When it comes to optimizing your PPC (Pay Per Click) account, there are a few more factors to consider than just using dynamic keyword insertion within your ad.
Let’s firstly assume you’ve set up your account, campaign and ad groups correctly by grouping your keywords by singular topics. This could be a separate ad group for every product or service you offer or it could be different ad groups across one product if it has various keywords. If you want to know more about finding the right keywords, read Where to start with Keyword Research.
Now that you have all of your keywords in relevant ad groups, you can write or optimise your ad copy to increase your CTR (click through rate). In the increasingly competitive environment of search engine marketing, most advertisers know what makes up a keyword’s Quality Score or Quality Index and that dynamic keyword insertion is the quickest way to ensure you’ve covered the quality score basics. The trouble with this is almost every other advertiser on the SERP (search engine results page) is using dynamic keyword insertion as well. Now you may win out over your competitors if you’ve done your homework and incorporated all of the long-tail keywords and set them to exact or phrase match, in which case your ad copy will provide an exact match to the searched keyword. This is easy for 3 or 4 word phrases but this won’t give you a competitive edge on broad keyword searches.
What now? It’s back to marketing basics where you need to identify your USP (unique selling proposition) or key differentiator between your business and your competitors. Create an offer, not just a quick keyword insertion ad, after all, it is a form of promoting your products and services and it always represents your brand.
According to Drayton Bird’s 19 search engine marketing offers that work (p302), it pays to constantly test your offer to determine if some variation might improve response. Here are some ideas to start:
- discounts
- rebates
- free trials
- easy terms
Searchers can be motivated to take action based on the following:
Retailers:
- Reputation
- Scope/width/depth of selection
- Payment terms/options/methods
- Features of retailer
- Turn features into benefits of retailer
- Unique selling proposition of retailer
Suppliers of product/service:
- Reviews
- Price range
- Brand names
- Product features
- Product benefits
- Unique selling proposition of product/service
