Businesses of all kinds always need more customers to fuel their growth. That is why ppc lead generation is crucial, no matter what industry you’re in.

PPC (Pay Per Click) has become more popular recently and is as important as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in marketing. It’s a goldmine for new business owners or those new to marketing. However, with PPC, all the time, effort, and money you invest can result in nothing if you make even the smallest mistake.

This PPC lead generation guide will give both beginners and pros the ins and outs of PPC marketing. 

What Is PPC Lead Generation?

PPC refers to paying for website traffic rather than receiving it through organic methods. PPC advertisements pay out every time a user clicks on an ad. 

Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC marketing. Brands bid for ad placement on specific search engine-sponsored links through PPC. They use pay-per-click keywords to bid for these placements. As a result, when a user enters keywords related to what their business has to offer, PPC ads will appear at the top of the page. Every time the ad is clicked, the brand pays a certain fee to the search engine.

When PPC lead generation is working properly, the cost you pay becomes trivial. That is because the visit is worth so much more than what you are paying for. For instance, you may have paid $3 per click and it resulted in a sale worth $300, making a hefty profit.

Keep in mind, though, that building a pay-per-click lead generation campaign will require a lot more work. To properly optimize PPC landing pages, you must research and choose keywords, organize well-worded ad groups and campaigns, and put keywords into them.

As search engines charge businesses less for each ad click, brands are even more motivated to create relevant and intelligently targeted PPC campaigns. With lower click costs and higher profits, your business may end up operating more profitably than usual.

Types of PPC

• Social PPC 

These PPCs are specifically placed on social media platforms. They are targeted at groups of users based on their demographics, interests, or data. In most cases, your ads will appear on a user’s feed or timeline. The advertisers decide when and who will see the ads as it’s targeted to a very specific audience. 

• Search PPC 

These advertisements are shown to whoever is looking for the same items the advertisers are offering. In contrast, social PPC ads are controlled by advertisers and are shown only when and to whom they choose. Search PPC ads are shown to all users who actively seek out content or services similar to what you offer.

Why Use PPC for B2B Lead Generation

Here are some advantages of using PPC for lead generation for your brand and marketing. 

Get To Know Your Customers Better.

With PPC, you will get an extensive breakdown of data on how your campaigns perform. The data provided will help you understand who your audiences are and what they respond to. You’ll learn the demographics, location, and even the behavior of the people who click on your ads.

Your PPC lead generation results can be improved by using that information to finetune your entire online marketing efforts. Since you have data, you will be able to demonstrate the marketing value PPC provides directly, and convince the C-suite that it is a worthwhile investment. 

Ppc Allows You To Create Targeted Ads.

PPC lead generation is one of the most direct marketing channels and it prioritizes both quantity and quality of leads. PPC ads are more controllable than other online marketing channels as they give you the power to dictate who sees your campaign.

Social media PPC goes even further and allows you to choose which audiences to target. You can use behavioral data, location, and demographics to reach more people and ensure you are reaching the right people.

Meet Your Audience Where They Are

Every day, 3.5 billion searches are performed on Google. As a result, it’s considered the go-to search engine for every query or need people have. In addition, most Americans (regardless of age) are on a social media platform. They visit at least one social media platform daily.

Using PPC lead generation, you can reach out to anyone with internet access using search engines, social media websites, and even the Google Display Network. The world is your oyster. 

Ppc Offers a Solid Return on Investment

Businesses sometimes resist investing in paid ads for lead generation because they have other alternatives, such as social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO). PPC lead generation costs money, but it is a worthwhile investment that produces an impressive return on investment (ROI). Studies have shown that for every $1 advertisers spend, they get a return of $8 with PPC. 

Ppc Generates Results Faster Compared to SEO

SEO can certainly deliver outstanding results over time, but PPC can provide you with relevant traffic right away. This means you don’t have to wait long for your campaigns to generate leads—leads are going to arrive to you in one way or another based on Social PPC and Search PPC.

Once you have established a strong landing page and ad setup for your PPC lead generation campaign, you’ll start seeing results on the same day. 

9 Smart Tips for PPC Lead Generation 

You should use the following best practices to get qualified B2B PPC leads.

1. Be Where Your Target Audience Is.

The good thing about PPC lead generation is that it can provide brands with an extensive reach. However, that does not mean you have to reach everyone with your ads, since you’ll be paying for every click—even from those people who aren’t going to end up as potential leads. To ensure your ads reach the people most likely to do business with your company, make sure you are placing your ads where people are likely to see them. To reach your target audience, you must know where they hang out online and identify who they are.

Using ads on the Google search engine results page (SERP) would benefit most brands because almost everyone with an internet connection uses Google. Make sure you limit the kinds of sites you appear on based on what your audience likes when you set up ads on different social media platforms.

