Social Media Marketing: DIY PPC Campaign

Creating and managing a PPC campaign can be overwhelming, especially with AdWords’ complicated interface. Fortunately, PPC campaigns on social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are much less difficult, as intuitive layouts simplify the process. Additionally, social media campaigns target users directly where they are.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Look For

Once you’ve developed your social PPC campaign, it’s critical to analyze the success of your work. KPIs provide hard data that objectively reveal the state of the campaign. The most important indicators to watch for include:

• Click through rate (CTR). This figure refers to the number of times an ad was clicked on divided by the number of times the ad was displayed. For instance, if your ad was clicked on 15 times out of 1,000 impressions, then your CTR is 1.5 percent. If you have multiple ads running, finding out which ads have the greatest CTR will help you optimize them for better performance in the future.

• Conversion rate. Are you trying to get users to “like” your page? Purchase a product? The conversion rate is critical to measuring the success of any social PPC campaign. Aside from creating brand awareness, growing your bottom line is the ultimate goal of the advertising you do, and conversion rate is an accurate indicator of how efficiently you are achieving it.

• Average cost per click (CPC). Keeping track of your average CPC allows you to make sure you’re getting the greatest return on investment possible. High CPCs deplete marketing budgets quickly, so it’s crucial to keep this figure as low as possible. If your CPC is too high, consider reviewing your bid prices and adjusting keyword bids as necessary.

How to Create PPC Demographics

Reaching the right audience on social platforms is integral to the success of social PPC campaigns. Though it’s possible to target specific demographics, this can be challenging and expensive, because the average CPC rises for very specific target audiences. Instead, consider targeting your competitors’ audiences. Targeting people who like and follow your competitors is cost effective and results in highly targeted traffic.