Four Steps to Creating a Google Adwords Campaign Like a Boss
So you’ve decided to embark upon your first Adwords campaign. Profitable advertising, mega conversion rates and website popularity are the keywords flashing through your brain right now. But Adwords can be a tricky temptress; many advertisers fail to read the market and create mediocre campaigns that end up as costly failures.
Here, we outline four steps to creating a successful Adwords campaign to make sure you don’t deposit more money in Google’s empire than your own bank account.
Here, we outline four steps to creating a successful Adwords campaign to make sure you don’t deposit more money in Google’s empire than your own bank account.
1. Understanding Customer Demand
The first question you must ask yourself is: Should I be investing in Adwords at all? If people aren’t searching for your product or service on Google, there’s really no point of an Adwords campaign.
We’ve already talked about Google’s Keyword Tool. Basically, it lets you know the popularity of any keyword you choose to enter along with other relevant phrases people are using on the search engine. Google will also tell you how often these keywords are entered and the amount it would cost you to advertise on each keyword. This cost-per-click of every keyword helps you determine your budget for the Adwords campaign.
Once you’ve understood what your potential customers are looking for, you can move on to figuring out whether it’s actually worth advertising with Adwords.
2. Estimating Viability
Now that you know which of the relevant keywords are being entered and how much they cost, it’s time for some math.
Let’s say your average profit per customer stands at $400. Out of every 1,000 customers who visit your site, 10 buy your product or service, bringing your website conversion rate to 1%.
Here we bring in a new term called the Max CPC (Cost-per-click). This is a combination of your average profit per customer, your website’s conversion rate and the advertising profit margin you’re aiming for.
The first question you must ask yourself is: Should I be investing in Adwords at all? If people aren’t searching for your product or service on Google, there’s really no point of an Adwords campaign.
We’ve already talked about Google’s Keyword Tool. Basically, it lets you know the popularity of any keyword you choose to enter along with other relevant phrases people are using on the search engine. Google will also tell you how often these keywords are entered and the amount it would cost you to advertise on each keyword. This cost-per-click of every keyword helps you determine your budget for the Adwords campaign.
Once you’ve understood what your potential customers are looking for, you can move on to figuring out whether it’s actually worth advertising with Adwords.
2. Estimating Viability
Now that you know which of the relevant keywords are being entered and how much they cost, it’s time for some math.
Let’s say your average profit per customer stands at $400. Out of every 1,000 customers who visit your site, 10 buy your product or service, bringing your website conversion rate to 1%.
Here we bring in a new term called the Max CPC (Cost-per-click). This is a combination of your average profit per customer, your website’s conversion rate and the advertising profit margin you’re aiming for.
Max CPC = (Avg. Profit per customer) x (Website Conversion Rate) x (1 – profit margin)
So, assuming you’re fine with a 20% profit margin, this is what your Max CPC would be:
Max CPC = 400 x (1 - .20) x 1/100 = $3.20
Remember those keywords you checked using the Keyword Tool? Now that you have your Max CPC, simply compare it with the estimated CPC of the keyword on the list. For instance, if the estimated CPC for a particular keyword is $5, you know that since your Max CPC is lower ($3.20), you can’t afford that keyword.
Too complicated? All you need to know is that your Max CPC is the bidding amount at which you can profitably afford a keyword. If a keyword’s estimated CPC is more than your Max CPC, you cannot make a profit advertising on it. Unless you increase either your average profit per customer or your website’s conversion rate. However, if the estimated CPC is less than your Max CPC, you know you can afford to profitably invest in that particular keyword.
Clear now? Let’s go to the next topic post haste.
So, assuming you’re fine with a 20% profit margin, this is what your Max CPC would be:
Max CPC = 400 x (1 - .20) x 1/100 = $3.20
Remember those keywords you checked using the Keyword Tool? Now that you have your Max CPC, simply compare it with the estimated CPC of the keyword on the list. For instance, if the estimated CPC for a particular keyword is $5, you know that since your Max CPC is lower ($3.20), you can’t afford that keyword.
Too complicated? All you need to know is that your Max CPC is the bidding amount at which you can profitably afford a keyword. If a keyword’s estimated CPC is more than your Max CPC, you cannot make a profit advertising on it. Unless you increase either your average profit per customer or your website’s conversion rate. However, if the estimated CPC is less than your Max CPC, you know you can afford to profitably invest in that particular keyword.
Clear now? Let’s go to the next topic post haste.
