Running a Profitable PPC Campaign - Help Needed!

[TheBlogger]

Hi,

I'm trying to promote a product/service that is in finance. This is very competitive, but it doesn't matter as long as I make a profit and get a good conversion rate on the clicks I receive.

However, last time I ran a campaign, granted I hadn't had any good previous experience, I got zero sales and therefore a ROI of 0%.

I'm aiming for a 120% ROI but that feels like a long way away right now. Any tips? I don't really want to say what I'm promoting, but...

How can I target people who are actually looking to spend rather than just browse? I have a good keyword list by the way. It's more about title, description, link, demographic etc.

How do I maximize conversion rates?

Can I keep CPC low? Will it really affect conversion rates since a human is a human and a click is a click, no matter what PAGE the ad was clicked on?

Thanks, I want to run a second campaign and I have 1000 GBP to spend which is about 1600 USD. But I really can't afford losing it and I need to at least break even, but preferably make a 1.2 ROI (20% profit).

Really looking forward to your advice! I wish I could afford to pay you for your time. Maybe I will be able to if my second campaign is successful, I'd stay in touch and be more than happy to. Not looking to run it extremely soon though, it's vital that I break even really so I need to get it right!

I'll stop blabbing,

Thanks again!

[options]

Hello fellow englishmen, ppc is a tough nut to crack, have you done your homework with your keywords?

I would imagine finance is going to be vey competive and cost you alot of money per click. have you looked at longtailed keywords? this might help get the ppc down but lower conversions.

Its tough times at the moment for everyone so getting people to spend money is even harder.

Why not put aside a few hundred quid and see if you get good conversions.

Also 20% roi is not really good enough, £1000 invested and return is £1200 not great.

[TheBlogger]

Originally Posted by options

Hello fellow englishmen, ppc is a tough nut to crack, have you done your homework with your keywords?

I would imagine finance is going to be vey competive and cost you alot of money per click. have you looked at longtailed keywords? this might help get the ppc down but lower conversions.

Its tough times at the moment for everyone so getting people to spend money is even harder.

Why not put aside a few hundred quid and see if you get good conversions.

Also 20% roi is not really good enough, £1000 invested and return is £1200 not great.

Thanks for the reply, like your profile picture - have you been watching An Idiot Abroad? Haha.

But back on topic, I meant 20% ROI minimum, if that's too low then I'm glad because 20% ROI would make me happy! Last campaign didn't even break even as mentioned.

Yes some are long tail some are regular, short keywords but I used a very low CPC (between £2-5 per click) when some of the keywords can go for up to £20, probably more, for first page. But a click is a click, right? My keyword list is good, I got it from another guy who is a very successful affiliate and is helping me a out a little. The keywords are general though not demographically niche.

So I just need help on how to get the conversion rate up to a maximum - I really want to break even, I don't want to just set aside a few hundred and watch it go, I have to be 99% certain that I'll make it back as I'm young and tight on money!

[TheBlogger]

Any further help? Is AdWords the way to go or should I look at other options?

I want to use my money soon but I want to be 99% sure I make a positive ROI and at least break even.

Please help me out!

[dburk]

Hi TheBlogger,

There are numerous things that can effect conversion rates. The proper keyword selection should not be overlooked. Even though you think you have chosen the correct keywords, there is no way to be certain of that until you test them. I would not trust the average affiliate marketer to select the best keywords. He may have the knowledge, but even so, you must test to verify.

Avoid keywords that might be ambiguous. If the searcher is looking for something other than your offer, you will not only experience a low conversion rate you will have a low CTR, which seriously harms your CPC. Take care to select keywords used by searchers that are in the purchasing phase of the buying cycle.

Be sure to use only exact match keywords to extend your limited ad budget.

The ad text you create must be relevant to the keyword selected. If your ad text isn't extremely relevant there may be a disconnect with the user's intended search, this lowers CTR, which in turn increases CPC.

Target the best landing page. Often the best landing page for your ad isn't your homepage. You should select the most relevant page for the keyword you are targeting. This might be a product detail page, or the order form page. Putting too many choices in front of a potential customer will always lower conversion rates. Make sure that everything that is promised in the ad text is prominent on the landing page. Don't allow there to be disconnect in the message between the ad text and the landing page content.

Is your landing page optimized for conversions? I could write several books on landing page design and conversion optimization. If you are not an expert in landing page optimization, you should consider hiring a professional. It will be much cheaper than trying to learn it all on your own using your personal funds for testing. It doesn't matter how well you setup your ad campaign if your landing page isn't optimized for conversions, it will be wasted.

One thing that I have learned about advertising for financial services, it often only works well when you are the top advertisers. There are certain markets where the buyers almost always click the top ad and buy mainly from the first site contacted. The potential customers that click all the ads and compare offers on different websites are often just "kicking the tires" and not real buyers. It seems most people prefer to limit the number of people they will discuss personal financial matters with and as a result rarely contact more than one firm.

[TheBlogger]

Thanks.

I've been looking into all of those things today.

Next time I think I'm going to use longtail keywords, exact match, focus on buyers and use ads with my keywords in there so they show up bold etc and for higher CTR/less CPC.

One thing though: conversion rates. I'm going to be sending the clickers to a registration page.

