There’s a lot to like about Google Pay-Per-Click advertising.

And also a lot to hate about the “Pay-Per-Crack” treadmill that many local businesses find themselves on.

The likes include:

— Access to customers who are in the market right now

— The ability to dial ad spend up or down as needed

— Trackable results

And most of the dislike stems from the results never feeling as trackable or lucrative as promised.

Your PPC guy/company talks to you about how many clicks you’ve gotten and cost per click (CPC), click through rate (CTR), etc…

But when you look at booked leads or sales, it just doesn’t seem to translate — regardless of who you have managing your PPC account, or what whiz-bang technology they promise to use.

And that’s because no one’s in charge of the Post-Click conversion.

Where Are You Sending People After They Click On Your Ad? 

See, your PPC Guy can write new ads and manipulate bid rates and ad extensions, etc.

But those prospects all have to go somewhere after they choose to click on your PPC ad.

And your PPC guy (probably) isn’t in charge of that.

And your Web guy (probably) isn’t being paid or tasked to create custom landing pages for you.

So no one’s in charge of that.

Meaning that those leads that you’re paying through the nose to get are being sent to your home page or your main service page or somewhere else that probably isn’t optimized for converting Pay-Per-Click visitors.

So you pay a premium to get this lead, and then take them to a page that fails to answer their most pressing questions. Questions they need answers to before calling.

And this is why your PPC Ad Spend never seems to equate to booked leads and increased revenue at the rate you’d like.

The Main Solution

So the solution should seem obvious at this point:

1) Put someone in charge of the post-click experience

2) Create campaign and ad group—specific landing pages designed for conversion

3) Ensure your campaigns are set-up to track conversions from these pages

4) Hold your PPC guy accountable for Cost-Per-Lead instead of clicks.

In short, start directing these very expensive prospective leads to a page that answers their most pressing questions and is designed to get them on the phone or filling out your lead form.

And while you’re at it, make sure your landing pages are mobile friendly, with click-to-call features built in.

If you’re not already aware of how mobile-dominate your market is, ask your web guy and PPC people how much of your traffic comes from mobile devices.You’ll be surprised.

Secret Weapon #1 for Increased PPC Success

There are actually two secret weapons when it comes to PPC Success.

The first is mass media, believe it or not.

When people know and like your brand from your mass media ads, they’re more likely to click your PPC ad when it comes up in search results because you’re more familiar to them than the competition.*

This increases your Click-Through-Rate and your ads’ quality score, while lowering your cost-per-click.

It also makes prospects more confident and comfortable in calling once they get to your landing page / website. And that helps conversions. Big time.

Secret Weapon #2 for Increased PPC Success

The secret secret weapon is FAQNow.com

FAQNow will put live chat and highly persuasive videos on your landing pages. The videos answer your prospect’s most pressing questions while also triggering the live chat, which is staffed 100% in the USA.

Better yet, both the videos and chat are branded specifically for you.

And best of all, you only pay on a per-booked-lead basis.

The entire service is built around converting web-traffic to a booked lead and is optimized to work on mobile devices through optimized video content and sms texting.

Now, the advice I’ve given you in this article will work regardless of whether you use FAQNow.

Getting a dedicated landing page for your main PPC ad groups will work wonders for your post-click conversion, even without videos and live chat.

And in full disclosure, FAQNow is run by my colleague Charlie Moger (though I get no financial compensation for recommending it).

But in terms of visitor engagement and increased conversions, I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to at least experiment with FAQNow’s videos and chat service.

Why a Mass Media Ad Consultant Is Writing About PPC

I’m not primarily a web or digital marketing guy, but I am a client-success guy, so I do work with new clients to ensure their total marketing efforts are all driving success effectively and efficiently.

And this is especially important as companies make the jump from a purely direct response / digital marketing plan to one that involves mass media.

So if you’re making that jump now or have started with it and would like help, feel free to reach out.

*P.S. As your mass media ads really start working, people will start searching on your brand name, rather than typical search terms, which will dramatically increase your direct and organic traffic. And that’s especially great for taking the pressure off your PPC spend.

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