A common mistake businessowners make is assuming that PPC—pay per click—advertising is only for e-commerce businesses. Although PPC certainly has an important role to play for these kinds of businesses, it also is a potent lead generator for local businesses with physical storefronts. If PPC isn’t part of your lead generation strategy, you could be missing out an effective, efficient way to get your brand in front of a steady stream of potential new customers who are actively looking for the goods and services you provide. Take a closer look at how PPC advertising could help you find new leads.

What exactly is PPC?

PPC advertising is a marketing model in which you pay each time someone clicks your ad online. One of the most common versions of PPC is adverting in search engines. When you search for something, typically, before the organic results begin, there are a few results at the top of the page that are listed as ads. If you click one of those search results, the company that posted that ad pays a fee for your click. Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is the most widely used platform for PPC advertising.

With PPC advertisers bid on certain keywords that are relevant to their business in order to achieve those ad placements. Frequently, if your ads are highly relevant to users, appropriately targeted, and lead to high-quality landing pages, the search engine will charge you less money per click. Think of this model as similar to the way websites are rewarded with higher search engine ranking for good SEO and quality web content.

Though PPC advertising comes at a cost, an appropriately managed campaign will bring in far larger returns than the cost of the click. For example, if you pay $2 for the click of a customer who ends up spending $200 with your company, the return on your PPC investment is significant.

How can PPC generate leads?

PPC lead generation is effective for getting potential customers into the top level of your marketing funnel. The process of using PPC advertising for lead generation is much the same as using it to generate ecommerce sales. The trick is changing the call the action, or CTA.

If you want to use PPC to generate leads, your CTA should focus on ways to bring a customer to you for more information instead of trying to get them to purchase now. For example, while an ecommerce CTA might say something like, “order today” or “free shipping on orders over $49,” a CTA for lead generation would say something like, “get a quote today” or “sign up for more information.”

The ecommerce CTAs are dedicated to converting sales. They want to capture customers who are ready to purchase and incentivize them to act now. The CTAs for lead generation, on the other hand, are facilitating an exchange of information, collecting customer names and contact details in exchange for something beneficial, like a price quote or information that can inform future purchasing decisions. Everyone who accepts the offer and shares their details is a new lead to pursue.

How can I maximize lead generation through PPC advertising?

There are a few things you can do to increase the success of your PPC advertising lead generation efforts. Try these techniques:

• Offer something in exchange for information. For lead generation, you don’t simply want a click on your page—you want to collect information to further develop that lead. Providing something valuable, like a white paper for download or a product quote, in exchange for a name and email address makes people more likely to share their info.
• Have a dedicated landing page for PPC leads. Ensure the click from your advertising goes directly to a landing page developed to match the advertising. For instance, if you’ve offered a free report on insurance to download, the landing page should highlight that report as a headline.
• Keep landing pages simple. You don’t want to overload leads with too much information on their first visit to your site. The landing page should be specific to the information that enticed them to click on your site, and it should be laid out in a scannable format. You don’t need to get all the information across on that page—you simply want customers to leave their information so you can follow up with more details. You can also include links to other pages on your site for those who do want more information.
• Ensure that the landing page has a clear space for leads to enter their personal information. Keep the registration form short, asking for the bare minimum that you need to follow up. Leads are more likely to sign up to hear from you if they don’t think that they’re signing up for a hard sell.
• Use a strong CRM to manage your leads. You can collect leads continuously with PPC advertising, but your efforts won’t be worth much if you don’t follow up with them. A good CRM will let you classify your leads into appropriate categories, follow up with leads using targeted information, and track the progress of your development, so you know which leads are being converted into sales.

Another strategy you can use to manage PPC leads is to try dynamic number insertion, or DNI. With DNI, you can tie phone numbers to specific keywords, so that the number a lead uses to contact you is associated with keyword they used in search. This strategy not only gives you insight into which keywords are working for you, but it also helps you route calls to the appropriate departments, which leads to improved satisfaction for your potential customers.

Learn more about how PPC advertising can help you continually replenish your leads with the help of Salem Surround. We believe the best way to connect with customers is to be where they are, so we help you build a marketing strategy that surrounds your customers and keeps your brand front and center. For more information about how we support your digital marketing efforts, call us at (844) 277-5797.