3. Finding Out Your Brand’s USP
Now that you have a ‘shopping list’ of keywords that’ll fuel your Adwords campaign, it’s time to focus on your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), which can give you an edge over competitors. In the online world, with hordes of businesses dealing in the same product or service, your USP is the most important weapon for success in your arsenal. Having a good USP will generate more traffic on your website through your ad and raise your conversion rates to boot. Giving your potential customers a compelling reason to buy your product will set you apart from your competitors.
So how do you figure out what your USP is? Like most other issues nowadays are resolved—by communicating. Talk to your existing customers and understand their requirements. Ask them what they think is lacking in your niche or what they look for when shopping for products and services in your industry. If you can offer them that additional ‘something’ along with your product, you have a game-changer in your hands.
Don’t forget, your USP is your primary tool when it comes to writing your ad.
4. Writing a Powerful Ad
Once you’ve found a powerful USP for your business, the battle is half won already. All you need to do is to creatively include your USP in your ad to attract potential customers. But before that, do a little homework on what your competitors are doing and research the ads they are distributing. Evaluating your competitors will help you understand what to do, and more importantly, what not to do when you’re writing your own ad.
A powerful ad copy generally consists of three things:
Now that you have a ‘shopping list’ of keywords that’ll fuel your Adwords campaign, it’s time to focus on your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), which can give you an edge over competitors. In the online world, with hordes of businesses dealing in the same product or service, your USP is the most important weapon for success in your arsenal. Having a good USP will generate more traffic on your website through your ad and raise your conversion rates to boot. Giving your potential customers a compelling reason to buy your product will set you apart from your competitors.
So how do you figure out what your USP is? Like most other issues nowadays are resolved—by communicating. Talk to your existing customers and understand their requirements. Ask them what they think is lacking in your niche or what they look for when shopping for products and services in your industry. If you can offer them that additional ‘something’ along with your product, you have a game-changer in your hands.
Don’t forget, your USP is your primary tool when it comes to writing your ad.
4. Writing a Powerful Ad
Once you’ve found a powerful USP for your business, the battle is half won already. All you need to do is to creatively include your USP in your ad to attract potential customers. But before that, do a little homework on what your competitors are doing and research the ads they are distributing. Evaluating your competitors will help you understand what to do, and more importantly, what not to do when you’re writing your own ad.
A powerful ad copy generally consists of three things:
- Value: Induce value in your ad by establishing your product as more valuable than your asking price.
- No-risk: Online dealing is generally perceived as a risky business. Assure your potential customers of your reliability by offering money back guarantees and such.
- Call to action: Don’t beat around the bush or try to sound too smart. Make it easy for your customer to simply pick up the phone and call you, or order online. Using simple, direct language is the best call to action to attract customers.
One word of caution here: even if your adword directs a lot of traffic to your page, unless your landing page loads fast. you will lose out on customers. Remember attention span of online visitors is short (really short!), so make sure your web hosting company has high internet speeds. Our recommendation? IX Web Hosting gives pretty good services at affordable prices.
Advertisers have made millions from smart Adwords campaigns. But if done wrong, you can end up draining your advertising budget with no turnover to show for it. Using the steps mentioned above, and with your own innovations along the way, you can capitalize on Google’s might to make your first Adwords campaign a resonating success story.
Another ‘little thing’ we’d recommend for your copy is the use of ellipses. They tend to make things a tad too dramatic if you spray them all over the place, but with the right placement, you can get more clicks out of your ad.
In fact, we’ll let you decide whether they work. Which one of the two ads would you rather click?
Become an expert in English.
30 days is all it takes.
Become an expert in English.
30 days is all it takes…
You decide…
Smart ads can really boost your click and conversion rates. Researching keywords for targeting and landing pages are important too, but at the end of the day, it is your ad that will attract viewers and bring them a step closer to doing business with you. Try these tips the next time you’re writing your ad, and your feedback on the comments section is always welcome. Good luck!
In fact, we’ll let you decide whether they work. Which one of the two ads would you rather click?
Become an expert in English.
30 days is all it takes.
Become an expert in English.
30 days is all it takes…
You decide…
Smart ads can really boost your click and conversion rates. Researching keywords for targeting and landing pages are important too, but at the end of the day, it is your ad that will attract viewers and bring them a step closer to doing business with you. Try these tips the next time you’re writing your ad, and your feedback on the comments section is always welcome. Good luck!