Posted on December 30, 2013

Post Click – 9 Steps Towards Owning Paid Search after the ‘Click’

If you’re running a Paid Search campaign, you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of what you’re paying for. You need to develop a game plan to get the most out of your Paid Search program, and we have a few tips to get you started.

1. Understand the concept of a custom landing page

It’s time to stop calling secondary website pages landing pages and create a better graphical and engagement experience. Think about this – you’re shopping for a new car, and you search ‘new 2014 [insert make/model here]’. You click on an ad promoting your make/model…and you get dropped off on the dealerships home page and have to manually find your car and the special offer.

This type of thing happens all of the time. You shop for something, click an ad promoting the product, and are taken somewhere unrelated. This type of action typically results in a website ‘bounce’, where the ad-clicker immediately leaves the website, often out of frustration – and you want to do everything in your power to avoid this pitfall.

When it comes to custom landing pages, we want to direct ad-clickers to a page that shows exactly what the ad promised on a beautifully designed page, and little else. This allows a focused marketing oriented experience with limited distractions that may disorient the lead and pull them away from the desired goal of submitting their information.

2. Know what your buyer is looking for

Most buys, especially in the field of eye care, are going to be concerned about a few different things: fear of the procedure, uncertainty about price, and a limited understanding of the process. It is your job to quell these concerns and make the lead comfortable about the pending decision. You should assume that your prospective lead has a limited amount of knowledge about the procedure and make it your goal to ease their concerns as quickly as possible.

3. Create a sales cycle delivery program with engaging and educational autoresponders

Once a lead is submitted, you job is not over. This is your chance to make a great impression on your prospective client with your lead follow-up. By using a mixture of personalized e-mails and autoresponders, you can follow your lead through every party of the sales cycle, answering any questions or concerns that they may have along the way. And with MDprospects this becomes even easier – ensuring you never miss a step of the process.

4. Experimental content will impress visitors

It may not seem like much, but testing multiple versions of ads, offers and landing pages can pay dividends in the long run. By testing variables, we can see what works best for your practice.

There are many ways this can be approached – some as simple as promoting and testing two different offers, or as complex as testing entirely different landing page designs. By testing different ideas and concepts, we can arrive at a more efficient and effective landing page for your Paid Search efforts.

5. Create a White Paper strategy

Not all of your leads are going to want a consultation right away. Many are just starting the process of educating themselves on their subject of interest and may not be ready to schedule that ‘Free Consultation.’ You can capture these leads by offering free educational White Paper as an alternative engagement option.

By providing a free White Paper you give incentive for those simply searching for information to become a prospective lead, encouraging them to submit minimal contact information in exchange for a downloadable paper further educating them on the procedure.

6. Responsive landing page designs for mobile

We’re sure you’ve heard – advertising on mobile is big business and it’s only getting bigger. It’s easy to format and optimize a Paid Search ad for a mobile device, but what about the landing page? This is the page where the magic happens – don’t you want it to look equally great across all devices?

Glacial has recently introduced what we’re calling ‘Responsive Design’ Landing Pages. These are pages that, rather than creating a unique and separate website for both mobile and desktop, will scale to fit the format, regardless of the device. This includes desktops, mobile devices and even tablets – ensuring your landing page looks good regardless of what the viewer is browsing with.

7. Deliver your content in a meaningful way

Findable: Your potential customers need to find your information easy and instantly. Make sure you are where your clients are looking.

Readable: You need to ensure that your content is getting your intended message across easily. Think of your intended audience and remember that just because something is beautifully designed doesn’t make it readable.

Understandable: Is your message clear and concise? Do you have an easily defined end goal? Be sure the intended message is coming across loud and clear.

Actionable: Does your message make someone want to take action right away? You need to be absolutely sure to have Call to Actions that people will care about.

Shareable: Social media is incredibly important in today’s marketing efforts and recent SEO changes make it even more important. Try to create fun content that can easily be shared by your target audience.

8. Remarketing

Not every ad-clicker will become a lead, and that is okay – but what about those who are interested, but not quite ready to commit? In these cases, remarketing is a no-brainer. If you want to re-engage those lost leads this is the way to do it. Remarketing places your ads in front of people who have already shown interest in your services, and you can custom tailor your ads and landing pages to entice potential leads back to your website. As you know, the sales process can often take a long time and this is a great way to keep your business front-of-mind to those in the early stages.

9. Understand your actual cost-per-click

Finally, you want to be sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck to ensure that your ad dollars are efficiently getting all the clicks you can within your budget.

Many Paid Search companies, particularly large of ‘Big Box’ providers, will bill you by a percentage of your total spend, usually between 7% and 20% of your total click costs. This means the management fees can add up quickly, especially on media to large Paid Search campaigns. Many Paid Search companies will even refuse to manage your campaign if you’re not willing to spend enough! Be sure you’re not spending too much and ask to see your actual click costs when you get your monthly reports. Paid Search campaigns can be expensive and you want to be sure you’re spending most of your money on ads, not advertisers.