By now most people are aware of the need to have a quality website and ranking well on search engines; but whether you or succeeding or failing there is always more that can be done. Pay-per-click campaigns whether it is through Google AdWords or Microsoft Ad Center can yield high returns that justify the added expense; if done properly of course.
If you are not certain what pay-per-click campaigns are, you can read our Beginners Guide to PPC. The true success of any marketing campaign relies heavily on how well you track results all the way through to the sales conversion. Without a proper tracking system in place before starting you’ll soon find your money slipping away without any results.
A company offering a service is going to have a completely different approach than a company selling products. It’s much easier to sell products online than it is a service, so tracking sales conversions is also easier. However, that does not mean a service provider cannot still leverage this unique tool. It is after all the only way you can guarantee yourself first page results for the keywords you desire.
So let’s look at measuring results from each perspective, an online store and a regular service provider.
E-Commerce
If you are running an online store, you are already doing a great job leveraging the power of the web and a pay-per-click campaign can elevate you to the next level. Tracking conversions is easy for you, setup your campaign to bring people directly to the product page, utilizing dynamic ads is a great way to achieve this goal. The next step in measuring your results is to simply install the conversion snippet on the page customers land on when the sale has been completed. After that you are set to easily see the return you are achieving on your AdWords campaign. Keep in mind that you will have to measure your profit margin versus your lead acquisition cost, not total sales versus lead acquisition cost.
Service or No E-Commerce
Even though you are not running an online store, that does not mean you cannot still successfully measure results from your PPC campaign, it’s just going to take more planning and work. The first step is to ensure that conversion tracking is setup and enabled. In this case the conversion will not be a sale but rather a lead, either via phone or email.
If you want to track email submissions simply direct the visitor to a thank you page after they have submitted the form, on this page install the tracking code snippet. Phone tracking is a bit harder but there are options out there such as Call Tracking Metrics that will allow you to track phone numbers. Or you could have a dedicated line setup for your PPC campaign, both will incur additional costs but if you’re profit margins are large or sales are high-volume it could be very worthwhile.
Now that you’ve been able to track leads, the next step is to ensure your sales team is tracking through to the sales conversion. When you receive form submissions you can input that list into your CRM or excel spreadsheet and follow up later on to see if the lead converted to a sale. You have to develop a system that works the best for your company as it will be different for everyone.
No matter which route you take, without measuring results you will never know the true value of your PPC campaigns. If you know the value, that information can prove vital to even further increases as you can then tweak your campaign based on those results. Simple practice indicates that if your campaign is providing a positive return on investment, then you should continue to increase your PPC campaign until you are able to determine your optimum PPC budget, providing the highest overall returns.
It’s not an easy task but measuring results will give you the edge you need to take your overall online presence to the next level and giving you the edge you need over your competitors.