Data is the lifeblood of any successful Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. Without it, you’re shooting in the dark. Plain and simple.
There is data used to set up a PPC campaign. There is data collected during the campaign. There is data collected long after the campaign.
The data you capture and how you use it determines whether a campaign is successful or not.
The Use of Data During PPC Set Up
We are a data driven marketing agency. Every bit of data we get before executing a PPC campaign helps us to fine tune the strategy for greater results.
Additionally, we go to great lengths to ensure that every definable conversion or behavior can be tracked into a dashboard that helps us gain greater insights into the success of the campaign.
We go beyond simply connecting Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Call tracking. Various monitoring tools. CRM exports. Every action tells a greater story than simple clicks and sessions.
When setting up the actual campaign itself, we look closely at the following:
Target Audience Data
How are we defining your target audience? What are the demographics, interests, online behavior, and geographic locations that we need to use to reach qualified buyers?
Keyword Data
This part takes time depending on the industry. We research all the relevant keywords that potential customers use to search for your services or products. A highly specialized service typically has fewer keywords than a brick and mortar hardware shop with hundreds (or more) products on the shelves.
Competitor Analysis
We prefer to review any available insights into what your competitors are bidding on and how their ads perform. We gain even greater insights after campaigns are launched by looking at the Auction Insights, which shows us how your competitors’ campaigns measure up to yours.
Performance Benchmarks
During setup, if possible, we like to look at any available historical data from previous campaigns, including CTR, conversion rates, and cost per conversion. While we don’t consider all campaigns to be of equal value, historical data does give us some insight into keyword costs or what campaigns delivered a passing level of performance.
Data to Observe During the Campaign
Every marketer should closely monitor real time performance data to guide optimization strategies. However, there are some risks with drawing too many conclusions too soon in a campaign. While we can tell rather quickly if a campaign is wildly off the mark, in most cases we try not to draw too many conclusions until we have a sizable body of data. In some cases that can take up to 90 days, sometimes sooner.
Data points you should observe during a campaign are:
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
This measures how compelling your PPC ads are. Essentially it’s a percentage that tells how often your ads are clicked on relative to the amount of times it appears (impressions). Low CTR? Time to rethink your ad copy or targeting.
Conversion Rate
Most business owners think of conversions as sales. However, marketers define conversions as whichever actions the business owner wants a person to take after clicking an ad. For example, a phone call to the business is a marketing conversion, even though the sales team has a role to play to convert this lead into a sale.
Cost Per Conversion
This is defined as the cost (from the ad budget) to achieve a conversion. A lower cost means your campaign is more efficient. Keep a close eye on this to ensure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
Quality Score: Google’s way of rating the relevance of your ads. Higher scores mean lower costs and better placements.
How Data Is Used After a Campaign
This is where data is handy to improve your marketing performance. We view the insights after a campaign as a valuable tool to reset or reinforce the PPC strategy. Use it to:
Refine Targeting
Adjust your audience settings based on who’s clicking and converting.
Optimize Ad Copy
If a certain headline is performing well, use that style in future ads.
Adjust Budgets
Put more money into what’s working and cut back on what’s not.
A/B Test
Test different versions of your ads and landing pages to see what resonates best with your audience.
Conclusion
Data is your best friend when running PPC campaigns. It tells you what’s working, what’s not, and where you should focus your efforts. If you’re not analyzing your data, you’re wasting your ad spend. Knowing which data to review and how to read it will help you get the best results over time. Divining Point is a data-driven marketing agency. We rely on data analysis and metrics tracking to develop, refine, and optimize PPC strategies that deliver results. Having difficulty with your PPC campaigns? Need a new strategy or a partner that can move the needle? Contact us and let’s do something great together.