PPC and Lead Generation: Two Peas in a Marketing Pod

November 22, 2014

 

PPC and Lead Generation: Two Peas in a Marketing Pod image 4bmf9hmQ 820x326.png

When it comes down to it, all marketing tactics have one common goal: getting more business. And, why not? Customers are what keep businesses alive and successful.

This is why lead generation is a pretty big deal. As Caroline tells us, it’s all about targeting prospects, turning them into leads, and nurturing them into opportunities. This is where your PPC campaign comes into play.

If you’ve ever run a PPC campaign, you probably already know about all the great stuff it can do for your business. Lead generation is one of the biggies. With some help from WordStream’s PPC University, let’s talk about five ways how to get the most leads out of your PPC campaign.

1. Tailor Your CTAs for Lead Gen

We’re hoping that leads will turn into sales, right? But lead gen calls-to-action are different from sales-oriented CTAs.

When a CTA is sales-oriented, the sale is usually its only clear goal. Lead gen CTAs, on the other hand, appeal to prospects in a way that doesn’t push an immediate sale. They’re more concerned with learning about and educating the prospect. This helps both parties figure out whether they’re a good fit for each other.

Imagine two companies: Bill’s Brownies and Ivan’s Insurance Inc. As you may have guessed, Bill’s Brownies is all about selling brownies. Their main business goal is to get anyone and everyone to buy their fudgy, delicious baked goods. Sounds like a good game plan to me.

Ivan’s Insurance Inc., however, isn’t really trying to get just anyone to buy their products. In fact, if they let just anyone buy their insurance, they could get into some hot water down the road. Given this info, let’s take a look at what each of these companies’ CTAs might look like.

Bill’s Brownies’ CTAs might read:

  • “Buy brownies now”
  • “30% off all brownies today only”
  • “Order your delicious brownies today”

Whereas Ivan’s Insurance Inc.’s CTAs might read:

  • “Learn more about Ivan’s Insurance”
  • “Get a quote today”
  • “Download our free insurance guide”

Bill’s Brownies’ CTAs might be successful at generating immediate sales, but that might not be what you’re looking for if you’re in the business of lead generation. Ivan’s CTAs are more lead gen specific, making them great for getting those leads you’ve been hoping for.

2. Target Your Landing Pages

Once a prospect is on your landing page, you’ve gotten most of the hard work out of the way. You’ve done something right, because the prospect is somewhat interested. But now you’ve got to keep them interested.

Like CTAs, landing pages are geared toward achieving different goals, one of them being lead gen. Tailoring your landing pages with lead gen in mind will inform your prospect about your company while also getting some recon about them.

A good lead gen landing page should:

  • Require minimal effort on the part of the prospect; keep required fields to a minimum.
  • Give your prospect a simple list of benefits.
  • Offer the prospect something for their time and information, such as a discount or something free (known as a “lead magnet”).

It’ll take time and effort (and testing!), but you’ll eventually figure out what the perfect lead gen landing page for your business consists of. Your hard work will definitely pay off when you’ve got all those new leads.

3. Use the Right Keywords

Keywords are one of the biggest components of a PPC campaign, and they can be great lead gen boosters, too. Get your keywords to generate more leads by bidding on long-tail keywords and brand terms that are less sales-oriented.

If you’re going for lead gen, and especially if you’re choosy about your clientele, using keywords that are more specific to your business will result in interested, viable leads for a lower cost.

Remember Ivan’s Insurance Inc.? Some of their lead gen oriented keywords might be:

  • “Car insurance quote”
  • “Ivan’s Insurance Inc.”
  • “Homeowners’ insurance information”

4. Pay Attention to Your CPL

There are a whole lot of people out there claiming that certain key performance indicators (KPIs) are more important than others, but it’s not the same for every company. Certain KPIs are more important depending on what you’re trying to measure or achieve.

With lead generation, cost per lead (CPL) is one of the big ones to pay attention to. By taking the total cost of your PPC campaign and then dividing it by your number of leads, you can calculate your CPL.

After calculating your CPL, you can see how much you’re really paying for individual leads. This will help you determine whether you’re getting as many leads as you should be.

5. Be On Top of Your Campaign

A well thought-out PPC campaign in general will be always a surefire way to generate leads. By bidding on the right keywords, more prospects will find your ads. Relevant and visually pleasing CTAs are likely to make prospects want to click. After some hard work and proper planning, your PPC campaign will be the one doing the lead gen work for you.


Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community

(490)