PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Campaign

Setting up a PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign is a step-by-step process that involves selecting your platform (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Bing Ads, etc.), defining your goals, setting up the structure, and optimizing to get the best results. Here’s a guide to setting up a PPC campaign, particularly for Google Ads and Facebook Ads, which are the most common platforms.

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up a PPC Campaign


1. Setting Up a PPC Campaign in Google Ads

Step 1: Create a Google Ads Account

  • Go to Google Ads and click on Start Now.
  • Log in with your Google account or create a new one.
  • Follow the prompts to set up your account, including entering billing information.

Step 2: Define Your Campaign Goal

Google Ads offers various goals, such as:

  • Sales: To drive sales or conversions on your website.
  • Leads: To collect contact information (form submissions, phone calls).
  • Website Traffic: To drive visitors to your site.
  • Product and Brand Consideration: To get people interested in your products or services.
  • Brand Awareness: To increase brand recognition.
  • App Promotion: To promote app installs.

Choose a goal based on what you want to achieve with your campaign.

Step 3: Choose Campaign Type

Google Ads offers different campaign types, including:

  • Search Ads: Ads show when people search on Google for specific keywords.
  • Display Ads: Banner ads on websites within Google’s Display Network.
  • Shopping Ads: Ads for e-commerce products (ideal for online stores).
  • Video Ads: Ads on YouTube and other video platforms.
  • App Ads: Ads for driving mobile app installs.

For most beginners, Search Ads or Display Ads are the most common.

Step 4: Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy

  • Daily Budget: Set how much you want to spend per day.
  • Bidding: Google offers several bidding strategies, including:
    • Manual CPC: Set your own bid for each click.
    • Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): Optimize for conversions and pay a set amount per conversion.
    • Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Optimize to get a specific return for your spend.
    • Maximize Conversions: Let Google automatically set your bids to get the most conversions within your budget.

Step 5: Target Your Audience

  • Location: Choose the locations you want to target (e.g., country, city, radius).
  • Languages: Select the language of your target audience.
  • Device: Decide if you want to target users on mobile, desktop, or both.
  • Keywords: Add the keywords you want your ads to appear for when users search on Google. You can use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords.

Step 6: Create Your Ad

  • Write Your Ad Copy: For Search Ads, write a headline (up to 3) and a description (up to 2). Make sure to include your keywords and a clear call-to-action (CTA).
    • Headline: The main text that appears in your ad.
    • Description: A secondary text explaining the benefits of your product or service.
    • Example:
      • Headline 1: “Buy the Best Running Shoes”
      • Headline 2: “Free Shipping & Returns”
      • Description: “Shop the latest collection of high-performance running shoes. Get free shipping and returns on all orders!”

Step 7: Set Up Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are additional pieces of information that can appear with your ads, such as:

  • Sitelink Extensions: Links to specific pages on your site.
  • Call Extensions: Show a phone number with your ad.
  • Location Extensions: Show your business address.

Step 8: Launch Your Campaign

Review all your settings, ads, and targeting, then click Publish to launch your campaign.

Step 9: Monitor and Optimize

Once your ads are live, monitor them regularly in Google Ads:

  • Track Click-Through Rate (CTR), Conversions, Cost per Click (CPC), and Conversion Rate.
  • Use A/B testing to refine your ads.
  • Adjust keywords, ad copy, and bids to improve performance.

2. Setting Up a PPC Campaign in Facebook Ads Manager

Step 1: Create a Facebook Ads Manager Account

  • Go to Facebook Ads Manager and log in with your Facebook account.
  • If you haven’t set up your Facebook Business Manager yet, follow the prompts to set it up.

Step 2: Set Campaign Objective

When creating a new campaign, Facebook asks you to choose an objective:

  • Awareness: Brand Awareness, Reach.
  • Consideration: Traffic, Engagement, App Installs, Video Views, Lead Generation, Messages.
  • Conversion: Conversions, Catalog Sales, Store Traffic.

Choose the objective that matches your business goals (e.g., Traffic to drive people to your website, or Conversions if you want to drive sales).

Step 3: Define Your Target Audience

Facebook allows for very detailed audience targeting:

  • Demographics: Age, gender, education level, job title, etc.
  • Location: Target specific countries, cities, or even a custom radius.
  • Interests and Behaviors: Target based on user interests and behaviors (e.g., fitness enthusiasts, tech shoppers, etc.).
  • Custom Audiences: Retarget users who have interacted with your business or uploaded a customer list.
  • Lookalike Audiences: Target people who resemble your existing customers.

Step 4: Set Your Budget and Schedule

  • Daily Budget: The amount you’re willing to spend each day.
  • Lifetime Budget: The total amount you’ll spend over the campaign’s lifetime.
  • Schedule: Choose to run ads continuously or set a specific start and end time.

Step 5: Choose Ad Placement

Facebook can automatically select ad placements for you, but you can manually choose placements as well:

  • Facebook Feed
  • Instagram Feed
  • Facebook Stories
  • Messenger
  • Audience Network (ads shown on third-party websites)

Step 6: Create Your Ad

Choose your ad format:

  • Image Ads: Single image with text and a call-to-action.
  • Video Ads: Single video ad for engagement.
  • Carousel Ads: Multiple images or videos that users can swipe through.
  • Collection Ads: Showcase a series of products in a mobile-friendly format.
  • Write Your Ad Copy: Similar to Google Ads, you need an engaging headline, description, and a CTA button (e.g., “Shop Now,” “Learn More”).

Step 7: Launch Your Campaign

Once everything looks good, click Publish to launch your ad campaign.

Step 8: Monitor and Optimize

After launching, monitor your campaign’s performance in Facebook Ads Manager:

  • Track metrics like CTR, conversion rate, CPC, and ROAS.
  • Optimize your campaign by testing different ad creatives, targeting, and budgets.

General Tips for a Successful PPC Campaign

  1. Use Keyword Research: In Google Ads, always conduct keyword research to find relevant terms your audience is searching for.
  2. Compelling Ad Copy: Write clear, persuasive copy that emphasizes your offer and has a strong call-to-action (CTA).
  3. Landing Page Optimization: Ensure that the page your ads direct to is relevant to the ad and optimized for conversions.
  4. A/B Testing: Regularly test different ad creatives, targeting options, and bidding strategies to improve performance.
  5. Monitor & Optimize: Always keep an eye on your PPC performance and adjust as needed. Increase budgets on high-performing ads and pause low-performing ones.

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