July 24, 2023

Powerful PPC Trends to Grow Your Small Business

Learn about the top ten PPC trends you can adapt for small business.

As a small business owner, you are always looking for ways to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to marketing. You can't afford to waste your hard-earned money on marketing tactics that will not work for you. That's why you need to be aware of the latest trends in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

PPC is a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad so you can control your budget. As such, with the right strategy, you can get a high return on investment (ROI).

PPC can be a very effective way to reach potential customers, but it can also be complex and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are some great tools and resources available to help you get started.

This guide will give you a broad overview of the most powerful trends in PPC that you can use to improve brand awareness and conversions.

What Is PPC?

What exactly do we mean by PPC? PPC stands for pay-per-click, and it is a type of digital marketing where businesses can purchase advertising space on search engines and social media platforms such as Facebook. When someone clicks on one of these ads, the business pays a small fee. This essentially means that your business will only pay for every user who clicks on the advertisement.

PPC could be an effective marketing strategy for small businesses. PPC can be optimized to target a specific audience. This makes it a very cost-effective way to reach potential customers.

You get to decide how much you’re willing to spend on each keyword that your ad could match or appear. Therefore, small business owners can easily keep track of how much is being spent on every campaign.

Small businesses typically use a PPC advertising network to release their ads. The most common of these platforms is Google Ads. Since Google is the most-used search engine on the internet, the platform will certainly drive the most impressions.

Besides Google, you also have other options such as Microsoft Ads, YouTube, and Facebook. Choosing which platform to use will depend on your target audience, your marketing budget, and the ad format you plan on using.

1. Automation

The global automation industry is predicted to expand rapidly in the next couple of years. The largest segment of this trend is currently process automation.

With this in mind, it makes sense to employ automation for your PPC campaigns. Even small businesses are now using some form of automation, so it's no wonder that this trend is on the rise.

If you're a small business owner, you know all too well that time is precious. Thus, automation is the logical choice for your next PPC campaign.

With automation, you can set up your campaign and then let it run on autopilot. This frees up your time so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Automation also allows you to track your results and make adjustments on the fly. Automation can help you save time and money on your PPC campaigns, and it can also help you scale your campaigns more effectively. If you're not using automation for your PPC campaigns, now is the time to start.

2. Voice Search

Voice search is becoming an unavoidable trend in the world of search engine optimization. More and more people are using voice-activated search engines like Siri and Alexa to find the information they need. This trend will only grow in the coming years, so it’s important for small businesses to start optimizing their website for voice search.

How do you optimize your PPC ads for voice search?

First, take a look at the existing search term data that your audience typically uses to find your business. Try filtering the results to see if any search terms include queries conversational in nature. You may also filter for results that start with a keyword such as “OK Google.”

Second, use the common keywords in your filtered list on your next PPC campaign. You may also customize your ad copy to help answer search query questions. For example, if many people ask if your business ships internationally, you may want to add a direct answer to your content.

Finally, small businesses should ensure that their content is optimized for mobile devices since the majority of voice queries come from mobile users.

By following these tips, you can start to optimize your website for voice search. This will help you stay ahead of the trend and ensure that you’re getting found by potential customers.

3. SEO Integration in PPC

It’s important to integrate search engine optimization (SEO) into your PPC campaigns. This will help ensure that your ads are being seen by as many people as possible.

Ideally, you would look at both SEO and PPC strategies for your marketing plans. For example, high-cost keywords can be moved from PPC ads to organic search.

You may also use PPC as a way to A/B test your ad copy before integrating it into your organic listings and landing pages.

By focusing on both SEO and PPC, you can target more users at different stages of their customer journey.

4. Video Ads

Video ads are important for small businesses because they are an effective way to reach out to potential customers. By creating a video ad, your business can showcase your products or services in a way that is engaging and visually appealing.

Additionally, video ads can be made to target specific demographics, which makes them an efficient way to reach out to potential customers who are most likely to be interested in what the small business has to offer.

Video ads allow you to pass on much more information about your product than traditional advertisements. With that in mind, you would like the first 10 seconds of your ad to capture the viewer’s attention and ensure they watch the entirety of the video. Users who watch an entire video of your brand are more likely to be curious and visit your website or landing page.

5. Machine Learning

What is machine learning, and how can it be used for PPC campaigns?

