https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501 Application
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • Analytics
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud
    • Data Centers
    • Desktop
    • IoT
    • Mobility
    • Networking
    • Open Source
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Virtualization
    • Voice/Connectivity
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Best Practices
    • Business Models
    • Channel 101
    • Channel Programs
    • Channel Research
    • Digital Transformation
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Leadership
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Specialty Practices
  • MSSP Insider
    • Back
    • Business of Security
    • Cloud and Edge
    • Endpoint
    • Network
    • People and Careers
    • Training and Policies
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501 Application
    • 2020 MSP 501 Rankings
    • 2020 Hot 101 Rankings
    • 2020 MSP 501 Report
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Our Sponsors
    • From the Industry
    • Content Resources
    • COVID-19 Partner Help
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • Reports
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • EMEA
  • Awards
    • Back
    • Excellence in Digital Services
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Top Gun 51
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • Channel Partners Evolution
    • Channel Evolution Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
  • Channel Mentor
    • Back
    • Channel Market Intelligence
    • Channel Educational Series
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Digital Service Providers
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • CHANNEL PARTNERS ONLINE
 Channel Futures

Sales & Marketing


How to Set up a Killer PPC Campaign

How to Set up a Killer PPC Campaign

  • Written by Dean Ara
  • March 7, 2017
This post breaks down how to setup a PPC campaign for beginners. Learn everything you need to know about keywords, tools and setting a budget.

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most simple ways to promote your business online. In a nutshell, a PPC campaign is an online ad that charges you based on how many people click on your ad. While the concept sounds straightforward, launching a successful PPC campaign can sometimes feel like you are trying to catch a unicorn. Navigating the waters of how to get the biggest bang for your buck can be intimidating at first — but not to fret! In this post, we will demystify how to set up a PPC campaign.

This introduction to PPC for MSPs will cover all aspects of how to set up a PPC campaign, including:

  • Why PPC is an effective tactic to include in your MSP marketing plan,
  • How to research keywords,
  • What tools to use to maximize your PPC campaign results, and
  • Where to start with your budget.

Why PPC?

If you are on the fence about PPC, let us give you the lowdown on why PPC is beneficial to your business. The following are four reasons why PPC is an essential item for your MSP marketing toolkit.

  1. You only pay when your ad is clicked — which is different from traditional advertising where you pay a fixed amount regardless of how many people see or engage with your ad.
  2. You are in the driver’s seat when it comes to setting a budget and controlling your costs. You can set a daily amount for your PPC budget and can change it at any time.
  3. You can target your ads to a specific prospect at a specific time. PPC offers advanced location targeting, device-specific preferences, and timing and delivery options to show your target consumers an ad when they are most likely to click or buy.
  4. You can learn how to improve your other MSP digital marketing channels with the data from PPC. Your PPC campaigns can improve your SEO by telling you which keywords are performing the best. You can also test new services or offerings by using PPC to gauge interest and collect feedback.

How to Research Keywords

Successful PPC campaigns are very dependent on your ability to select the right keywords. Which means you need to understand how your target market is searching for your services. You then need to explore the competitiveness of the space and the volume of searches for your keywords. These are the initial steps in how to setup a PPC campaign.

When researching your keywords, there are three things you need to consider:

  1. Search Volume: the number of search queries tells you how interested people are in the topic.
  2. Competition Levels: selecting the best keywords to target will depend on the difficulty or competition level, which will also inform the cost of your ad.
  3. Suggested Bid: this is the amount you would expect to pay for your keyword when clicked in an ad in the open marketplace.

The keyword sweet spot is any word or phrase that is associated with your business and has high search volume, but low competition level (and ideally a suggested bid you can stomach paying).

When conducting keyword research, we suggest you place all your potential keywords into a spreadsheet to track: average monthly searches, competition level, suggested bid, estimated impressions, estimated cost, estimated click-through rate, average cost per click and average position.

So it would look like this:

An example of a spreadsheet used to plan and track keywords.

(Note: If you’d like a copy of our keyword spreadsheet, feel free to contact us to share ours with you.)

If you use Google Keyword Planner, you can also build a forecast where you estimate the cost of your campaign based on your keyword data. Here is an example of a forecast graph from Google Keyword Planner based on the number of clicks we estimated for a given cost-per-click (CPC). You can then drag the slider on the interface to find where the graph peaks for you, in terms of the most cost effective CPC for the clicks (see below). 

An example of the Google Keyword Planner forecast graph.

Helpful PPC Tools

When digging into your keyword research, there are a number of useful tools that will provide you with insights to set up an effective PPC campaign. We recommend the following three:

  • Keyword.io: A free keyword research tool that provides you with hundreds of keyword suggestions at no cost. It is great to use when you are just starting out and not yet sure of what keywords to target. Keyword.io gives you the ability to take a shotgun approach and cover all your bases of possible search terms.
  • SEMrush: Another great keyword tool that offers lots of information and insight for free. It showcases lots of competitive information and also gives you the option to upgrade to a paid account for more features and functionality.
  • Google Keyword Planner: While valuable in its own right Google’s Keyword Planner has its flaws in terms of depth and accuracy. That being said, it is a beneficial tool to lay the groundwork for your PPC campaigns.

​When setting your PPC budget you need to be clear on how much you are willing to pay for a conversion.

