your ad was too broad or unrelated. 

Popular Platforms for PPC Campaigns

While Google Ads is what most people think of when they hear PPC, it’s far from the only platform out there. Other platforms such as Facebook, Microsoft’s Bing, and Instagram all offer paid search ads to anyone willing to pay. 

Which platform will work best for you?

It depends on a few factors, including your budget and the habits of your target audience. For example, if you know that a majority of your prospects use Facebook, that’s a great place to start a PPC campaign. 

Here’s a look at some of the most widely used platforms where you can host PPC marketing campaigns. 

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) 

More than 80% of global businesses trust Google Ads for PPC, which is why it has such a well-known reputation in the field. Beyond that, Google is the largest website in the world, with 4.3 billion users worldwide, so advertising on the platform is a bit of a no-brainer. 

It also helps that Google Ads has an intuitive interface that makes setting up and monitoring a campaign a breeze. 

You can organize your keyword list into ad groups quickly, and Google even recommends related keywords that you can use. To closely monitor the success of your efforts, you can link your Google Ads account to Google Analytics. That way, you’ll be able to pinpoint precisely how much traffic you generate from your PPC efforts. 

A downside of the platform is that keyword competition is incredibly steep due to its popularity. For this reason, you’ll have a higher ad spend on Google Ads than other platforms, which can be a turnoff for companies on smaller budgets. 

Microsoft Bing Ads

For companies seeking out a lower CPC, Bing is an excellent choice. While it doesn’t have the massive audience that Google has, Bing is still a powerhouse of a search engine with 126 million users. 

Microsoft owns more than just Bing, as AOL and Yahoo are also part of its network of search engines. 

So when you run a PPC campaign on Bing, your ads display across all three search engines. When you combine them all, there are more than 5 billion monthly searches made across Microsoft’s network. 

That’s a considerable user base you can advertise to – and for cheaper than Google Ads. For this reason, many smaller companies focus on Bing Ads instead of Google Ads. 

Bing has a few other tricks up its sleeve, too. Besides all the usual frills that Google has (bidding on ads, 80-character limit, support tools for building a keyword list), it also has targeting filters. These allow you to dictate where you want your ad to display and where you don’t. For example, you can choose to only display ads on mobile devices by selecting mobile traffic only. 

Depending on your preferences, you can only choose to display ads on AOL, Yahoo, or Bing. That grants your team a lot of flexibility when conducting a PPC campaign on Bing. 

Facebook Ads 

Besides search engines, social media platforms also offer PPC campaigns, such as Facebook. Whenever you choose to run a campaign on Facebook, it will also display your ads on its sister platform, Instagram. 

A significant advantage of Facebook Ads is its numerous audience targeting options. You get to decide where to display your ads based on behaviors, interests, demographics, and location. 

Facebook also runs native ads, which means it integrates your ads into users’ social feeds. It’s a slick way to present less intrusive and more natural ads for users. 

Your ads will also display on Facebook Messenger and the Facebook Audience Network, increasing your exposure. The newest type of Facebook ad is the playable ad, where users get to test out a game before downloading it. 

For the most part, Facebook campaigns tend to run as CPM (cost per mille or thousand) instead of CPC. So instead of paying a fee for every click on your ad, you pay every time your ad reaches 1,000 impressions. It’s a different pricing model that will affect how you budget, so it’s crucial to know how it works beforehand. 

Pro tip: Ads on Facebook (and all social media) work better when they’re highly visual. Text ads don’t find as much success, so make sure to include engaging images with a clear message. 

Taboola

Does your target audience frequent news sites like Forbes and The New York Times? If so, then running paid ads through Taboola is a great idea. 

What’s Taboola?

It’s a native advertising platform that works with several news sites to display their client’s content marketing ads. Luckily, they’ve carefully curated only the highest quality websites that receive at least 1 million visitors a month. 

That’s great news for you, as it ensures that your ads will display on trusted news sites that get tons of visitors. 

To run ads on Taboola, you’ll need to create a news-style ad or blog post for your product or service. It should be high-quality and aimed at conversions without using hard-sell tactics. Payment-wise, you can choose from either CPM or CPC. Another advantage is that Taboola’s CPC rates are only a few cents, making it one of the cheapest PPC options online. 

