Stretching Your PPC Budget During Difficult Times

Businesses in every industry are under growing pressure to account for every dollar spent on their Google Ads budget. Even paid search advertising, a fundamental element of digital marketing strategies, is feeling the impact of these budget reductions. That’s why maximizing paid search ROI during times of shrinking budgets requires a strategic and data-driven approach. Here are some key tactics to achieve this.

1. Focus on High-Intent Keywords
   Prioritize keywords that have a proven track record of delivering conversions. Avoid broad, low-intent terms that may generate clicks but offer fewer actual sales or leads. Long-tail keywords, which are more specific, typically have lower competition and can result in higher conversion rates while reducing costs.
2. Leverage Negative Keywords
   Continuously refine your negative keyword list to filter out irrelevant traffic and clicks. This will help ensure that your budget is not spent on search terms that don’t align with your target audience or conversion goals.
3. Optimize Ad Copy and Landing Pages
   Ensure that ad copy directly reflects user intent and addresses their pain points. Craft compelling messages with clear calls to action (CTAs), which can improve your Quality Scores and reduce your cost-per-click (CPC). Additionally, make sure landing pages align closely with ad copy to create a seamless user experience, thereby improving conversion rates and minimizing bounce rates.
4. Utilize Audience Targeting
   Target users who have previously visited your site or engaged with your brand through remarketing lists. This group is more likely to convert, allowing your budget to go further. Incorporate demographic, geographic, and device targeting to focus on users most likely to convert, making ad spend more efficient.
5. Leverage Automated Bidding and Smart Campaigns
   Use automated bidding strategies like Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) or Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) to maximize results. Google Ads’ machine learning can optimize bids based on past performance and predicted outcomes. Smart campaigns also help smaller budgets stretch further by automating much of the ad optimization process.
6. Use A/B Testing to Refine Ads
   Consistently run A/B tests on different ad variations, such as headlines, descriptions, and calls to action, to determine what resonates best with your audience. Improving click-through and conversion rates by refining ad copy can enhance your ROI.
7. Monitor Performance Metrics Closely
   Regularly track key performance metrics such as Quality Score, CTR (Click-Through Rate), conversion rate, and cost-per-conversion. This allows you to identify underperforming ads or keywords quickly and adjust or pause them to avoid wasting your budget.
8. Improve Quality Score
   Focus on improving your Quality Score, as this leads to lower CPCs and better ad placements. Ensure ad relevance by aligning keywords, ad copy, and landing pages. Create engaging ad copy to boost expected CTR and optimize the landing page experience for fast loading, mobile friendliness, and relevance to search queries.
9. Increase Bids on Top-Performing Campaigns
   Concentrate your reduced budget on the top-performing keywords and campaigns that consistently deliver the highest ROI. By reducing or eliminating spend on underperforming campaigns, you ensure that your budget is allocated where it can deliver the most benefit.
10. Revisit Campaign Structure
    Consider reorganizing your campaigns to allow for better control and tracking. Segmenting campaigns by keyword intent, audience, or product categories allows for more efficient budget management and better alignment with your marketing goals.
11. Use Dayparting
    Dayparting, or ad scheduling, enables you to adjust when your ads are displayed based on when your target audience is most active. This ensures that you are spending money only when users are more likely to engage, maximizing the efficiency of your budget.
12. Optimize for Mobile
    With an increasing number of searches happening on mobile devices, optimizing your ads and landing pages for mobile is critical. Ensure a smooth mobile experience by using mobile-optimized ad extensions, short landing pages, and fast loading times to increase conversion rates and reduce wasted spend.
13. Track and Attribute Correctly
    Make sure you are using the right conversion tracking and attribution models. This allows you to assign proper credit to each touchpoint in the customer journey, helping you better understand what drives conversions and enabling more efficient budget allocation.

About ChoiceLocal

ChoiceLocal is a franchise marketing agency dedicated to leading a purpose-driven business as the first and only franchise marketing agency with a money-back guarantee. This has led to successful partnerships with over 50 franchise brands and a spot on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies. Our core values are driven not only by the digital marketing work that is done but reflected by each person who becomes a teammate; we volunteer in our local communities every quarter and make a difference to those around us. Named a top workplace for four years straight, ChoiceLocal is dedicated to making the lives of everyone we are involved with better.