We all fall victim to it at one time or another.

When planning your PPC strategy and overall marketing plans, there are so many aspects to consider: paid media, organic search, social strategy, content marketing, the list goes on and on. Over time, we get so caught up in the day-to-day minutia of tactics, campaigns, and ROI that we lose site of the “why” driving our activities. We struggle to find patterns or connect performance back to the bigger picture.

We can’t see the forest through the trees.

Without clear goals, businesses often end up turning to “spaghetti marketing,” where they throw a bunch of ideas at the wall to see what sticks. This may work for a little while, but eventually, it ends up wasting time and budget, and failing to produce the results they were hoping for.

As a business owner or marketing professional, this scenario probably sounds familiar. Perhaps you’ve even partnered with a pay-per-click agency to not only help lead you through the PPC trees, but also provide expertise on which parts of the forest to explore.

Regardless of whether you’re managing campaigns on your own or working with a partner for pay-per-click services, getting to the heart of your paid media goals makes it easier to define the path to success, save resources, and get the best results possible.

What problem is your PPC strategy trying to solve?

The first task to complete when determining your PPC strategy is to get to the root of what your company is trying to achieve with its paid media. What problem are you trying to solve? What results are you trying to achieve? What goal have you been tasked with reaching?

Here are some of the most common challenges we hear from our clients.

“We need to get our brand in front of more people.”
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around to hear it, does it make a sound? Your business may have an amazing product or service, but if no one knows about it, you’ll never be able to reach your goals. Building brand awareness is the first step toward attracting new customers and boosting loyalty among those who already know and like you.

“We need to move prospects down the funnel by educating them on our product/service.”
People rarely make a purchase the first time around. In fact, according to Salesforce, it takes 6-8 interactions with a business before the customer become a viable lead. Offering resources like e-books, newsletters, webinars, downloadable brochures, and other educational content helps inform potential buyers, qualify good customers, build trust, and keep your company top of mind when they’re ready to buy.

“We’re getting lots of leads, but they aren’t converting.”
Getting people to click on your ads is only part of the PPC equation. Without a fully optimized campaign (including effective landing pages), leads can fall through the cracks. Whether your goal is to drive online purchases, signups, form completions, or another action, it’s essential to align every aspect of your campaign with that conversion in mind.

“We need to increase sales.”
The most common goal in digital marketing is to attract direct sales. It’s also the hardest one to achieve. Successfully closing online sales relies on overcoming all of the challenges above and perfecting your PPC formula so it drives people down your sales funnel like a well-oiled machine.

How to see the forest and identify your real goals

If you aren’t getting the PPC results you expected, it may be because your campaigns aren’t bridging the gap between your real business goals and your customers’ needs.

At ParaCore, we start defining goals for both sides long before we create a single ad. During our preliminary intro call with a potential client, we ask questions to understand the current state of their campaigns, uncover the challenges they’re experiencing, and learn what they hope to accomplish by working with a new pay-per-click agency.

This process continues during the kickoff meeting and strategy development phase. Through each step, we keep an eye out for red flags that indicate there may be a disconnect between your business goals and user needs, which may be leading to lackluster results.

For example, if your company is looking to drive more direct sales, but your landing page lacks educational information or a compelling offer, you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle. Customers that come in through referrals or direct traffic are already warmed up and close to buying, but users who come in through paid media are cold leads. In this situation, we would recommend including a downloadable resource or other educational piece that helps inform the reader and build a relationship first before trying to seal the deal.

Staying on the right path to strong performance

Once you’ve identified your real goals and created a plan for reaching them, it’s time to assess your baseline, start tracking data, and define success metrics for your campaign. When our team delivers pay-per-click services, we start by setting a 90-day baseline, which allows time to gather enough data to make more informed decisions.

Once the baseline is set, we use a strategic optimization process to further fine-tune your campaigns and make consistent progress toward your goal. Each month, our Account Managers analyze your campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. Then, we pick one area that could be improved, set a goal for the following month, and develop a plan for achieving it (such as A/B testing a landing page to improve conversions or adjusting keyword bids to reduce cost-per-lead).

During the next monthly call, our team meets with you to discuss the success of that particular optimization cycle and what more we could improve to meet the larger goal. Then, it’s time to lather, rinse, and repeat the process once again.

We want to be a partner for our clients, and this optimization process ensures we never set accounts on autopilot or run the risk of getting “lost in the trees.” Great clients collaborate on this process by trusting our expertise, listening to our advice, and being open about testing new ideas. Together, we’ll stay focused on your real goals at all times and develop campaigns that reach them faster and more cost effectively than ever before.

Need help navigating through the trees?

A fresh pair of eyes may be just what you need to refocus your PPC strategy. Schedule a free consultation with our team to uncover the “root” of your paid media goals and get the results you’ve been looking for.