It’s true that you can start making money with an eCommerce PPC campaign nearly overnight. It’s also true that you can lose money with PPC ads just as easily. Worst of all, paid search marketing is plagued by absurd regulations that make it a headache of biblical proportions to run profitably, unlike SEO.
Here are 5 things about PPC marketing no one tells you. Ask your eCommerce PPC management provider if you don’t believe them.
It’s Not About Clicks
It’s called PPC, or pay per click, but the point of the marketing channel is not to get clicks. If you get clicks, you pay for them, unless you have the conversion rate to offset the cost.
With a PPC ad campaign, it’s critical to bid on the right keywords and optimize your landing pages, so that those clicks you earn turn into revenue.
Don’t let the name fool you.
You Have to Spend Money to Make Money
Some eCommerce PPC management providers might get jittery about spending too much money on a bid strategy because of the impact it can have on ROAS. If you spend more before you earn more, ROAS will decline.
But the truth is, unless you bid aggressively on the keywords you need to reach your target audience and earn conversions, your ROAS will also lag in the long run.
Worst of all, if you don’t earn the appropriate visibility for your target keywords to earn conversions, you won’t see a return.
It Is Very Easy to Waste Money on PPC
Anytime you get a click on an ad but it didn’t turn into a conversion, you just lost money. It’s going to happen, but you want to minimize it in any way you possibly can.
This means it is not only critical to bid aggressively on the keywords that will earn you a return, but it is equally critical not to bid on keywords that won’t.
It’s really easy to get impressions on keywords that are not in demand, but if you do get impressions for them and users click on your ads, you’re going to tank your ROAS, not to mention drain your marketing budget.
Be very wary of the strategic shifts and bid strategy your eCommerce PPC management provider sets. Follow it, but make sure you ask questions when it becomes necessary.
If Competitors Enter the Market, Your ROAS Nearly Automatically Goes Down
Anytime a competitor enters your market and starts bidding on your keywords, you will automatically need to bid more on them to maintain impressions and click-through.
This is a gigantic pain but there is no workaround except changing up your strategy and going after other keywords instead.
Your Website Might Get Flagged for Something Absurd
Let’s say your eCommerce business sells camping equipment, and 99% of what you sell is tents, boots, lights, and other camping gear.
If there’s one listing on your website for a small folding pocket knife, out of hundreds if not hundreds of thousands of other product entries, and it comes to Google attention, your entire campaign may get flagged and shut down.
Google has low tolerance for companies that sell products it considers “restricted” including tobacco, alcohol, knives, firearms, THC, and other “weapons.” Just be aware of that before you launch a paid search digital marketing campaign.
Hire an eCommerce PPC Management Provider
At the end of the day, the purpose here is to convince you there is some merit in hiring a competent eCommerce PPC provider that can help you avoid some of these issues. If you don’t have one, it might be a good time to get one so you can keep your marketing strategies profitable and avoid some of the concerns mentioned herein.