Setting Your Initial Budget

Your budget will always depend on your business. For starters, it is important to know how much a conversion is worth to you — and what makes sense as a conversion goal for your business. A conversion can be anything from a phone call to a newsletter sign-up or a purchase — and PPC can help drive all of these. However, it is important to keep in mind the cost against the benefit.

In setting your budget, you will first want to be clear on how much you are willing to pay for a conversion. For example, if your ad is costing you $10 per click and your conversion is only worth $5 to your business, you likely wouldn’t want to run that ad campaign. However, if your average sale is worth $100, it would likely be worthwhile to pay $20 to $30 for an acquisition through PPC. These costs will be different for every MSP business, but it is important to understand the money you’re investing in your PPC campaigns.

As a general rule, when you are initially testing the waters of PPC you’ll want to run a test month with a large spend to collect as much data as you can. The average spend for your first month can be anywhere from about $1,500 to $5,000. During that period, you will want to run a variety of ads on multiple platforms. This will provide you with ample information so that you can refine your ads based on what is working for you. Be careful to keep an eye on conversions — not just clicks — so that you can invest more in the PPC ads that are delivering the most value to your business.

PPC is an iterative process and there is a science and an art to managing PPC campaigns. Many people make the mistake of setting and forgetting their PPC campaigns without ongoing maintenance. The most effective campaigns are continuously monitored and updated based on data collected from past ad performance.

Next Steps

Do you have lingering questions on how to set up a PPC campaign? Not to worry. This is the first post in a series on PPC for MSPs. Stay tuned for our next post on the best PPC platforms to use. If you are eager for further assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us to help you give your marketing efforts a boost through PPC.

 

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Sales & Marketing

Related


  • Partner program gears
    Pluribus Networks Launches Expanded, Simplified Partner Program
    The expanded program shifts from four to two tiers to simplify engagement.
  • New Direction
    Spectra Logic’s New Partner Program Reflects Vendor’s New Direction
    The vendor says changes to how partners approach the market are behind recently announced updates to its partner program.
  • Data center
    Netrality Data Centers Unveils Expanded Partner Program
    Data centers are an integral component of a hybrid architecture.
  • Gift, Present, Reward
    AppGate Partners Gain New Accretive Rewards Program
    Participants in this new program will be eligible for a range of rewards.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Infoblox Cloud Specialization to Help Partners with SaaS Sales
  • Productivity During ‘Work from Wherever’: Choosing the Right Back-Office Tools for a Distributed Workforce
  • Kaseya Buying RocketCyber to Improve MSPs' Security Capabilities
  • From Salesperson to Trusted Adviser: 3 Tips for Mastering Consultative IT Sales

Galleries

View all

From The Second City: How to Use Improv as a Business Tool

March 3, 2021

Industry Perspectives

View all

5 Ways XDR Can Improve Operational Efficiency for MSPs

March 4, 2021

Multi-Cloud: Strategy or Inevitable Outcome? (or both?)

March 3, 2021

Backup Vulnerability: 4 Targets Hackers Might Utilize to Infiltrate Your Backup Solution

March 2, 2021

Webinars

View all

A Partner’s Perspective on Channel Success in 2021

March 23, 2021

XDR and Why it Matters to MSPs

March 24, 2021

Top Security Trends Impacting Technology Security Providers In 2021

March 25, 2021

White Papers

View all

Why Fortinet for my MSSP?

March 2, 2021

Small and Mid-Size Business Security: 4 Steps to Success

March 2, 2021

How SMBs Can Secure Endpoints and Remote Workers for the Long Haul

March 2, 2021

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Conference & Expo

November 1, 2021 - November 4, 2021

Videos and Fastchats

View all

FASTCHAT: How SOAR Eliminates Security Challenges and Elevates Service Provider Revenues

January 6, 2021

Happy Holidays from Channel Partners & Channel Futures!

December 21, 2020

FASTCHAT: How Old, Unpatched Technologies Are Creating New Security Threats for MSPs and Their Customers

December 3, 2020

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@okta acquiring rival @auth0 in $6.5 billion all-stock transaction. #security dlvr.it/Rtzwdp https://t.co/4LvHCJuwsR

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@MicrosoftTeams features are coming to @MSFTDynamics365, the company announced at @MS_Ignite. #MicrosoftIgnite… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@PreciselyData acquired by Clearlake Capital, @TAAssociates. #digitaltransformation dlvr.it/RtzbKg https://t.co/1rNYnTScxq

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

Thanks for attending #CPVirtual. Here's a Day 3 wrap and a look ahead to #CPExpo Homecoming in November!… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@Veeam announces six annual Impact Partner Awards, with @SHI_Intl, @LogicalisUS, more. #cloud… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

#XDR can improve operational efficiency for #MSPs. @TrendMicro #security #endpoint #AI #threatintelligence… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

.@IBM adds two senior execs to leadership team at infrastructure IT spinoff, NewCo. @IBMNews @IBMPartners… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

March 4, 2021
ChannelFutures

RT @ChannelEurope: Craving more #EMEA news? Get the latest headlines, insights and commentary in EMEA directly to your inbox. Subscribe to…

March 4, 2021

MSSP Insider

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Channel Partners Online

Want more? Find more channel news and analysis on our sister site, Channel Partners.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Online
  • Channel Partners Events
  • MSP 501
  • MSSP Insider
  • IoT World Today
  • Webhostingtalk

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X