We all hear the recommendations from marketing gurus and SEO enthusiasts alike: you have to invest in PPC. They’re right: with an ever competitive SEO climate demanding that our websites become more aggressive with respect to content creation and promotion, PPC is a valuable outlet for many. It allows some sites to rank in searches that they would never otherwise be able to rank in so quickly and thoroughly, but it takes money in order to do so. For brands that are just starting out and are on a limited budget, a small yet highly effective campaign may be all that is affordable. We’ll talk below about three great budget ideas for these types of campaigns to help get you started.

Create Surveys First

Believe it or not, you have a lot to learn from the opinions of your current visitors when it comes to how to run a PPC campaign. We recommend that you start pinging users with surveys that are designed to ask both basic and controversial questions. Why is this helpful? Not only will you be able to ask questions that help you further understand the type of person that typically enjoys coming to your website, but you will also be able to drum up attention for your cause and grow traffic at the same time. Whenever a poll is interesting, controversial or asking about current events, people will naturally want to weigh in on the matter. You can then use this data to further refine any planned PPC campaigns, targeting only those demographics that have a strong correlation to your brand.

Create With Virality in Mind

Some forms of content can become campaigns in themselves – without the need for PPC. You may be struggling to put together the funds for a thorough PPC campaign, but some forms of content will carry themselves when designed the right way. Viral content usually has two different things in common: it is aesthetically pleasing in one way or another, and it provides value to those who see it. From artistic creations that please the senses to infographics that address a real yet ignored problem, just about any type of content that quickly gain circulation when following a few ground rules. The experiences from this viral experimentation can then be applied to future ad campaigns: you’ll have a much better idea of what resonates with various audiences and what does not resonate.

Dig Into Analytics

Much like with the creation of surveys, combing through any available data you have on the behaviour or characteristics of your existing traffic base can come in handy for future PPC campaigns. In an ideal world, every single website in existence will have Google Analytics or a comparable metrics solution installed and tracking interactions by pinging users. Assuming you already have this, begin generating reports and inspecting what it is your users enjoy about your website. In this data, you’ll be able to determine in one way or another which content styles perform better, what headlines are grabbing attention, which landing pages are generating the most conversions and more.