By Simone Sangha, Liniar.

Digital ‘pay per click’ campaigns (also known as PPC) are a controlled way to promote your brand, having the ability to reach a greater pool of potential customers. If used incorrectly, however, it can end up being pretty costly.

There are many factors to consider when setting up and running PPC campaigns so I’ll be covering some of the basics to get you started, focusing on Google as the most frequently used.

Setting up. Formerly known as AdWords, Google Ads requires a Gmail account, so you may need to create a business Gmail to start with. Once logged in, you’ll be asked to create a campaign, including setting a budget, campaign type (I would recommend starting with search) and any locations you’d like to target your ad.

Keywords. When someone searches for something in Google, the search engine finds ads that relate to that keyword or phrase. It’s important to narrow down keywords and think about words you’d like to both include, and to exclude. For example, if you sell only sliding patio doors, you might want to exclude the word ‘bifold’. You can do this by adding ‘negative keywords’ that will help ensure your ads aren’t displayed for non-relevant keywords, and you won’t waste your budget paying for clicks that won’t result in an enquiry or a sale.

Create campaign structure. You can set up several campaigns to run simultaneously, with several ad groups and ads under each – see the diagram. You can select different keywords and negative keywords at each level, helping to really target your ideal audience. Set a budget at the start to ensure you don’t spend a fortune to start with. A small budget is ideal to start with, until you get to grips with what is working best.

Remarketing. Remarketing is a clever way to show ads to potential customers who are already aware of your brand – and is why you often see ads ‘following you around’ the internet. For remarketing to work, your account needs to be connected to Google Analytics. Once this is connected you have the ability to reach visitors that have been on your website in a particular time frame. And to target even further, you can display ads to visitors that have been on certain pages, such as showing door ads to individuals who’ve already visited your door page.

Optimisation. I’m sure if you’ve been reading my column, by now you’ve realised optimisation is something I mention a lot. Optimising your ads regularly to update keywords, ad copy and device bids, among other areas, can help avoid a hefty bill at the end of the month. Optimisation can reduce your cost per click, saving you a lot of money while bringing an impressive return on investment.

Summary. PPC is something a digital marketer can help with, but it’s good to have an understanding of this so you can question and challenge. I have only covered the basic elements here, but there is so much more you can do with PPC campaigns. If carried out properly, PPC has the potential of a much higher ROI than other platforms.

Bonus Tip. Focus on keeping your cost per click (also referred to as ‘Avg. CPC’) as low as possible – you should aim to keep this lower than 60p for the fenestration industry.