Pay per click (PPC) advertising can be a cost-effective and successful marketing campaign, only when managed properly. As the budget is predetermined for these campaigns, it becomes imperative for a business to reach the desired results within this limit. Mismatch between the cost per acquisition (CPA) and conversion rates will lead to the wastage of money spent on PPC campaign.

When opting for a PPC campaign, automotive businesses should note that PPC advertising is more than just bidding for automotive keywords. There are many other factors that make contribute to an effective PPC campaign. This article highlights each of the key requirements that can lead to an effective PPC campaign for auto dealerships.

Define Your Objectives Clearly

Generally, a PPC campaign is launched after setting a particular business objective, such as generating leads or sales. Unlike other methods of search engine marketing that concentrate on creating brand awareness, PPC campaigns call for an action (lead or purchase), and not a mere page-view. As you pay for every click, this campaign should be highly defined, specific, and accurately targeted to the purpose of the business.

Select the Right Keywords

Keywords are central to PPC advertising. Your ad gets displayed only when it has the right keyword that is queried for. For an auto dealership, any automotive-related terms may seem relevant. However, general or broad auto keywords (that are highly expensive, as competition is heavy) attract many generic responses. Hence, if your ad contains these generic keywords, it will be displayed to the traffic that is looking for something similar, but not exactly what you offer. This then leads to costly clicks which have no potential of being converted into sales.

With that being said, opt for those keywords which are hyper-specific to your business, such as long-tail terms. Furthermore, these are less expensive and attract a much higher percentage of relevant traffic. For example, if you are a dealer of Chevrolet pre-owned cars, bid on the keyword 'Chevrolet used car dealer' rather than 'used car dealer'.

Optimized Keywords and Ads

The role of a keyword inserted in the PPC ad does not end with making the ad appear in search engines. As already said, PPC ads should call for a valuable action; hence, there arises the need for optimizing the keywords. Here are few tips that can help you in optimizing your keywords:

• Search engines encourage tightly themed ad groups - the keywords in the ad groups should not only be target specific, but also be relevant, should match with the ad copy and also the landing page content

• Customize your keyword for regional search

• Make use of negative keywords to keep your ads from displaying for certain queries which, though are related, but are not the exact match

Optimizing the keywords may result in attracting less traffic, but it will be specific to your business. This increases the click-through rate and conversions, in addition to saving money on irrelevant clicks.

Create attractive ads

A PPC ad, though does not make use of pictures, can be made attractive enough to grab the attention of customers. A good PPC ad should have a catchy line that attracts the customers’ attention and gives clear information. A PPC ad should be informative, make the service understandable easily, provoke the imagination of the prospect, and ultimately should call for a strong action.

Create an effective landing page

Though PPC ads are displayed based on the bid amount, the search engines may remove your ads from the front pages if they are not relevant. Search engines measure the relevancy based on the click through rate and the time a visitor spends on your page after clicking. Therefore, it becomes necessary to create an effective landing page (a visitor is directed to the page on clicking the PPC ad) that perfectly relates to what is claimed in the ad. The message in the landing page should match with the keyword of the ad, so that the customer gets what he has expected and remains on the page. PPC landing pages should be focused on the action (sale or lead) the visitor has to perform. They should have clear, accessible, quick and straightforward information.

Test regularly

PPC campaigns are flexible and changes are effective immediately. This enables you to have control over the campaign. You can easily track the advertising efficiency and make changes accordingly. PPC allows you to regularly test and measure various aspects like cost per click, cost per acquisition, quality scores, conversion rates, etc., for a particular ad group. Hence, by analyzing these aspects thoroughly, you can improve the campaign by working on the problematic areas.

PPC ad campaign is one such marketing strategy that gives instant results and also allows instant improvements. Hence, by managing it effectively, you can get a lot of positive results.