Forming a PPC Strategy: Common PPC Campaign Goals 

Now that you know more about PPC strategies and the platforms you can use, it’s time to develop your own strategy. To start, you’ll need to decide on your primary goals for the campaign. 

For example, do you want to build brand awareness and generate leads, or is increasing your conversion rate priority #1? 

You’ll also need to consider your sales funnel and the length of your sales cycle when developing your goals. If you’re a B2B company, your sales cycle is likely much longer. That’s because a purchase must go through many internal decision-makers at a company. Not only that, but companies often do quite a bit of research before settling on a vendor. 

That’s why B2B companies focus on generating leads and nurturing them for an eventual sale. 

If you run an eCommerce store, on the other hand, your sales cycle may only last a few minutes. After a user clicks on your PPC ad, they may make a purchase straight away. 

Bearing that in mind, here’s a list of the most common PPC goals for each type of organization. 

Building brand awareness 

Do you want to get the word out about what you do above all else? If so, you want to raise brand awareness through your PPC campaigns. 

Startups and smaller companies will often want to build brand awareness with PPC due to their lack of exposure and experience in the market. 

In this situation, it would be wise to focus heavily on social media PPC ads. Platforms like Facebook allow you to get super specific when targeting your audience – and if you want to build brand awareness – you’ll want to place your ads in front of a highly relevant audience above all else. 

You can also use search engine campaigns, and Bing is an excellent option if you’re on a tighter budget. Its wide network encompasses three search engines, so it’s a great spot to raise awareness for your products and services. 

You’ll want to focus on broad match types and a healthy list of negative keywords for search ads. You’ll want to go broad here so that you can reach the widest audience possible. A list of negative keywords will be handy as it will keep your ads from triggering irrelevant ones. 

Brand and product consideration 

If you’re a B2B company, your sales all hinge on the product consideration phase. This is where key decision-makers at a company are doing research online for a new product or service. 

As stated before, the sales cycle for B2B companies is quite long. That’s where a goal like this comes in handy. 

If your prospect is in the consideration phase, it’s a perfect time to introduce (or reintroduce) your brand. You’ll want to retarget them if they’re already familiar with your brand. 

For this phase, it’s crucial to use highly targeted ads and persuasive CTAs in your copy. Responsive ads can work during this phase, too. For example, you can use a responsive ad to bring a customer back to a product they already viewed or left in the cart. 

The goal with your PPC ads here is to guide your prospects along the buyer’s journey, showing up periodically to nurture them with more content, ads, and emails. 

Lead generation 

Is your company fresh out of quality leads? Instead of fishing around the bottom of the barrel for poor-quality leads, you can use your PPC campaign to draw in new prospects. 

For this goal, your ads should have CTAs encouraging further action from your customers (often requiring them to give out their contact information). 

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Popular calls-to-action that you can use here include:

• Ads that offer a free trial in exchange for an email address
• Free consultations (the customer will contact you) 
• Request a demo (the customer will contact you) 

If you want to generate leads, every ad should entice the reader to give up their information or to contact you somehow. That way, you’ll have their contact information on file, and you’ll know that they’re interested in your products and services. Using your PPC ads to generate qualified leads is a great way to see a return on ad spend. 

Generating sales 

If conversions are where it’s at, you’ll want to focus on keywords that reveal purchase intent for your paid ad campaigns. Purchase intent indicates that the user is ready to open their wallet and buy something. These keywords include phrases like:

• Discount
• Coupon
• Model numbers
• Buy 
• Purchase
• Near me
• Financing 

So if you want to increase your conversion rates, focus on keywords that contain the phrases you see above. That’s one of the most reliable ways to ensure that users intend to buy something from your website instead of just browsing or conducting price comparisons. 

Selecting a Campaign Type 

Now that you have your goals in mind, you’ll want to decide on a campaign type. There are a few different types of paid ads that you can run, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages. 

Your goals will dictate your campaign type, which is why it’s important to set those in stone first. Also, there’s no rule that says you have to stick to one campaign type. In fact, many marketers choose to use a combination of campaign types to achieve their goals. 

Search Ads (Text Ads) 

The most common type of PPC ad is the basic text ad that shows up on search engines. There are no visuals here, only a few lines of ad copy that get your message across. 

Whether you’re using Google Ads or Bing Ads, they both have pretty strict character limits for text ads. 