Based on how your target audience uses social media sites, you can choose which to prioritize. Facebook has billions of users every day, so most companies choose to focus their ads here. Get Going in Business can help you find a specific market using market-based search.

Do You Need to Automate Your Sales Prospecting Process?

With Get Going in Business, you have all the data you need to find ideal leads, including complete contact information. To find the people you want to reach, use a variety of filters. We can tailor your results to a very specific audience, for example,  specific, you might find all the people that match the following:

• A company in the banking or financial sector. 
• With 15 or more employees. 
• They have used Google Ads. 
• They use HubSpot. 
• They have a HR manager. 
• Who’s been in the role for a year.

This is just to show you how crazy specific you can get. 

2. Proper Tracking Setup.

Data is the key to a winning PPC campaign. Every time you run a campaign, you will get data that you can use for your next campaign. Besides the PPC platform’s analytics, you can further investigate your PPC lead generation campaign’s details by setting up more intricate tracking.

You might want to consider the following:

Track the Conversion Rate

This metric tracks how many times a person clicks an advertisement and then subsequently visits a website, makes a phone call, or takes another online action. This requires having a global site tag on the header of your site, with event snippets tracking conversions on specific pages.

Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI)

You have to set up a way of connecting the calls you receive back to your PPC ad if one of your PPC ad’s main goals is a phone call. CallRail is a terrific example of an automatic phone number generator for lead generation campaigns. You can quickly identify which advertisement inspired a particular phone call using this program.

UTM Tracking

You can use UTM codes to track the success of your PPC campaigns. Every time you create a PPC lead generation ad, you should also create a unique URL containing the correct UTM codes.

You can find out which ads were clicked, where they appeared, what kind of content they came with, which channel they appeared on, and what keywords they were targeted to with UTM tracking.

CRM tools (also known as customer relationship management tools) can also be used in conjunction with ads tracking to make the right connections between purchases and ads.

3. Create Specific Campaigns and Ad Groups.

Using PPC lead generation, you may restrict ad availability to just those individuals who belong to your targeted market segment. Many companies have multiple audiences, each with their own objectives. Creating ad groups to target each ad to the appropriate individual at the appropriate time can help make your campaign successful.

You can create segments for your marketing campaign based on: geographical location, target industry, competitors, brands, and products and services.

4. Each Ad Group Should Have Its Own Unique Landing Page.

People have to click on the ads to see your message. However, what they find after clicking is critical and should include exactly what your audience is looking for. Make sure that every click counts because you’re paying for it.

It’s critical to create a landing page that is optimized for each ad’s promise. Make sure the pages are relevant to the keywords and your target audience. You should also design the landing page based on your conversion goal. You have to block out all distractions so your audience can concentrate on what you want them to do on your page.

Long-form content landing pages are now preferred by Google. Therefore, your PPC landing pages can include:

• At least 600 words. 
• Keywords in your titles, headers, and the body of your write-up. 
• Return policies, warranties, other policies, and any other important information including your company description. 
• Trust symbols and text like reviews or testimonials. 

Make sure your landing pages are not only attractive but also informative. Beyond making sure they are visually appealing, make sure they grab the reader’s attention. The more information they can acquire on the landing page, the more likely they are to click on it.

5. Upload a Form in the Ad.

You can put a form within your LinkedIn or Facebook ad to give your audience the option to convert without leaving the current page they’re on. You can make the conversion even easier by using these sites as they can automatically fill in the form details using the data they have about your prospects. Using this method, you can increase the number of leads by making your potential customers’ data easier to provide.

(Image Source: WordStream)

6. Create Compelling Offers.

To make your audience think that clicking on your ad is worthwhile, come up with a persuasive offer. This is particularly effective for competitive keywords and placements, where people have to choose which ad to view. You can write an ad that pleases your customers with an attractive discount, free trial, or free consultation.

7. Use Negative Keywords.

Finding the right keywords is critical to any PPC lead generation campaign, but choosing which keywords to exclude is just as important. Avoiding wasted clicks by choosing which keywords to keep and which to discard can help you reach your goals more efficiently.

Avoid using “free” and “cheap” as keywords unless you’re promoting a free trial or a freemium tool. When these words are used, your ads will only pop up when people are looking for free things. 

You should also eliminate keywords that suggest someone is looking for a synonym of what your brand has to offer. For example, a company selling computers might want to get rid of traffic from people searching for a PC for business use when they’re offering a personal computer.

You can identify the keywords you missed by analyzing your campaigns’ results over time and identifying irrelevant traffic that went your way, or brainstorming and identifying them ahead of time.

