What Is a PPC Campaign?

A PPC campaign is a type of digital marketing effort in which a business pays a fee every time someone clicks on one of its ads. As the advertiser, you bid on keywords related to your product or service. If your bid wins, that’s how much you'll pay for each click on your ads, also known as the cost per click (CPC). 

What makes PPC campaigns unique is that you don’t pay anything for impressions — the times when your ad appears in front of customers. Your ad could appear a million times. If no one clicks on it, you don’t pay anything. You get charged only for the clicks. 

PPC campaigns are most commonly associated with search ads, but there are different types of PPC ads, including display ads and video ads.

Even if you’re also using content marketing and search engine optimization, don’t underestimate the importance of paid media. PPC campaigns and other types of paid media can bring more immediate results than organic marketing, and they can be highly cost-effective.

Key Components of a PPC Campaign

PPC campaigns must include the following essential components: 



• Keyword selection: You choose which keywords to target based on the words or phrases your ideal customers are likely to search for. 
• Audience targeting: Determine the target audience for your ads based on factors like age, location, gender, income level, and interests. 
• Budget management: Set an overall budget for the campaign and a maximum bid for how much you’re willing to spend per click. 
• Ad creative development: Depending on the type of PPC campaign you run, you'll also need to write engaging ad copy and create striking visual designs to catch the audience’s attention. 

How PPC Works

PPC advertising is a bit different from other cost-effective marketing strategies, so make sure you understand how it works before you dive in.

Setting Up PPC Campaigns

The first step in setting up your PPC campaigns is choosing what platform you want to use. For example, if you want your ads to appear in Google's search results, on Google Shopping, or before YouTube videos, you’d use Google Ads. If you’re more interested in social media ads on Instagram and Facebook, you’d use Meta Ads Manager. 

Create an advertising account on the platforms you want to use. Through this account, you can set up your PPC campaigns, manage your budget, and monitor your results once your campaigns go live.



Managing Bids and Costs

One of the first decisions you have to make about your PPC campaigns is how much you're willing to spend, both in total and per click. Different companies use different bidding strategies, but no matter which strategy you choose, set a clear budget up front. Based on your total campaign budget, you can narrow down how much you want to bid per click.



Understanding Ad Auction Mechanisms

PPC campaigns are all about bidding. If you want your ads to appear when users search specific words or phrases in search engines, you need to bid on those keywords. You also need to outbid other businesses who want their ads to rank for the same keywords or criteria. 



Your bid isn’t the only thing that matters, though. Advertising platforms like Google Ads also assign your ads a quality score based on the relevance of your keywords, your landing page quality, and other factors. Together, your quality score and bid amount determine where your ad will rank.

Tracking Performance Metrics

One great thing about digital marketing campaigns is that you can see how well they’re performing almost in real time. Analyzing your PPC campaign’s digital marketing KPIs will help you understand what’s working well and what you can improve. Use these insights to tweak your campaign setup or refine your strategy for the next one. 

Some of the most important metrics to monitor include:



• Total clicks: how many times people clicked on your ads
• Click-through rate: the percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked on it
• Average cost per click: how much you paid, on average, for the clicks on your ads
• Conversion rate: the percentage of people who saw your ads and bought something from your business

Optimization Strategies

You can optimize your PPC campaigns by doing some A/B testing before launch. A/B testing is when you show two similar yet slightly different versions of the same ad to different test groups to see which they respond to better. Then, you use the higher-performing ad in your actual campaign. A/B testing works on landing pages, too, so try different versions of your designs and copy. 



Also, try including negative keywords in your PPC campaigns. These negative keywords exclude your ads from searches with terms that aren’t relevant to your business, helping you avoid spending money on wasted clicks.

Best Practices and Common PPC Mistakes to Avoid

When you’re getting started with PPC advertising, it’s normal to make some missteps. Try to avoid these common mistakes:



• Targeting keywords that are too broad: Broad keywords are generally more competitive and less likely to generate high-quality leads. Instead, focus on specific keywords that are closely tied to your brand’s products or services. 
• Bidding too high: It’s tempting to set high bids to ensure you win your ad auctions, but resist that urge. The best practice is to set maximum bids that give you some wiggle room in your budget while still being competitive. 
• Neglecting your ad copy: Sometimes, people get so caught up in the bidding for their PPC campaigns that they neglect their actual ads. Dedicate time to writing compelling ads with strong calls to action to ensure high click-through rates.

PPC Advertising FAQs

Leverage PPC to Boost Your Digital Marketing Results

If you aren’t already doing so, now is the perfect time to start using PPC marketing to drive results for your business. And you don’t need to do it alone — Optimize is here to help. 

Our experienced team will help create a comprehensive digital advertising strategy to reach your target audience through PPC campaigns. Schedule a consultation today to get started.