Here’s a breakdown of the character limits for Google Ads:

• Headline 1: 30 characters
• Headline 2: 30 characters
• Headline 3: 30 characters
• Description 1: 90 characters
• Description 2: 90 characters
• Path: 15 characters each (2)

And for Bing Ads, there’s the choice of standard ads or extended ads.

Standard ads:

• Title: 25 characters
• Ad text: 71 characters 
• Display URL: 35 characters 

Extended ads:

• Title: 90 characters (three separate headlines of 30 characters each)
• Ad text: 180 characters (two descriptions with 90-character max)
• Display URL: Autogenerated from your final URL, plus two customizable URL paths 

As you can see, Bing’s extended ads are nearly identical to Google’s standard text ads. Yet, with Bing, you have the cheaper option of going with standard ads, which is convenient if you’re on a tight budget. 

Display ads 

Display ads are the way to go if you want to incorporate visuals into your PPC ads. You place these image-based ads on external websites, including social media platforms. 

There are a few ways to buy display ads, but the Google Display Network (GDN) is by far the most popular and wide-reaching. In fact, GDN claims to reach 90% of internet users worldwide with its ads. 

How far does the network’s reach go?

Well, the network includes over 35 million websites that can display your ads once you start a campaign. There are millions of blogs, news sites, and other websites within the network, and they’re all reputable and trusted. 

Besides the impressive number of external sites in GDN, your ads will also appear on Google-owned websites like Gmail and YouTube. 

Using GDN is a great way to expand your reach beyond Google Search and into the rest of the internet. 

Also, if you’re running paid ads on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll want to use the display ad format. While your ad will primarily be visual, that doesn’t mean that you can’t include consistent messaging and a strong CTA. 

Social media ads

Targeting social media sites is a solid campaign strategy, and you can expand your reach beyond Facebook and Instagram. 

Twitter and LinkedIn offer PPC campaigns, which are great for reaching specific niche audiences. For example, if you’re targeting lawyers, you’re far more likely to find them on Twitter or LinkedIn than on Instagram. 

LinkedIn is the best platform for reaching a professional crowd, including B2B decision-makers. You can also target educators, marketers, doctors, and others using LinkedIn’s audience targeting tools. 

Ads can appear on LinkedIn through:

• The Google Display Network 
• User’s news feeds
• Direct email to targeted customers
• Dynamic ads 
• Text ads

The option to directly email targeted prospects is a perk that you’ll only find on LinkedIn. 

When it comes to Twitter, its platform works like Google or Bing. You bid on ad placements by setting your maximum CPC. On average, the CPC for Tweets tends to run around $1.35 – $2.00 per click, making it a reasonably priced option. 

Which social media platform is right for you?

It will depend on your budget and the habits of your target audience. Conduct some research to determine which platform your audience prefers to use the most. If you discover that it’s Twitter, then it’s worth investing in advertising there. 

Remarketing/retargeting

If you want to follow up with users that already interacted with your website, you can start a remarketing campaign. That’s where you retarget the customer and follow up with them to see if they’re still interested. 

Actions they may have completed include filling out a sign-up form, commenting on a blog, or leaving a product in their cart without checking out. 

In this scenario, you’d want to focus your paid ads on retargeting these users. 

How can you initiate a retargeting campaign using PPC methods?

Google Analytics is a great place to start. It has a remarketing tag that you can use to monitor customer behavior on your website. You can track each customer’s time spent on your site using the tag. 

For instance, you could decide to retarget customers from a specific geographical region that spent more than five minutes on your website. 

Or you could focus on targeting customers that interacted with your site in one form or another. The idea is to place your brand back in front of a customer that’s already familiar with you in hopes of landing a sale. 

Google Shopping

If you run an eCommerce site, you’ll find the most success with running a Google Shopping campaign. 

It works by displaying your ad on an image carousel related to your products and their descriptions. Users flock to Google Shopping to find the latest and greatest eCommerce products, so placing your ads on the platform is wise to gain visibility. 

Conduct Keyword Research 

By now, you should have goals for your campaign, a platform to run it on, and a campaign type –or types– to use. Now all you need is to build a list of relevant keywords to trigger your ads. 

Like with organic SEO, keyword research plays a pivotal role in PPC ads. 

What’s different is that you’ll arrange the keywords into ad groups. An ad group should contain one to five keywords, which should all be interrelated and highly relevant to your campaign. If you pick random keywords and have poor ad group organization, your quality score will suffer as a result. 

