PPC Management Challenges for SMBs

Navigating PPC advertising can present many complexities for small and medium-sized businesses. The companies face different challenges when it comes to effectively managing PPC campaigns. In this article, we’ll go through the difficulties that SMBs encounter in PPC management and share tips on how to overcome them, ensuring optimal performance and ROI in a competitive digital advertising landscape.

Table of Contents:

1. What is PPC Advertising?
2. Why is PPC Advertising Beneficial for SMBs?
3. Key PPC Management Challenges Faced by SMBs
4. VIDEN as Your PPC Expert

What is PPC Advertising?

PPC (Pay-Per-Click advertising) is a digital advertising approach in which advertisers pay a fee for each click on their ad. It’s often linked with search engine advertising, where ads appear on search engine results pages. Advertisers bid for ad placement in the sponsored section of search engines based on keywords relevant to their business. When a user searches for one of your chosen keywords, your ad may show up. And if the user clicks on your ad, you’re charged a fee. 

PPC advertising presents a number of benefits and challenges for SMBs. Implementing a PPC campaign is one of the most effective ways to grow your brand presence and generate new leads. But that’s only if you’re doing it right. 

Why is PPC Advertising Beneficial for SMBs?

1. Quick entry with fast results. Unlike organic search engine optimization (SEO), which can take time to show results, PPC can generate traffic to your website. Right away PPC advertising immediately gets your small business noticed, putting it front and center in search engine results. 
2. PPC is a cost-effective solution. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making it a cost-effective option for businesses with limited marketing budgets. You can set your budget and control how much you spend each day. 
3. It’s measurable and trackable. You can see high-level performance details, such as how many people click on your ads, which keywords drive the most traffic, and how much each conversion costs you. In fact, SMBs invest seven times more in PPC than SEO. 

Key PPC Management Challenges Faced by SMBs

Let’s dive deep into the challenges small and medium-sized businesses can face.

1. You Are Struggling With Aligning Advertising Goals With Business Objectives

What is your goal? To align a PPC campaign’s success with your business’s overall success can be challenging. PPC advertising can be highly effective but requires clear objectives to ensure success. Consider your desired customer actions, whether calling, visiting your store, exploring your website, etc. Identify what exactly you want to achieve with your PPC campaign. This assessment will allow you to properly align the PPC campaign with your goals and guide your strategy. 

Note that boosting clicks and website traffic with paid campaigns might seem great, but you’re just throwing money away if those leads don’t transfer into actual customers and revenue.

2. You Have Difficulties in Identifying Your Target Audience

To effectively reach the right people with PPC, you should identify your target audience. This involves pinpointing the specific demographic or group of people who are most likely to be interested in your product or service.

Remember that randomly targeted ads will cost you time and money. If you just put your ad out there for everyone to see, you’ll end up squandering your cash on folks who couldn’t care less about your product or services. 

With Google Ads, you can pinpoint your audience directly. You can target them by age, gender, location, hobbies, or interests.

3. You Are Struggling With a Low Budget and The Challenge of Maintaining it

How much can I afford to spend on digital ads? Small businesses usually have limited advertising budgets. PPC typically costs them $100–$5,000. However, these costs can vary depending on your industry, ad network, and whether you work with an agency or freelancer to manage your campaign. Also, the cost of clicks can add up fast, especially if you’re getting a lot of clicks. 

Keep in mind that your ads will reach your target audience as long as you have the budget. Once your budget runs out, your ads will not be shown. 

25% of companies’ marketing budget is allocated to PPC advertising, and 7% blowing 90% of their budget on PPC.  

23% of businesses revealed that they spend from $5,001 to $10,000 per month on PPC, while 21% pay agencies for PPC and 26% pay freelancers for PPC.

By 2024, the average monthly cost of PPC ranges from $100 to $10,000, as reported by 45% of respondents. Generally, businesses shell out between $0.11 to $0.50 per click and $0.51 to $1.00 per 1000 impressions on platforms such as Google Ads.

Remember that there’s a risk of overspending. If you’re not keeping a close eye on your budget and monitoring your spending, expenses could shoot up, which could affect your entire marketing budget. 

Regardless of your campaign’s success, understanding when to halt is crucial. Once your budget is depleted, it’s time to pause and assess the campaign. Conduct a thorough examination to identify effective strategies and those that fell short. Use the insights gained from this evaluation in your next campaign.

Google Display Advertising and Google Shopping offer affordable cost-per-click options. Considering which platform you choose also influences your budget because different PPC platforms can have different price tags. Google Keyword Planner can help you estimate the CPC bid for each keyword. 

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4. You Are Struggling With Keywords and Copy

One of the cornerstones of SMBs is effective keyword research and its selection. How many keywords should be utilized? What types of keywords are better to use? These questions can be really confusing. When it comes to ad campaigns, no keyword list should be set in stone. We advise you to follow these tips:   

• Target specific keywords. Try focusing on specific keywords that your potential customers will type in rather than choosing the generic ones everybody is using.
• Utilize local keywords. If your SMB caters to the local scene, you should weave those local keywords into your PPC campaigns. That’s all about tossing in terms that shout out your city or neighborhood, where your business is holding it down.
• Add negative keywords. Those are the ones you don’t want your ads to appear for. Tossing in some of these can ensure your ads reach the right crowd with no wasted clicks.
• Use branded keywords. It’s a mistake not to consider your brand name as a keyword. If you don’t show your brand, your competitors will. 

Take note that if you spot some keywords that are really ranking in the conversions, consider increasing your bids on them. At the same time, don’t go all in without keeping an eye on things. Monitor their performance to ensure that splashing more cash yields the desired ROI.

Creating engaging ad copy that resonates with your target audience for driving clicks and conversions In a highly competitive digital environment also can be challenging. The way you write your ad can seriously impact the success of your PPC campaign. Get gutsy with it, using punchy action verbs. Grab attention with your headlines, and make sure your copy really speaks to your audience. 

Remember to keep it simple and speak directly to your customer. High-quality ad copy, as well as images and videos, increases the likelihood of people reading what you have to say. 

5. You Have Difficulties in Determining the Right KPIs and Interpreting the Data

Effective PPC management relies on accurate tracking and measurement of key metrics such as clicks, conversions, and ROI. Small businesses may lack the tools or expertise needed to properly track and analyze this data, making it difficult to assess the performance of their campaigns.

Note that calling a campaign successful prematurely or solely relying on a handful of solid numbers is a common pitfall. 

Take, for instance, evaluating success solely on CPC or CTR. Although these metrics hold significance, making them the sole yardstick for success can lead to a skewed perspective. You might end up prioritizing clicks and traffic volume over their quality and relevance. Consequently, your bounce rate will likely soar, and your conversion rate will significantly decline.

Remember to take advantage of Google Analytics. It lets you monitor user engagement with your website once they click on your ads. You can see which pages they check out, how long they hang around, and whether they’re doing what you want them to.   

6. You Are Struggling With PPC Campaign Optimization

Last but not least, PPC campaigns need ongoing tracking and optimization to reap the best results and it can be a challenge for you. You should consider several factors, including keyword research, ad copy, targeting, and bidding strategy. Your ads may not reach the right audience or generate the desired results without proper optimization.

VIDEN as Your PPC Expert

Addressing these challenges often requires understanding how to research keywords, create compelling ad copy, and optimize campaigns for maximum performance. Handling PPC campaigns well can be tricky and take up a lot of time. If you are finding it a bit much or lack the in-house expertise needed to manage PPC campaigns effectively, consider bringing in a PPC agency to take the reins. Contact us to make your PPC campaign a success!