PPC is one of the most effective ways for businesses to increase their online visibility, drive higher levels of relevant traffic to their online presence and boost conversions and sales. As we mentioned above, PPC stands for pay-per-click. Simply put, the term refers to digital advertising in the form of banners, sponsored links and similar mechanisms which are funded by way of a fee paid by the advertiser to the site on which they are displayed every time a user clicks the ad.

Most commonly, PPC ads are set up on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) or popular websites like YouTube or Reddit. It doesn’t take long to get a campaign up and running after it has been designed, with the longest delay usually taking place as the advertiser waits for the advert to be approved by the platform on which it will appear. In order to get an ad onto a particular platform, companies are required to place “bids”. Naturally, for more popular platforms, there will be a greater amount of competition - so the bids must be higher. Once an ad is accepted and goes live, your company will be required to pay up to its maximum bid amount for each click it receives. Analytics systems are used to track those clicks.

There are a number of major benefits to PPC. For starters, if a campaign turns out to be less effective than the advertiser anticipated, they will not be required to spend huge amounts for little to no return. The success of the ad is directly linked to the amount you pay. What’s more, the PPC method makes campaigns highly measurable, as its entire setup is based on tracking user numbers and recording footfall. This is a great way to check whether or not an ad is attracting relevant people - and can inform advertisers of what needs to be changed for improved performance.

How can PPC support businesses locally and nationally?

Digital advertising works best when it is harnessed to reach the most relevant target audiences possible. For example, if you run a local cycle shop in Manchester, your business will most likely benefit from running ads that are visible and applicable to cyclists living within a fairly tight radius of the city. Creating an ad that is visible to everybody worldwide is rarely a good idea in cases of this kind, as the significant expense that this would incur would far outstrip the return you would achieve. Instead, using methods that offer highly specific targeting, such as PPC, will help to connect you directly with the people who are actively looking for products and services like yours. This increases the likelihood of “conversion” - which means the number of people that move from being visitors to being customers or clients, actively spending money on the things you offer. In the case of the Manchester-based cycle shop, seeking PPC services in Manchester would enable the client to narrow down their search event further, as working with an agency with local knowledge can make a huge difference. One of the most significant upsides of pay-per-click advertising is its capacity to target incredibly specific audiences. This makes it ideal for businesses that wish to connect with a local demographic - as you can narrow your reach down to very precise geographical locations. However, this specificity also works on a national and even a global basis depending on your target audience, as you can also adjust your ad to apply to certain ages, genders and other categorisations - and even groups with very niche interests.

PPC Agency Manchester

What is PPC?

PPC means pay-per-click and is the most common type of paid search marketing (although there are other paid media practices that utilise pay-per-click pricing). If you pay to have your business appear in the sponsored results of a search engine (the ‘SERP’ or search engine results page), you pay for each click by a user. These are PPC ads.

We have extensive experience running creative PPC campaigns for businesses across many highly competitive industries.

This has given us exposure to the nuances and complexities that come with account setup, ad approval and ongoing optimisation that make for a successful strategy; and we now have a blueprint for success.

Successful PPC Marketing

A blueprint for success is not a copy-and-paste blanket approach for every client (though some agencies do work this way). It’s merely the foundation. Not only is every business different but every customer for each business is different too. Where ActiveWin excels is putting those customers first, focusing on what matters to them, and creating ads that resonate and convert.

In order for you to maintain a focus on achieving excellence in your products and services, it’s crucial to have a marketing team with technical expertise and a proven track record of delivering success: they handle the PPC platform complexities on your behalf.

Success in PPC requires more than just signing up for Google Ads or Microsoft Ads, bidding on keywords, and crossing your fingers. You need an agency that not only understands this but also excels at it.

At ActiveWin we transform our PPC expertise into award-winning strategies and flawless execution.

Why use PPC?

There are a number of major benefits to PPC marketing. For starters, if a campaign turns out to be less effective than the advertiser anticipated, they will not be required to spend huge amounts for little to no return. The success of the ad is directly linked to the amount you pay.

What’s more, the PPC campaigns are highly measurable, as its entire setup is based on tracking user numbers and recording ‘footfall’. This is a great way to check whether or not an ad is attracting relevant people – and can inform advertisers of what needs to be changed for improved performance.

Successful PPC Strategy

Every client, campaign and customer are different.

But the paid search strategy is tried and tested, and accounts for the regular updates from PPC ad platforms. Years of experience brings with it checkpoints and processes that ensure we cover all bases.

Clear goal setting – Together, we define the specific goals and KPIs for your PPC campaign, and agree how these can be monitored, achieved and surpassed.

Platform and method analysis – Which paid search platforms and methods? Google, Microsoft… Reddit? Programmatic display ads, search ads, remarketing ads? No stone left unturned as we figure out the ultimate plan for your campaigns.

Audience segmentation – We identify your target audience and segment them into personas. At this stage, our aim is knowing your customers just as well as you do.

Keyword research – We carry out thorough keyword research to identify relevant search terms that will convert for your business.

Competitor analysis – We analyse your competitors’ PPC campaigns to identify opportunities to outperform them.

Budget allocation – You want to spend as little as possible and get as much as possible. That doesn’t scare us. We allocate budget to maximise results based on your strategic goals, keyword competitiveness, and audience preferences.

Campaign structure – We organise your campaign into logical ad groups with specific keywords: a solid foundation sets us up for success. This important step means that ads can be monitored clearly and quickly.

Ad copy – We craft persuasive and engaging ad copy that highlights the USPs of your products or services and stops users in their tracks.

Landing page optimisation – We ensure the landing pages you link to are relevant and user-friendly. This step is vital: all your budget goes down the drain if we don’t convert at this stage.

Tracking and analytics – We implement conversion tracking to monitor the performance of your PPC campaigns, allowing us to report against the KPIs we agreed at the start of the project.

Of course, if you have run paid search ads before, we factor an ad account audit in too. With a 30-step list of checks we’ll know where your campaigns have been underperforming and where they are working well. In some cases, you need to start from scratch, other cases you just need someone to really listen to what you need and apply the right knowledge.

It might sound like a long list, but all the above ties into our standard onboarding process which couldn’t be simpler and can complete in as little as one week. Then you’re into our ongoing client service process which we pride ourselves on being the best around. Regular face to face meetings, weekly calls and clear, concise reports keep the feedback loop tight. This means we can leverage your business knowledge to feed into our campaigns, and you’re kept abreast of your digital marketing performance.

ActiveWin, a Leading PPC Agency in Manchester

ActiveWin is a premier digital marketing agency with offices located in Ancoats, Manchester. Our experienced PPC specialists perfectly position ad campaigns and track the performance of each of your ads to make sure you reach the perfect audience, and therefore achieve the best possible ROI.

If you’re ready to see what top-tier paid search marketing can do for your brand, give us a message. Someone from our accounts team will be in touch in no time to discuss what we can do for you.

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Paid Search (PPC)