Remember, for your ad to rank at the top above the competition, it needs to have a higher bid and a higher quality score than the other ads. 

That’s why you shouldn’t take your ad group organization lightly, nor your keyword research. 

You can use our free keyword research tool to help you find relevant queries for your niche. It’s powered by SEMrush and will provide high-volume terms and phrases that relate to your primary keyword. That way, you can build a robust list of keywords for your ad groups in no time. 

Ad group tips 

Remember to keep a similar theme for each ad group. If you feel that one keyword doesn’t relate well to the group, don’t include it, but create a separate ad group for it instead. 

Even if you have an ad group with only one keyword, it’s better than ruining an existing ad group with an out-of-place keyword. 

Also, keyword research can and should be an ongoing process for your campaign. 

It’s not wise to build a few ad groups and then call it quits. Instead, you should use tools like Google Analytics to monitor your success with each keyword. 

It’s imperative to do this for any keyword strategy, as the queries that people use change over time. Keeping a close eye on your metrics will help you identify keywords that aren’t generating the kind of traffic that you wanted. In that case, it’s best to get rid of those keywords and increase the maximum bids for keywords that are generating traffic. 

You can always go back to the drawing board and build new keyword lists and ad groups, so don’t feel like you’re stuck with a specific set of keywords for life. 

Best Practices for Creating PPC Ads 

Now you’ve got your PPC strategy all set besides creating your ads. Of course, you’ll want to be incredibly strategic when writing your ads and designing images for them. 

The quality of your ad copy and CTA will make or break your PPC campaign. Even if you have a stellar quality score and a sky-high maximum bid – all those clicks won’t amount to much if your ads and landing pages aren’t designed to convert. 

That’s why you’ll need to familiarize yourself with these best practices for creating ads and optimizing your CTAs and landing pages. 

Tips for writing ad copy 

Writing copy for PPC ads can be tricky at times for even the savviest of writers. 

Why is that?

It has to do with the stringent character requirements for text ads on search engines (see above). In around 120 characters or less, you have to address a customer pain point and let them know how your product will solve it. 

For this reason, you need to be extremely concise with your copy. You can’t afford to fit in any fluff here. Also, don’t forget to include your primary keyword in your title and description and any others that you can fit. 

Consistency is also essential, so you’ll want to use similar language as you do on your landing pages. 

Tone-wise, your copy should speak directly to your target persona. Not only that, but you should strive to make the offer as appealing as possible while including a strong CTA. 

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with your CTA – all that matters is providing a clear next step you want your customer to take. That could be visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, or ordering one of your products. Your CTA will depend on your goals, so bear that in mind as well. 

Landing page tips 

Your ad is important, sure, but your landing page is even more crucial. After all, your landing page is where the customer will go to make an actual purchase or complete your desired action from the CTA. 

Also, the quality of your landing page plays a considerable role in determining your quality score.

If you have a poorly optimized landing page, don’t expect your ad to rank at the top of the results. 

Your landing page should have a strong headline that mirrors your ad, a responsive design that works on any device, and a seamless user experience. 

Navigation should be as straightforward as possible. Nothing can ruin a sale like poor navigation on a website. 

Your messaging should stay consistent from the ad to the landing page, and you should deliver on all the promises made in your ads. Check all these boxes, and you’ll have a remarkable landing page designed to convert. 

A/B testing PPC ads

Lastly, it’s always a good rule of thumb to conduct A/B testing on your PPC ads. It helps that it’s pretty straightforward to do, as there are only four components to variate (headline, description, keywords, and landing page). 

To properly A/B test, you’ll want to run multiple variations of your ads to see what works best. Try using different versions of keywords, copy, and landing page layouts. 

If you monitor your analytics closely, you’ll be able to pinpoint which version of each ad brings the most traffic and conversions, optimizing your PPC strategy. 

Concluding Thoughts: Developing a PPC Strategy 

Paid ad campaigns are great ways to generate more traffic, build brand awareness, and increase conversions. 

If you want to run successful PPC campaigns but don’t have the time, we’d love to manage your campaigns for you at The HOTH. Our managed PPC services will provide you with leads on demand, and we’ll do all the work for you.

The post How to Develop a Winning PPC Strategy for More Leads and Conversions  appeared first on The HOTH.