8. Include Ad Extensions in Your Campaigns.

Ad extensions can enhance the usefulness of your Google PPC lead generation advertisements by providing extra information. The ad extensions are displayed as unique sections or links in your ad. This way, you can easily highlight portions of your ad that your audience might be interested in, such as links to your company’s phone number, special offers, and free trials.

Ad extensions can also help you draw your target audience’s attention to the key actions you want them to take by helping make your ad stand out from the rest of the ads on SERP.

9. Test and Analyze Your PPC Ad Campaigns.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all PPC method. Every business is unique, therefore, what worked for one business might not always work for you. It’s important to know what works for your specific audience and niche. You should monitor your PPC ads, review the results, and apply what you’ve learned to future campaigns to determine what works for your audience.

One of the most effective ways to do this is through running A/B tests. The aim of an A/B test is to learn more about your target market’s preferences. You can test the following aspects of your ad: headlines, ad copy, keywords, form/landing page design, extensions, images, offers, audience targeting, etc. 

You can create a variety of PPC ads by arranging them side by side and comparing them. The advantage of testing is that you can identify which parts of your marketing need improvement and which parts work. This way, you learn how to optimize your ads for success.

Testing your PPC lead generation campaign may help you improve your marketing methods and strategies. For instance, you can prioritize the best-converting keywords in your ads for use in your SEO efforts. Or use the effective PPC campaign headline as an email subject—you may find that it works even better that way.

Which Are the Best PPC Lead Generation Ad Networks?

Google Ads

Google is the biggest player in the game. Google Ads have a massive global reach. It dominates the market with over 78% of the share. Because Google is the most used search engine, it may be the best way to reach most users who have internet access worldwide. Regardless of what industry you are in, your target audiences are most likely using Google.

Unfortunately, because Google is so well-known, your competitors may also be using it. In this case, the CPC (Cost Per Click) for competitive keywords may be a bit pricey.

The advantage of using Google is that it provides a large selection of free tools like Keyword Planner and Google Analytics to help you achieve the best results from all your marketing activities. Google’s Display Network is also a game changer in the industry as it helps you show PPC ads on most-visited websites like YouTube.

Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)

Microsoft Advertising (formerly known as Bing Ads) also has its benefits. After Google, it is the second biggest network for PPC lead generation. You may want to look into Microsoft Ads if you want an excellent and budget-friendly alternative to Google Ads. Microsoft provides paid search engine results, along with a wide range of famous websites to display your content, video, and banner ads.

The number of partner websites is not as large as that of Google but being able to advertise on AOL, Yahoo! and MSN is worth exploring. Also, they attract a large percentage of users with high-income backgrounds, meaning you’ll get an audience with purchasing power.

Facebook Ads 

Facebook is definitely one of the big boys when it comes to PPC ads. While it’s rather different from Google and Microsoft, Facebook Ads provides an extremely attractive ad network package. $1.72 is the average CPC for this network, which is lower than Google and Microsoft. Unlike Google and Microsoft, which use keywords and search, Facebook focuses on target demographics. Your ad appears in the feeds of your target Facebook and Instagram audience, who aren’t actively searching for your brand. 

Facebook Ads can also appear on the Facebook Audience Network and on Facebook Messenger. FB Ads are focused on ads within apps. If you want to target people who are always using apps, or if your brand is related to apps, then this might be a good option for you. The most significant benefit, of course, is that you can advertise on both Instagram and Facebook feeds.

Remember that everything must be visual. Your advertisements must be clickable, compelling, well-framed, and shareable.

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn is often referred to as “Facebook for professionals.” It is a highly effective PPC lead generation platform. It targets a well-educated and business-savvy crowd. Besides, the audience you get on LinkedIn is highly motivated to buy.

It targets based on demographics like Facebook, but most of the people here are professionals, like business owners, C-level executives, and marketing experts. You get to reach the decision-makers at their home. If you’re in the B2B space, you should definitely consider advertising on LinkedIn.

Your advertisements can be shown in several ways: in a sidebar display ad network, text ads, sponsored posts in the feed, dynamic ads, and InMails (direct mailings to target clients).

Wrapping Up!

PPC lead generation is a great way to attract more leads, but it is still entirely up to you or your sales team to nurture those leads and turn them into paying clients. It would be advantageous to devise a strategy for moving those leads through your sales funnel.

You should treat PPC lead generation as part of your entire inbound marketing strategy, which includes social media, email, and content marketing. You should keep the relationships you created through a PPC ad alive until your prospects are on the path to purchase. Nurture them and you’ll have loyal customers ready to refer your products to others. 

Get Going in Business can help you create the most targeted and accurate list of qualified leads for your SaaS business. 

Learn more today!