In digital marketing, it is very easy (and tempting) to separate the various sub-disciplines into their own little worlds.
This is the SEO here, the most important thing.
Then there’s social media marketing, and here’s PPC advertising.
But this is a black and white view.
In this case, I want to talk about the intersection of PPC and great content.
If that statement doesn’t even make sense to you, this article is for you.
Content and PPC data can complement each other in more than one way.
From landing page replication to CPC data to improving CTR, these two digital marketing layers come together in many ways to form a stronger whole.
If we assume you want to increase both PPC performance and content traffic, then you can get something out of it.
So keep reading for helpful tips on using your content and PPC campaigns together!
1. Use PPC Advertising to Get Traffic Fast
The problem with organic search strategies is that it’s nearly impossible to get eyeballs to your website without a solid audience.
considering over 6 million Blog posts are published every day, and without a basic strategy, it’s nearly impossible for your blog post to gain exposure.
Leveraging PPC ads to drive traffic to your website in the early stages of development will give your brand some exposure and early revenue.
Most importantly, the traffic from paid clicks will represent a significant portion of the target audience you are already looking to sell your brand to.
It’s like killing two birds with one stone.
With Google Ads and Facebook Audience Insights, you can gain more important insights from your audience while reaching out to them to gather brand exposure.
Shooting some detailed or informative content can help differentiate your brand further from other advertisers.
Great content and PPC combine more than you might think, so be sure to read where these two digital marketing worlds intersect.
The idea is to focus on two campaigns at the same time and target similar keywords.
Content can be used to inform, and paid advertising should be your conversion tool.
This strategy can help your brand become a top choice whenever you appear in search results for any keyword query.
2. Use PPC Advertising to Drive People towards Your Brand
Contrary to popular belief, paid advertising helps (indirectly) Drive traffic to organic Google results Because they increase brand awareness in the minds of users.
This is because people who watch paid ads are more likely to remember your brand, even subconsciously, when conducting future searches.
Suppose this might make your brand seem more authoritative, or bigger than life.
Brand affinity also greatly increases the click-through rate of repeat customers.
Research shows that retaining existing customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones.
3. Provide a great landing page experience
Even the savviest paid media manager sometimes struggles with creating landing pages that satisfy clients and their vision.
Content marketers are great storytellers by nature and creative in their own right.
Use your creative content to create unique landing page experiences that nurture inbound leads through your conversion funnel.
Visitors who click on your ad may research your site before making a conversion.
Consider the buyer’s journey and how content is applied along the way:
- consciousness: Alert customers to a specific need or issue (blog post, featured content, infographic, video, article).
- consider: The customer is aware of a specific need and researches it (white papers, testimonials, reviews, landing pages, eBooks).
- Decide: The customer decides to make a purchase or switch (tutorials, trials, product demos).
In addition to landing page content, consider providing testimonials, user reviews, and links to related articles for visitors to read before making a purchase.
Not all visitors who click on an ad make a purchase during that session or even that day.
Providing relevant and high-quality content on your website will be a valuable touchpoint on your attribution path that generates conversions.
4. Find content insights from PPC keyword data
If your SEO and PPC campaigns already share one function, it’s keywords.
Use your PPC keyword data to discover which keywords drive the most traffic and revenue.
You can also analyze high-performing ad copy and apply it to your organic content campaigns.
Consider using commercial intent keywords in your content to promote your service/product to customers.
Branded keywords are very successful and have a higher CTR than other standard keywords.
Group your keyword strategies and transfer the success of one campaign to another.
Run A/B tests to determine which keywords perform best in each campaign.
5. Steal as much SERP real estate as possible
Naturally, having two links on the same page increases website traffic.
In addition to increasing click-through rates for both listings, having additional links increases brand exposure and authority in the eyes of searchers.
Although it is true 53% of website traffic comes from organic search resultsPPC advertising continues to go strong in Google today.
Now if you can get rich summaries too!
Actionable Strategies for Improving Content Marketing ROI with PPC Campaigns
Now that you understand the benefits of combining PPC and content marketing, here are some ways to make the most of it.
1. Use Facebook Ads to Promote Your Great Content
using Facebook Audience Insights Segment your audience and target ads to new audiences relevant to your industry.
Promote your best performing content by boosting your Facebook posts to target specific audiences.
Boosting your Facebook posts promotes content and ads to two audiences:
- “People who like your page and their friends.”
- “People you choose by targeting.”
Use PPC ads to build an audience for your content, then use Tweets to reach more people who might be interested in your content.
Facebook Audience Insights and Twitter’s Tailored Audiences provide unique remarketing tools for any PPC ad or promotional content.
Use your PPC spend to build audiences for your brand and target them with different ad campaigns based on your most shared and favorite content.
2. Write irresistible clickable headlines
Use BuzzSumo to discover what’s currently trending in your industry.
Use these keywords and topics to create compelling and relevant headlines for your ad impressions.
This will attract users who don’t normally click on your ad to show your ad.
A/B test different titles for different niche keywords to see which titles generate the most clicks and conversions.
Note that clickable does not equal clickbait. Making headlines relevant to the content itself remains critical to the user experience.
3. Be mobile first
Use images, infographics, and any form of visual content to increase mobile conversions for paid ads.
The rules for landing page content are different for mobile devices. It is critical to enable responsive design and optimize your content for mobile devices.
Some tips:
- Write short headlines.
- Use concise paragraphs.
- Avoid pop-ups.
- Use small image sizes.
- Include a clear call to action.
4. Make killer CTAs to convert more visitors
You should have a clear call to action on your landing page, especially for paid promotion articles.
You can do this with side form fields or a pop-up CTA. This will help convert leads into paid promotions.
People are still debating whether to put CTAs above the fold or at the end of the content.
When it comes to paid promotion, I recommend using your content to grab readers’ interest, then place your CTA at the end of your landing page to get more conversions.
in conclusion
I repeat: I know that content marketing and PPC seem to be worlds apart.
They do run in parallel a lot of the time, and the common area is hard to see.
However, if you integrate proper content marketing into your PPC, and PPC data into your content marketing and SEO, you can learn a lot and start improving your site’s overall performance.
More resources:
Featured image: Dean Drobot/Shutterstock