Signs of Success in PPC

Success in PPC varies from advertiser to advertiser. It depends on the market they are aiming their campaign at. The cost per click, the geographical audience and the ad size all will vary the success of a campaign as well as the external factors. However, the problem many advertisers face when using PPC is that they  don’t know  when they are successful. This is why I have created this article. If you don’t know when you are being successful, you may change your successful campaign to a failing campaign. However, before you can find the signs of success in your PPC campaign, you need to know how to analyse your campaign. This could be done from a Part 1 and Part 2 I created of ‘Analysing Your Landing’s Page’s Success’ through Google Analytics.
 
Cost Per Click
If you find your cost per click is high ( I say more than 80p or $1 could be a rough estimation of a high CPC), then you are not running a successful cost efficient campaign. Although, if you find the traffic from your high CPC ads have a higher conversion rate, then it’s okay. However, a low CPC is what every advertiser should aim for: the lower, the better.
 
Click Through Rate
The CTR is as much an important statistic in determining your success as CPC is. A low CTR means your adverts are ineffective in getting your target audience’s attention. You may wish to then see how to create the perfect advert. A low CTR is not necessarily going to affect your campaign enough to cause it to fail. It will waste time for you as the advertiser which is not what PPC is about: it is about getting quick results.
 
Conversion Rate
Arguably the most important statistic in PPC, the conversion rate is the percentage of readers that get fulfilled by the adverts purpose. This could be to sell/make aware a product/service or provide information. A high conversion rate tells that your advertising campaign is getting you the results you wanted. A low conversion rate will make you more aware that you need to optimize your campaign. This could be from choosing a different landing page to learning the do’s and don’ts of PPC. Either way, it will make you more aware of your mistakes.
 
You
That’s a strange heading as a sign of success. But, its true. Deep down, every person knows if they are being successful or not. If they are doing right over wrong. If they are making a successful PPC campaign over a failed one. The signs are all there. It could also be known as ‘common sense’ in some ways. You know if you are making the right decisions when creating and carrying on your campaign. The only mistakes people really make are minor optimisation ones to help turn them into a zero to hero of PPC advertising.
 
In my previous post, P.A.Y. P.E.R. C.L.I.C.K Abbreviated, I said the ‘I’ in ‘CLICK’ stands for the mistake advertisers make, ‘I am right’:

A mistake many new advertisers make when starting up to PPC is that they think they are perfect, there campaign is perfect and will not make any mistakes. Being biased is not healthy, especially in PPC. The objective is to be objective as possible.

You will not be able to find the signs of success in PPC if you are biased. Even if the stats say one thing, you may think another. Objectivity is crucial to understanding success in your PPC campaign.