It's all About CPA not PPC!

Can you see the forest, or do you just see the tree?

Today's topic on PPC Management is a very important one. It has to do with educating a client's perspective of expectations and business strategy.

So many times I get calls from prospective clients who can't figure out their PPC Advertising accounts. And of course that's why they call on me. They think I can wave my magical wand, go into their PPC accounts and instantly fix everything.

I got a call today from a local Montclair, NJ business needing help with their PPC account. Their ROI was about -15% on a consistent basis. They tried a bunch of things including buying expensive bid management software. They depend on PPC advertising for all their revenue volume!

The best PPC Management consultants will always preach the caveat that you must not rely on any one  marketing channel for success. Doing so is like depending on one kind of investment stock for your retirement. It's too risky.

What I recommended the business owner do, is:

• Identify and limit his PPC keywords to only the most profitable or nearly break-even.
• Optimize his landing pages better so that their quality scores improve, and deliver on the promise of his text ads more consistently.
• More importantly, he needs to start thinking about other means of customer acquisition.

CPA in Internet marketing stands for Cost Per Acquisition. PPC advertising "gone wild" has yielded this client an expensive CPA. He is not aware of other successful means of Customer Acquisition.

PPC Advertising, of course is one of the more popular means of Customer Acquisition out there. It brings relevant ads to customers who are actively interested in a product or service. The main disadvantages are, you are paying for clicks, and not guaranteed sales. Plus, PPC advertisers have to manage click fraud, and inconsistent results.

I recommended these other simple strategies to look into to lower his overall CPA:

1. Fixed-price banner ads
2. Affiliate marketing
   

Banner ads, when placed well, can contribute very well to a business's lead mix. On one client I recently worked for, well-placed banner ads were contributing approximately 30% to their lead volume.  That's a very respectable number. Plus, banners can extend your brand image in ways your PPC text ads cannot.

Affiliate marketing is basically sharing your profit with referrers who bring you closed transactions. It's a deep topic, but successful campaigns involve good tracking methods, metrics, and an accounting system to pay your virtual salespeople.  Think about it. Wouldn't you rather pay for customers, and not clicks?

There are many other ways to lower a company's CPA. PPC advertising, while enormously popular, can be very risky to many businesses, even the largest ones with deep pockets. The key is to manage your expectations, limit your keywords, and broaden your marketing strategy. Your business will be healthier for it!

49er-consulting.com is a Montclair, NJ-based Internet Marketing Agency specializing in ppc management
and seo consulting. The agency is experienced in delivering marketing results for small businesses and
rapidly growing companies. It's services include but are not limited to:

ppc management / pay per click management
email marketing / email list management
seo consulting
search engine marketing
internet advertising
banner advertising
multi-channel marketing
blog marketing
web 2.0

For additional information, visit www.49er-consulting.com