Get creative with your PPC advertising campaigns and pay less
by Julian Gratton
On a recent scouring of the web for marketing news, I stumbled across this fabulous story about copywriter Alex Brownstein. Fed up of not being able to get in front of some of New York’s finest Creative Directors, he devised a PPC strategy to get himself noticed by the likes of Scott Virtrone and Ian Reichenthal… by playing on that egotistical moment when these guys would Google themselves!
Marketers have for a long time now realised that by focusing on long-tail keywords that have less competition, not only will you pay less per click, but you will also have a higher conversion rate. In fact this conversion rate can be as high as 200% when compared to short-tail, or generic, keywords.
Alex knew that seeing as no one was bidding for these names, he could run ads for as little as 15 cents a go. His direct message to them consisted of “Hey, [creative director's name] Googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too”.
Over the next two months Alex received calls from all of his targets bar one. These conversations resulted in Scott Virtrone and Ian Reichenthal of Y&R New York both offering him positions.
The whole idea behind Alex’s campaign got me thinking, are there any other clever ways of conducting PPC campaigns so you’re not spending a huge amount on keywords?
As anyone who does PPC advertising for insurance, loans, no win no fee solicitors and bad credit mortgages will tell you… PPC keywords can get expensive. In fact, you have to wonder sometimes when you’re paying over £30 per click, whether the cost is actually worth it. So, here are some suggestions that could help you spend less on PPC!
The very, very long tail.
The first place we should start is by looking at what lessons we can learn from Alex Brownstein’s strategy. Certainly if you are targeting key decision makers in businesses, you could use PPC to target them individually with the likes of business insurance. Obviously, this would be reliant on the individuals in question indulging in an ‘ego moment’ and Googling themselves, as well as having a name that isn’t too common!
If you’re selling fashion brands, you could use a similar approach by choosing the names of famous people that relate to your brand. For example, let’s say that you sell Versace handbags, and your prospective customers are big fans of Victoria Beckham… and you just happen to be able to get a picture of Victoria Beckham carrying a Versace handbag. Simply purchase that picture and place it on your site and use Victoria Beckham’s name in your PPC campaign. That way, when anyone Google’s Victoria Beckham’s name, your site will appear… which is exactly the approach Boohoo.com and eBay have taken.
Indulge in a little Domaination.
Teenage boys, they use the Internet for lots of things… most of which we probably can’t highlight in this Blog posting. Converse understood this, and so they created a campaign that looked at the key search terms their prospective customers were using, that their competitors were not bidding on. So instead of bidding on ‘cool trainers’, they bid on search terms like ‘how to chat up women’ and ‘how to kiss a girl’.
They then created a series of micro sites related to these search terms, so they would have a landing page with a video of a girl giving advice on how to chat her up. The micro site would also feature Converse adverts on it, linking through to the parent site.
Converse did this by combining data from Google Zeitgeist with AdWords, the ultimate idea being to “create an entirely new use for Google Search, dubbed Domaination; a platform to dominate search marketing and destroy the perception of the micro site.”
Take a look at the video below to find out more about this innovative PPC advertising campaign for Converse. I guarantee it will have you thinking in new ways about how you can do your next PPC advertising campaign.
The beauty of broader search terms.
‘Car insurance’, now that is one search term that costs a great deal of money to anyone involved in PPC advertising. One way many people have got round paying so much to get their car insurance sites in front of prospective customers is to look at broader search terms… specifically broader search terms related to people who are earlier in the buying process. Or even later!
For example, if I’m going to buy myself a new or used Audi (for the record I’m more of a Saab man), the first thing I will do is search on Google for ‘Audi garage Manchester’. Along with the paid listing I get for Jardine Motors who sell new and used Audis… you’d think I’d get an advert offering to take me to a site that showcases local dealers as well as offering to find me insurance that’s perfect for Audi owners in the Manchester region.
Perhaps that search term is too early in the buying process. So how about we look at broader search terms for after I have bought my Audi. One thing I may want to do is modify the car, in that case I would search for ‘Audi body kits’… a perfect opportunity you would think for any specialist insurance companies to offer me advice on how to enhance my Audi, with local approved body kit shops and links to where to get competitive specialist insurance.
Have a go at getting smart with your PPC.
Basically what I am trying to prompt you to do is to not just accept the soaring price of a keyword, think more about the person you are trying to attract and what else they use the web for. From there you may find some clever ways of attracting customers to your site, without paying as much!
Just make sure the landing page you are sending them to does not disappoint, otherwise Google will give you a low quality score!
If you’d like to have some effective PPC Advertising Campaigns produced for you… why not give Red C a call on 0161 872 1360 or click here
Tags: Award-winning PPC Campaign, Broad PPC Search Terms, Clever PPC Strategy, Digital Agency Manchester, Google, Google AdSense, google adwords, Ian Reichenthal, Online Advertising Agency, Online Marketing Agency, PPC Advertising, PPC Advertising Agency, PPC Advertising Campaigns, PPC Agency Manchester, Scott Virtrone, Victoria Beckham
