Have you dipped your toes into paid ads? Maybe you’re apprehensive and wondering, “Do paid ads work?”
As a marketing agency, we’ve worked with several clients on paid advertising campaigns, and let us just say, they absolutely work! As long as you have a paid ad strategy that aligns with your target audience’s behaviors.
Don’t worry – we’ll talk about what all that means in this article, as well as some best practices to get started with paid ads.
Paid Ads Myths
There’s a lot of confusion around paid ads. Between setting up ad campaigns, setting a comfortable budget, and measuring results, the whole process can be confusing. So sometimes business owners steer clear of paid ads, even though they can be a highly effective way to drive traffic to your website. Let’s talk through some myths business owners believe about paid ads.
Myth: Paid ads only work for businesses with large budgets.
Fact: Small businesses can absolutely benefit from paid ads. However, it’s important to have a solid foundation from your organic marketing efforts first. That way, algorithms will have a better understanding of who your target audience is.
Myth: Paid ads are not as effective as organic strategies.
Fact: Both approaches serve different purposes. Organic strategies build brand awareness, credibility, and long-term sustainability in your marketing efforts. Do paid ads work better than organic strategies? Paid advertising typically has quicker results because of the precise targeting features. You can drive immediate traffic to your website, whereas organic marketing helps you sustain that traffic long-term. Organic and paid campaigns can complement each other.
Myth: Consumers ignore paid ads.
Fact: It’s true that some users actively avoid ads. However, when executed thoughtfully, paid ads have the potential to influence purchasing decisions. Paid ads can be highly targeted and relevant to someone’s search, which catches the user’s attention. You can also personalize these ads to further entice someone to click. Ads also appear first in search results; if your ad meets their needs, they will click.
Paid Ads Best Practices
When setting up your paid ad campaigns, there are some best practices to follow to optimize for success.
Set Clear Goals
The more specific you can be with your paid ads goals, the better. Think of specific outcomes you want to achieve through your paid ads, such as:
- Online course enrollments
- Product purchases
- Freebie downloads
- Contact form submissions
- App downloads
- Webinar or event registrations
Clear objectives will guide the rest of your campaign strategy. For small businesses, I don’t typically recommend paid ads to increase your website traffic. Instead, focus on long-term traffic growth through SEO. That’s not to say small businesses shouldn’t invest in paid ads – just make sure you have a specific outcome before investing.
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience is crucial to the success of your paid ads. Customer personas can help you understand their demographics, personality, interests, and pain points. By understanding your audience, you can create highly targeted and specific ads that touch on their pain points and how your offer is the best solution for them.
Choose the Right Platform
The platform you choose should align with the platforms your audience uses; otherwise, you won’t reach them. Here are some popular options:
Depending on your audience and goals, I usually recommend Google ads. It’s likely your audience uses Google for search queries. Google ads also give you full control over your ad spend. You can allocate funds across different campaigns and keywords to optimize your ad spend for maximum ROI.
Craft Compelling Copy and Graphics
Your ad copy and graphics need to grab the attention of your audience quickly. Write a captivating headline that stops the scroll. Use high-quality images or videos to visually communicate your message. And write compelling copy that explains your offer and encourages the user to take action. You have limited space and time, so make it count!
Optimize Landing Pages
Don’t forget about the page people will land on when they click on your ad! The page should be optimized for maximum conversions and minimize distractions. Consider even removing your menu and focusing on the conversion opportunity “above the fold.” User experience is key here. Make it simple and easy for them to take further action.
I always recommend testing the process from seeing the ad to clicking on it, landing on the page, and converting. Go through the same journey a new lead would go through to ensure a seamless experience.
Monitor Performance
Regularly check to make sure your ads are performing well. If there are areas for improvement, make appropriate adjustments. You aren’t married to the strategy you pick, but give it time to perform. Allow at least 4-6 weeks to gather data, then change your strategy if needed. Be willing to experiment and A/B test to find the paid ad strategy that works best for your business and audience.
Metrics to Measure Success
Now that your ad campaign is up and running, it’s time to measure its success. This is where we really answer the question, “Do paid ads work?” These are some metrics to measure how effective your ads are.
Impressions
This is actually a trick question (sorry). Impressions measure the total number of times your ad is displayed to users, and they aren’t as important to track as other metrics. It’s impressive to see vanity metrics like this, but are they bringing you customers? You could have 1,000 impressions but only one conversion. That’s a problem – it could mean you aren’t attracting the right audience, or your ad copy needs to be more compelling. Instead of trying to improve your impressions, work on increasing your conversions.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
This measures the percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it. It helps you understand how convincing your ad copy is to your audience. If people are seeing your ad (impressions) but aren’t clicking, your ad copy and/or graphics need to be edited to better speak to your target audience.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
How much does it cost to earn a new lead? CPA provides insights into the efficiency and profitability of your ad campaigns. It can help you optimize your budget allocation to maximize your ROI.
There are a lot of metrics around paid ads, but these are the ones that should influence your strategy. Track the journey of the lead to optimize your paid ad strategy.
Case Study: Med Spa
We currently work with a med spa to increase online bookings through paid Google and Meta ads. Here’s what happened in the first three months.
Med Spa Marketing Challenge:
This clinic is beloved by its existing clients. They want to expand their client base to reach new customers and book more appointments.
Med Spa Marketing Strategy:
We implemented paid Google and Meta ad strategies targeting their specific customer audience. A landing page was built to convert (see below). We included service-specific content and a contact form above the fold to increase conversions. We also leveraged a trackable phone number in each campaign to properly attribute the calls coming in through the campaign to the appropriate channel.
Med Spa Marketing Results:
The client received more than 150 conversions in the first three months, meaning new clients either called, messaged, or filled out a form requesting more information about the med spa’s services. The first three months saw a cost per acquisition (CPA) that was well below their goal and approximately 6.5% click-through rate (CTR) on their ads.
While a good CTR is a hotly debated topic online, the general benchmark for Google PPC is around 3.5%. We exceeded expectations in the first three months of the campaign and continued to optimize the Google and Meta ads as time went on.
View the 2024 Med Spa Marketing Case Study for updates on this marketing campaign.
So, do paid ads work? Yes! No matter how big or small your business is, paid ads can drive real results for your business. There’s a lot that goes into an effective paid ad strategy. You could DIY your paid ads, but we recommend you work with a marketing agency with a strong portfolio of successful ad campaigns. Reach out when you’re ready to invest in paid advertising and see immediate traffic results!
