There’s no denying the appeal of Google Ads (formerly AdWords), Facebook Ads, and other digital advertising platforms when it comes to reaching an audience and boosting desired conversions. Of course, if you don’t have a targeted strategy that includes oversight and the flexibility to pivot, you could end up spending a ton of money and seeing very little return on investment.
The good news is, there are plenty of ways stick to your budget and capitalize on the benefits inherent to these online advertising mediums. Here are just a few tips and tricks to help you maximize your digital advertising budget to encourage targeted conversions and realize significant returns.
Location is Everything, Even in Advertising
In brick-and-mortar business, location can make or break your professional endeavor, and the same is true for your virtual operations, albeit in a different way. For starters, you need to pay attention to ad placement.
You know that securing prime placement will cost you, but is this strategy delivering a commensurate payoff? If you’re shelling out plenty of dough for placement with very little return, consider adjusting to less expensive placement to see if your cost to return ratio improves.
You also want to make sure you’re using geography to your advantage. A local business that focuses ads locally and uses geo-relevant keywords could deliver greater conversions than targeting outside areas that may not garner significant conversions.
Track Selectively
If you’re not tracking results, you’re flushing ad budget down the drain. Of course, it’s important to track the right metrics, and there are certainly plenty to choose from. The main areas to focus on are impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, and of course, overall cost, although you’ll probably have other metrics you value, depending on your specific goals.
Pay Close Attention to CPC
Cost per click is extremely important. You don’t want to waste money on keywords that are costing an arm and a leg but failing to convert. While you might be prepared to give certain, coveted keywords time to perform, you should really reassess your keyword strategy every few months to adjust as needed in support of keywords that consistently perform. Don’t forget to check mobile CPC, as well. Certain keywords may perform better in mobile, and the costs could differ between platforms.
Don’t Neglect Negatives
It’s all too common for companies to focus entirely on the keywords they crave and forget to fill in negative keywords that stop ads from populating for specific related terms. Remember, you want to avoid irrelevant clicks that cost you, but result in no meaningful conversions. Excluding related search keywords that don’t actually match will help to minimize this potentially costly error.
Optimize Your Schedule
There’s no way to sugar coat it – you have to stay on top of your spending when using online advertising platforms, and this means checking costs daily and weekly to see when you’re spending the most. If you’re not gaining significant returns from high-cost windows, you need to adjust by date and time to boost overall performance.
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