Machine learning (ML) is a form of artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. ML can be used to optimize PPC campaigns by constantly testing and tweaking different aspects to see what is most effective for the intended audience.

For small businesses, this could be a total game-changer. Instead of having to rely on guesswork or trial-and-error, machine learning can quickly and efficiently help you find the best way to run your PPC campaigns.

Many PPC ad platforms offer features that leverage machine learning to help businesses decide which keywords return the most conversions. Research these features to see how they can help maximize the effectiveness of your campaign.

6. Diversification

Small businesses typically want to focus on PPC campaigns that are cost-effective. In this endeavor, diversification is the key.

Diversification refers to the act of spreading your budget across different areas. For example, we might use a mix of search and display ads, or we might target different demographics with our ads. Alternative ad platforms include TikTok, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. TikTok in particular is a fast-growing platform that is perfect if you want to reach out to a specific demographic. TikTok ad campaigns have the potential to reach millions of users on a relatively low budget.

By diversifying your PPC campaign, you can ensure that we’re reaching our target audience in the most effective way possible.

7. Smart Bidding

Google Ads include a Smart Bidding feature that can help small businesses get the most out of their PPC campaigns. Smart Bidding uses machine learning to automatically adjust your bids to get the most conversions at the best price.

You can set up Smart Bidding to target a specific conversion goal. Google Ads will also be able to use your historical marketing data to optimize your bids to achieve your goal.

You can also set a target return on investment (ROI) for your campaign, and Google Ads will work to get you the most conversions possible within that ROI.

Google’s machine learning algorithm will attempt to learn the best strategy over a brief period of time. This typically entails a learning period of about two weeks.

Besides saving money, the Smart Bidding feature also saves the business owner’s time. Since you will spend even less time manually adjusting bids, you’ll free up time in your schedule to focus on more productive tasks.

Smart bidding also offers reporting tools that can provide the business owner with deeper insight into your campaign’s bidding performance.

8. First-Party Data

First-party data is data that is collected by a company about its own customers. This data can be collected in a number of ways, including through online surveys, customer loyalty programs, and website cookies.

First-party data is valuable because it can be used to optimize targeted marketing campaigns. Instead of having to rely on cookie-based tracking, companies can instead leverage first-party data to enhance the accuracy and relevancy of their ads.

Services such as Google Analytics can help facilitate connecting your customer data with Google Ads metrics. Connecting data from multiple channels can help form a view of any customer’s individual journey.

This kind of insight can help you plan a holistic strategy for each step of the marketing funnel.

9. Mobile-Friendly PPC Ads

Mobile-friendly PPC advertisements are important for small businesses.

These types of ads allow businesses to reach the large audience out there who mostly use their phones to access the internet. Businesses need to ensure that their PPC ads are mobile-friendly in order to reach their target consumers.

What does a mobile-friendly PPC ad look like? Mobile-friendly PPC ads should be designed to be easily viewable on mobile devices. It helps to add a call to action at the end of your ad that entices mobile users to click them.

Mobile-friendly PPC ads are often less expensive than traditional PPC ads. This makes it a great option for businesses looking for cost-effective options.

By ensuring that their PPC ads are adapted to a mobile context, businesses can maximize their reach and ensure that they are able to connect with their target consumers.

10. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Virtual reality is one of the newest and most innovative technologies that you can use to create stunning PPC ads that will grab attention and convert leads.

Companies such as Meta have already started using eye-tracking technology with VR ads to determine whether to play the ad to the user or not. Creating VR ads may also be an option for businesses that want to target younger age groups since they will most likely spend the most time on VR.

Cutting-edge VR can give users an experience that may mimic real life. For example, businesses can use VR to let potential customers inspect their products without having to visit their physical branches.

Conclusion

PPC is a big part of online marketing for small businesses. In order to be successful, small businesses need to stay up to date on the latest PPC trends. Overall, PPC can be a cost-effective marketing method for small businesses if done correctly.

This guide has mentioned just some of the most powerful trends you can use to improve your PPC campaigns. For example, automation and AI can help speed up the process and improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. Keep in mind, it is important to keep up with current trends, such as voice search and mobile viewers, to ensure that your business is reaching the widest possible audience. Finally, using first-party data can help you collect valuable user information that can be used to improve future campaigns. Using the most appropriate PPC strategy for your business could spell a big difference, so choose wisely.

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