One of the most challenging aspects of running an effective Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign is that your work is really never finished. Whether due to changes in consumer behavior or online trends, the efficacy of your strategy can wax and wane. If you take a “set it and forget it” approach to PPC, you shouldn’t be surprised when your tactics eventually become stagnant.

The good news is that there are always ways to breathe new life into your campaign. Whether you’re looking for a simple refresh or a whole new way to reach your target audience, here are a few steps we recommend.

How to Revitalize Your PPC Campaign

1) Rethink conversion actions.

One thing you should do regularly is measure your current goals and core initiatives. Specifically, make sure you’re tracking your conversion actions.

Most of the time, advertisers are tracking a number of conversion actions for each account. Some common PPC conversion goals include:

• Completing sales transactions
• Filling out online contact forms
• Requesting demos or estimates
• Making a phone call
• Using a live chat option

You may also have custom conversion goals, or even offline conversion goals that can be matched to an ad click.

Simply put, it’s always good to step back and verify that you’re measuring everything you could be measuring… and, to assess the level of value you’re assigning to each of these conversion actions.

2) Automate.

Ad platforms continue to innovate new options to revolutionize your campaign. However, that doesn’t mean advertisers can simply flip a switch. There’s still very much a need for human guidance and monitoring, ensuring that these automation options are fully optimized.

For example, a number of PPC advertisers use smart bidding strategies. These strategies can be highly effective, but it’s still important to adjust target CPAs and target ROAS from time to time.

As a general rule, we advise carefully reviewing your PPC strategy to determine which components of it can be automated. But don’t stop there. Make sure you’re actively, intentionally monitoring and assessing your results. Specifically, we recommend comparing some of your automated results with results from previous, “manual” campaigns.

3) Evaluate your keyword matching strategies.

Both Google Ads and Microsoft Ads have slightly tweaked their keyword matching functionalities, which means it’s important to revisit your strategy.

Broad match modifiers have been discontinued altogether, and there are many other match types that have seen some changes, as well. If you’re still using an old version of your keyword matching strategy, you may not be getting optimal results.

Some of the changes we’ve seen will actually simplify account structures, allowing you to have some greater flexibility but also making it less advantageous for you to group keywords by match types.

We recommend taking some time to evaluate how keywords are matching, and to consider any structural changes that you need to make for your keyword matching strategy.

4) Take a look at your ad copy.

It’s never a bad idea to assess the quality of your ad copy. However, reviewing your ad copy can be especially prudent following any major changes to your keyword strategy.

Yes, constantly reviewing and revising ad copy can be one of the most tedious aspects of PPC marketing but testing and refining your copy is non-negotiable if you want to get the best possible results.

Also note that, in 2022, we expect to see some significant changes to ad formatting, including the obsolescence of expanded text ads and a big shift toward responsive search ads. As such, it will be especially important to keep an eye on your ad quality and efficacy in the months to come.

5) Consider customer match.

Customer match is an underrated ad targeting strategy. But with third-party cookies on the decline, and first-party data becoming more vital than ever, customer match may be just what you need to connect with your desired audience.

Customer match allows you to draw from in-house data to either reach previous customers, or even to target lookalike audiences.

Note that most of the major PPC platforms have some version of customer match, so if you land on a strategy that works well on one platform you can often replicate it elsewhere. Just be warned that the match rate can change a lot from platform to platform, so make sure you have realistic expectations.

Stay Nimble with Your PPC Strategy

It’s crucial to stay nimble with your PPC strategy. Constantly be monitoring your results, fine-tuning your strategy, and ensuring you’re doing everything possible to connect with your target audience. In particular, make sure you stay on top of the different changes that come to particular ad platforms.

We’d love to help. If you’d like to discuss potential changes to your own PPC strategy, we welcome you to contact enCOMPASS today.