7 Signs You’re Using PPC Wrong on Social Media


7 Signs You're Using PPC Wrong on Social Media

If your company is not seeing results from your PPC campaigns on social media, it’s likely that you’re making some fundamental mistakes. Relying on a poorly functioning PPC system is like flushing money down the great, big internet toilet. We’ll help you identify where you’re going wrong and how you can make it right.

1. Lagging Click Through Rates

Having a social media PPC ad that gets a lot of impressions but no clicks is the most common problem you’re going to come across. This is a result of poor planning. Take a step back and reconsider your target audience; would they really find your chosen image attractive, would they really find its accompanying text engaging? While the text may be “humorous and witty” to you, teenagers and C-level executives may have a different opinion.

2. High Bounce Rates

If your website’s analytic data shows that visitors are arriving to your site and immediately leaving, you have a problem. This is the quickest way that people burn their PPC budget. Visitors who are quick to depart are not seeing what they expected. Make sure that the text in your ad clearly and accurately communicates what is on the other side of the link. You can fix this further using tips from #3, below.

3. Landing Pages That Don’t Deliver

Landing pages which don’t follow through with the information promised are guaranteed to generate a high bounce rate. To create a landing page that works, make sure you load it with quality content that is directly related to the keywords and text of the ad. Also, make sure to have a clear call-to-action that helps move the customers down your sales funnel. In terms of retaining visitors from social media, your site will need a fresh, modern design that is easy to navigate.

4. Unspecific Keywords

If you are using general umbrella terms for your keywords, your social media PPC campaign is overreaching. A general term such as “cars” is likely to generate many unnecessary impressions. These impressions have the potential to draw clicks from users who are not interested in your specific service. To fix this, try to incorporate longer keywords, like “auto body shop,” into the ad so that it will be more likely that someone who wants what you have will see it.

5. You’re Not Thinking Negatively

Although negativity is generally something to avoid, it’s actually a good thing when it comes to social media PPC. Properly using negative keywords (when available) will allow you to disassociate certain terms from your ad. This makes it more likely that users who fit your buyer persona will find your ad.

6. You Don’t Know About Geography

If your business in concentrated around a certain geographical area, it makes no sense to run ads all over the country. PPC services allow you to pick specific areas of a city or state while excluding others. If you know the geographical demand for your product or service, use this option to pinpoint where ads will show to avoid wasted clicks from areas you don’t service.

7. You Don’t Know What Time It Is

It is ideal to run campaigns during the times of the day when potential customers will be most active, and likely looking for your product or service–whether they’re actively looking or merely just receptive to the messages you’re sending. Many PPC programs allow you to schedule when ads will show. Correctly correlating times and products helps influence people to spring into action quicker. You can find advantageous times for certain products by keeping track of  topics and trends discussed by your social media followers  through programs like HubSpot.