Want to improve your PPC lead generation efforts? Consider focusing on customers who are ready to buy from you right now—your competitor’s most unhappy customers.
This article reveals actionable strategies for identifying and targeting three key groups through search campaigns:
Customers who are actively looking to switch providers. Customers attempting to cancel services. Customers looking for help or support.
By understanding these leads’ search intent signals, you can precisely reach the most interesting leads ready to convert to your product or service at key “action” moments.
PPC audience targeting for lead generation
Improving lead generation involves targeting specific groups:
People in your niche. People interested in your services or products. People who are willing to buy from you.
To reach these profiles, you can use a search strategy focused on transactional keywords relevant to your products or services. However, this method can be competitive and requires a long-term effort.
Alternatively, you can target your competitors’ audiences. Most marketers are familiar with branded offers, which can be a great tool for gaining exposure, but they also come with many caveats.
Dig Deeper: How to Compare PPC Competitors: The Ultimate Guide
What is a branded offer (and why I don’t recommend it)
Brand bidding on PPC is like putting a sign right next to your competitor’s store, hoping to attract their customers. Bid on your competitors’ names so that when someone searches for them online, your ad also appears.
It’s a way to get the attention of people who are already interested in your competitors and possibly win them over to your brand.
A simple campaign might look like this:
You have your competition campaign. Competitors are separated into different ad groups and each ad group has a specific competitor with different keyword options.
With this setting, you can target people who are now searching for your competitor or, depending on your keyword choice, your competitor along with a service or product. It’s an easy way to get impressions and visibility, but there’s no guarantee of performance.
In addition, it is essential to consider legal obligations. Laws vary by country and advertising jurisdiction, especially regarding the use of competitors’ names or bidding on their keywords. Avoiding a competitor’s brand in ads is recommended to avoid potential confusion. Consulting a specialized lawyer is advisable for clarity in legal matters.
Beyond legal considerations, your brand image is another important factor to consider. Bidding on a competitor’s terms can attract clicks to your ad, which can lead users to your site.
While some may be genuinely interested in your company, others may feel duped. This could damage your brand’s reputation, especially if users are frustrated or upset by the perceived deception.
Branded offers can be useful, but their drawbacks should not be underestimated. In most industries, brand offerings can be ineffective.
Dig deeper: When to use brand and competitor keywords in PPC
Action-based approach to targeting your competitors’ audiences
So how do you target your competition’s audience without making blatant brand offers? The solution is action-based competitor segmentation. Instead of just going after a brand, you need to link your competitor’s brand to an action.
When you target an action or an idea, you are reaching people who are ready to make a decision. They’re not just surfing; they are actively looking for something and are more likely to be open to your offer.
Having used this strategy successfully for several years, I can distinguish between three categories.
Customers who are not happy and are about to strike. Customers looking for help and often unhappy. Customers who are looking for an alternative either because they have not yet decided or want to make a change.
Good SEOs are often familiar with this approach. The SaaS industry has used the comparison route with competitor comparison landing pages for some time. The idea is pretty much the same and syncs perfectly between SEO and PPC.
Let’s go deeper into the three categories and visualize them with examples. Let’s imagine you’re in a contract-based industry, such as telephone, cable, or insurance.
These types of lead generation companies are a good example because there is always movement in the market. Consumers almost always need these services, but due to high competition, they are also often open to comparing offers.
1. Orientation to people looking for alternatives and comparison of the competition
You can target people looking for competitor alternatives or by comparing your brand to various competitors.
A possible campaign structure might look like this:
An easy structure allows us to target people who are looking for an alternative to competitors 1 and 2. These people have probably searched the market. They are actively looking for different services or suppliers or currently have a contract with a competitor and are looking to prepare their exit and switch contracts.
These campaigns can work well if you can offer a competitive offer and your products are similar to compare. Let’s say your product is not a replacement for a competitor’s product, but a similar product. In this case, it can be a little more complicated, as these people are usually convinced of the changed features or details that your service or product offers.
To put it simply: it should work if your product is close to a 1:1 replacement.
Let’s look at a second example. Imagine the streaming industry. Let’s say someone is currently with Netflix and wants to switch because of pricing, or is no longer satisfied with the series collection.
If they’re looking for a competitor, other streaming services like Disney+, Amazon Prime, or maybe Apple TV+ could have a decent chance of winning over that customer.
If this customer was specifically looking for an exclusive series, this would not work, as the customer would not be looking for an alternative.
The comparison approach is quite similar to the “alternative” approach. Consumers typically compare when they are close to signing up for a service and are very early in the funnel. Most likely they are trying to determine important differences and get pricing information.
These consumers can be easily targeted with a comparison approach or through “why” searches.
For a direct “competitor 1 vs. your brand” or “competitor 1 vs. competitor 2” setup, the landing page should offer comparison tables and explain why your offer is better.
To stick with the streaming example, you can highlight the number of movies and series you offer by showing that you bring the highest quality streaming at an incredible price, so consumers understand that you are the best provider of the market
The second approach of using “why” questions is also interesting, but only works when dealing with more well-known brands, as the search volume may be too low for newer companies.
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2. Target people who are looking to get rid of your competitor
My favorite group to target is prep-ready consumers. They have decided to change.
Some already have a new supplier in mind and some don’t. They’re often frustrated with their current service, so if you prioritize customer service, it’s easier to win them over.
Your campaign structure could be built like this:
Again, it really comes down to the specific industry or service, but you can experiment with different approaches. You can use simple keywords like ‘cancellation’, ‘termination’ and ‘cancellation’, or you can go further with ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.
Service-based businesses, especially online ones, often make cancellation a hassle. Some even create obstacles, burying support and cancellation options. Although it is considered an abandonment prevention, it is usually frustrating for customers.
Legal requirements vary by country, but potential customers can generally grant you a power of attorney to handle cancellation and transition to your service. This shows a high level of trust and can often be automated, reducing manual work for you.
Taking care of everything from the beginning leads to happy customers, positive reviews and greater patience in case problems arise early in the contract.
The last group I would like to include is the support intent group. Now, I have to say, this is kind of a gamble because it can go either way.
People are searching for your competitor using keywords like “support,” “hotline,” “service,” “contact,” and the like. They can:
You have a normal support request without any deeper meaning. This means that they would not be interested in your ad. They just couldn’t find a way to contact support. You are looking for a contact because they are dissatisfied or satisfied with something and are there to complain, ask for help or ask for an improvement.
The second group is valuable because they are open to switching providers, even if not immediately. You can position your brand in front of them, letting them know you have an offer if they’re thinking about switching. It’s kind of an upper-funnel search approach to this topic of competition, but it can generate a lot more volume.
By showing this group that customer service is your top priority and that you care and are available, you can leave a positive impression and potentially win new customers. Many other factors should also be checked, such as pricing and the competitiveness of the offer, but support is often underestimated.
Customer support is often thought of as a cost, but it can actually generate benefits indirectly. Happy customers tend to stay longer, are less likely to leave and are more likely to refer you to others. It may be difficult to measure directly in the short term, but in the medium and long term, customer satisfaction plays an important role.
Here’s a possible campaign structure:
Attract customers from your PPC competition
Targeting competitor audiences based on intent and search action beats traditional brand bidding tactics that are too broad and generic. Extending this approach to upper funnel formats improves its effectiveness.
The immediacy of search ads is especially powerful for addressing pressing needs, such as churn or customer support. Be sure to tailor your strategy to industry-specific behaviors. Adopting action-based targeting opens up possibilities to engage with audiences at the right time and achieve meaningful results.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
