A is for Advertising

When it comes to PPC (pay per click) advertising, it seems like the marketplace is getting continually more saturated and competitive, making it harder than ever to run a cost-effective campaign. This is true to some extent, but there are still ways to run a campaign that gets great ROI. Here are a few PPC bid management techniques you can utilize to do just that.

The first thing you should do is stay within your budget. Don’t get caught up in bidding wars if you don’t have to. These are often initiated by rookies to the PPC game, and can cost you dearly if you get involved. If you spend too much on your clicks, you will erase the profit you earn from backend conversions. If you aren’t getting the number of clicks you desire, then try to make other small changes such as modifying your keywords or tweaking the text of your ads. Upping your budget is the last thing you want to do. After all, you set your budget for a reason - to make sure you turn a profit.

The next bid management technique you should take into consideration is never bidding for the top spot. All too often, people want to feel the thrill of seeing their ad up there on the top spot of SERPs. But this is not financially realistic for most campaigns, and is a quick way to chisel away a good chunk of your margins. You need to let your ad sell your product or service, not the placement of your ad. Plus, consider that many people click on the top spot much more readily than the eighth spot. This means that you will be getting clicks from people who have no intent to purchase your product or service. Now you are playing a high price for low-quality leads, a double whammy. If you pay money for a click, you want that prospective customer to genuinely be interested in what you have to offer.

There is another technique called bid jamming that you may consider utilizing. This calls for you to “jam” the bid of your competitor by bidding one cent less than their bid. Because a PPC service operates in the same way as an online auction site, you only pay one cent more than your closest competitor - not your actual bid. So if your competitor bids .49 per click and you bid .32 per click, your competitor pays .33 per click to hold the top spot. By bidding .48 per click, you can force them to pay full price for their bids.

Utilizing these three simple PPC bid management techniques can help you stand apart form your competitors and maximize your PPC campaign without overspending. This way, you can win the bidding ways the smart ways - without breaking your budget.

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