Now I worked out I need a 10% conversion rate to break even, though sales differ, it could be 5% or even 2.5%, but 10% would be a safe bet. Do you think this is realistically possible to achieve, with everything executed correctly?

I'd PM you but I can't (less than 50 posts).

EDIT
Also I need to find the encouragement to put my money on the line, since I've already gone through around £250 with no return... I didn't do everything right, but I'd expect at least one sale? And I need a 10% conversion rate max next time!

[dzoaffiliate]

OK I will share one of my gems with you....
I do 70% Adwords, 20% AdCenter and only 10% 7Search !! But 7Search is awsome for certain niches. I highly recommend trying it out.

With Google it's all about finding longtail keywords. QS is tied to to how relevent your content is when Google indexes your pages. Do not forget LSI. It is still relevent.

You should be able to test a market with around $200 - $250.
But be prepared to walk away if things do not work out. This is hard to do but trust me it's the best way.

To your success...

[dzoaffiliate]

oh one more thing.
Use DKI - Dynamic Keyword Insertion. I have detailed video on my sales page.
I do not want to spam my link, so just search for TOOLZ and you'll find it.

[Tacit]

How are you tracking your campaigns? Do you control the reg page? If so, definitely install Adwords tracking code so you can actually see in adwords which of your keywords are producing conversions. Once you get a couple of conversions under your belt you can start to play with adwords' optmisation tools, like bidding for CPA rather than clicks.

Are you using broad match keywords? Like someone else said said, using exact match can be useful, but you do miss out some long tail here. I'd suggest using modified broad match and reviewing your search terms report every couple of days, adding keywords that are relevant, and negativing ones that aren't.

PS CPC is mostly linked to CTR. Make your ad highly relevant to the search term, get your CTR up, and your CPC will naturally fall.

[thomashoi]

I have been doing Google Adwords for skincare products and able to achieve 500-600% ROI..... The key thing here is look for low competition but profitable keywords which can be found in forums. Just type "niche" + "forum", go in there and see the common keywords they use... especially the thread title.

Your landing page is very important. Your headline should connect with the visitor instantly. Do not sell anything on that page but do consultative selling instead. Put up an opt-in page and get the visitor's email in exchange for a free report or a discount or free consultation which the visitor will be interested in.

[TheBlogger]

Thank you everyone, I've read all your posts and I've got a good idea.

I might add that I don't control the registration page that I'll be sending the clickers too, so I don't think I can use conversion tracking, but I still think I can test effectively.

I've got a lot of notes from this thread and I'm going to make sure I take note of everything mentioned. Do you think with $800 I could break even in the financial sector, if I take note of EVERYTHING? I just need that extra encouragement to sign away my cash... I guess we only live once, ha.

[Dan Freeman]

Originally Posted by dzoaffiliate

OK I will share one of my gems with you....
I do 70% Adwords, 20% AdCenter and only 10% 7Search !! But 7Search is awsome for certain niches. I highly recommend trying it out.

With Google it's all about finding longtail keywords. QS is tied to to how relevent your content is when Google indexes your pages. Do not forget LSI. It is still relevent.

You should be able to test a market with around $200 - $250.
But be prepared to walk away if things do not work out. This is hard to do but trust me it's the best way.

To your success...

Do not mind if I ask, which niche is 7search good for?

[7SearchBrad]

If you are interested in 7Search.com I can provide you with a general Top Verticals list of ours and can address any other questions you might have. As many people have pointed out, 7Search is a viable option for people to use to promote their offers and sites. Feel free to contact me any time at bstanley at 7search dot com.

[Nak]

Here is what you can do:
1) Start with small list of long tail keywords (may be 50-150) of phrase & exact match
2) Do tight ad grouping of 5/10 keywords
3) Create 2/3 ads for one adgroup & split test them
4)Use dynamic insertion as it will get bold in ad & it will increase your CTR thus Quality score. It will keep your CPC low.
5)

Will it really affect conversion rates since a human is a human and a click is a click, no matter what PAGE the ad was clicked on?

This is not TRUE! Normally people who want to buy will click on first page ad (mostly in first 3)
& take action. People who have not taken any decision of buying keep browsing therefore & 2nd or 3rd page clicks results in less conversions
6) If you are looking for long term business go for optin take potential customer's email address bu giving them some useful related info for free & pitch them your product/service
at the backend...It will give you better ROI in long term..But please make sure your page must be adwords compliant&not the squeeze page..as google will not approve your ads..with thin page
Hope it will help you..

[dburk]

Originally Posted by TheBlogger

Thank you everyone, I've read all your posts and I've got a good idea.

I might add that I don't control the registration page that I'll be sending the clickers too, so I don't think I can use conversion tracking, but I still think I can test effectively.

I've got a lot of notes from this thread and I'm going to make sure I take note of everything mentioned. Do you think with $800 I could break even in the financial sector, if I take note of EVERYTHING? I just need that extra encouragement to sign away my cash... I guess we only live once, ha.

Hi TheBlogger,

Take care that you are not violating AdWords' policy against Bridge Pages. If the only purpose you landing page serves, is to redirect traffic to a different website, then you may get banned from AdWords. You need to include something off value on your landing page and make that the target of your advertising.