One size certainly does not fit all in PPC advertising. The strategies that drive success in e-commerce often differ from those needed for effective lead generation.
Lead generation using PPC is more difficult than e-commerce.
There are more obstacles and numerous sales funnel strategies to navigate.
In addition, major ad networks often favor e-commerce brands because of their new features and educational resources.
This article was not written to complain, but to explore the nuanced approaches required for each, highlighting key lead generation strategies such as preventing fraud, tracking micro KPIs, and navigating the complexities of revenue tracking.
The challenges of lead fraud
Lead generation campaigns face the persistent challenge of lead fraud, which can skew performance data and drain budgets. This can be true for display, video and cross-network campaigns.
Unlike e-commerce, where the end goal of a transaction requires a credit card payment, lead generation can be susceptible to fraudulent leads due to naturally low barriers to entry.
Because placement targeting and bidding is largely algorithm-based, obscure content publishers have realized that generating false conversions for an advertiser will cause algorithms to serve more ads to their websites and YouTube channels, and even bid higher.
For the advertiser, even if invalid click activity is captured and credited by Google, fraudulent leads generate false signals, making it difficult to optimize and determine a campaign’s true performance.
Effective strategies to counter fraud clues and keep your data clean include implementing advanced verification techniques. Using CAPTCHA should be a given.
Look to include complex conversion criteria, manually exclude spammy locations, and avoid hotbeds to improve lead quality, such as kids’ apps and websites on parked domains.
Analyze the locations where your ad was shown in Google Ads and sort them by conversion rate. Manually copy and paste the channels or websites into your browser. In the main generation, if the performance is too good to be true, it probably is.
Also, despite Google’s claims to the contrary, using video enhancements to expand your video formats has been found to result in low-quality placements and leads. As a best practice, disable this Google Ads setting for video campaigns.
Dig deeper: Paid prospecting for lead generation: tips for new accounts with limited budgets
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Funnels and micro KPIs
Ecommerce funnels are usually simple. A potential customer enters the funnel, browses the products and adds them to the cart. The simplicity of this funnel allows for clear strategies and optimizations.
Lead generation funnels, on the other hand, are much more complex. They can include various lead capture tools such as free downloads, assessments, webinars and form submissions, each industry requires a different approach.
Whether in e-commerce or lead generation, the importance of email capture as a micro KPI cannot be overstated. Capturing an email address provides a crucial touchpoint for reactivation and building long-term relationships, especially considering that most visitors will not convert on their first visit.
Micro KPIs, as defined here, are incremental goals that lead to the ultimate goal (ie, revenue in the bank). However, they are just as important because they lead you to the bottom line. Micro KPIs can include email captures, email-to-purchase conversion rates, qualified marketing leads, and cart additions.
In e-commerce, capturing an email can lead to purchases through follow-up marketing. Lead generation is the starting point for nurturing leads throughout the sales cycle, gradually building trust and moving leads closer to conversion.
Especially if your lead generation goal is in-depth, such as an application form or assessment, consider prioritizing an email capture or lead magnet for more relationship-building potential.
Whether it’s e-commerce or lead generation, micro KPIs should be measured and focused on the campaign. For example, a top-of-funnel campaign will contribute more effectively to the bottom line goal of generating revenue if it is optimized towards a micro KPI compared to purchases or sales-qualified leads .
For e-commerce, a top-of-funnel campaign optimized for adding carts will fuel more fire for remarketing and total new customers. For lead generation, the conversion optimization goal for a top-of-funnel campaign should be email activations.
If revenue is the goal at the end of the day, micro KPIs will get you there, but they will be different for e-commerce and lead generation.
Dig deeper: Top 5 paid search B2B lead generation strategies
Income tracking
One of the biggest advantages that eCommerce has over lead generation is the simplicity of revenue tracking. In e-commerce, the purchase transaction is done online, facilitating measurement and informed adjustments.
In contrast, lead generation involves multiple steps and interactions before a potential customer can generate revenue. The sales cycle can be long and is often completed offline, which introduces a level of complexity in tracking and attributing revenue. Tracking lead quality is vital to fine-tuning strategies and ensuring that every lead generation effort is profitable.
The steps or integrations required to incorporate your CRM and offline data into your PPC campaigns will pay dividends due to improved insights. The ability to analyze the performance you’re getting can be used to identify where customers are coming from and, more importantly, where your ad buy isn’t generating leads.
Effective lead management systems and CRM integrations are essential for analyzing lead quality. They help bridge the gap between online marketing efforts and offline sales results, providing a clearer picture of campaign effectiveness and areas for improvement.
Tailoring your approach to PPC success
PPC advertising for e-commerce and lead generation require distinctly different strategies and mindsets.
While e-commerce benefits from simple transactional metrics, lead generation requires a deeper engagement with potential customers over a longer period. Both require a good understanding of the customer journey, a strategic approach to new customer development and meticulous attention to micro KPIs.
By mastering these elements, marketers can tailor their PPC campaigns to meet the unique demands of their target results, whether it’s immediate sales or cultivating leads for future revenue.
Dig deeper: Driving lead generation with paid media: What’s new and what’s happening
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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