Reaching large numbers of people in a short amount of time hasn’t always been easy. Even with marketing strategies that were state of the art during their heydays, there was often a substantial cost component that made it unrealistic for many businesses and brands to utilize. However, technology has now made it possible to both dramatically boost visibility and do so affordably.

Through the use of PPC campaigns, brands can reach out to target audiences through search engines and social media alike. In order to give those who are new to the PPC game an idea of what it entails, let’s look at some important tips for planning both the campaigns and their budgets.

Outline Goals Early

Before you can generate success, you must first determine what success looks like to you. In any PPC campaign, there should be specific goals for what you want the campaign to accomplish. Whether that be an increased amount of clicks and visits, more purchases or even email subscriptions, gather what it is you want each specific campaign to provide.

With this information available, you can then start pinging links and ad copy to audiences that is optimized for the specific tasks and actions you desire. Establishing goals is also the first step in designing the actual campaign itself; different goals require different campaign strategies.

Select Keywords

To properly target the right audiences, you must first determine which niches and interests your target audience frequents. While your brand’s niche may be obviously rooted within a particular topic, there are seemingly countless keywords and phrases that you can target to reach specific individuals. You’ll want to consider elements such as search frequency and volume, audience size and the amount of competition within each bidding pair or targeted keyword.

After you’ve balanced these factors, you can begin to conduct more in-depth keyword research on the final list of keywords. From there, narrowing down the field becomes much easier.

Experiment

There is no ultimate blueprint that can successfully be followed for an effective PPC campaign in every niche. Even if there were, most brands that would have unlocked its secrets would never share it with the general public. In knowing this, you have to face a simple reality: you have to spend money to make money, and you have to fail before you can succeed.

A huge aspect of PPC campaign development involves A/B testing, which includes the deployment of many slightly different ad variations. Over time, these experiments will begin to shed light on which specific images, keywords and ad copy resonates best with your target audience. This information can then be used to effectively begin pinging links and content to audiences with optimal efficiency.

Optimize Bidding

Last but not least, understanding the bidding process is crucial for success. Most platforms offer thresholds in terms of your maximum cost per click; be sure to carefully research and then set a reasonable amount for this. However, several factors can affect costs, including the user’s device, time, day and specific location. Be aware of this – and make sure you’re not overpaying for the privilege of targeting an inferior audience!

PPC campaigns involve trial and error above all else – there is no easy way to become successful in this endeavor. However, by following the above advice, you can structure your efforts and be more efficient in deploying the best campaigns possible.