6 Lead-Generating Paid Search Strategies to Try Today

There’s a reason why paid advertisements are such a popular method of marketing. Studies show that paid ads have a 200% return on investment. Google claims that for every $1 you spend on a PPC lead gen campaign within Google Ads, you earn $2 in revenue. With results like that, it’s easy to see why businesses in virtually every industry are running paid advertising campaigns. Keep in mind that most organizations don’t see immediate success in paid search advertising. By contrast, many companies experience difficulty in generating sufficient returns from their paid search campaigns. To see results with PPC lead gen, you'll need to develop a strategy that effectively targets your audience, geared toward fulfilling your goals. Let's take a closer look at what paid search is and identify a few ways you can utilize these campaigns to generate the results you’re looking for.

What is paid search?

Paid search is often referred to as PPC or pay-per-click advertising. It’s a marketing tactic that allows you to strategically market to a particular audience for a price. These marketing strategies are among the most widespread paid search models used. Marketers pay search engines to get their content or ads seen by prospective clients. These ads target search engine users making specific searches, through keywords and other tools to ensure the audience they’re marketing to would want or relate to their ads. When done correctly, paid search can help you effectively expand your prospective audience. Before you jump in and start running ads, you'll need to build a strategy. Here are a few strategies to keep in mind:

1. Follow your audience

Go where your audience is, not where your brand wants to advertise. Given that a vast majority of users trust Google as a search engine, Google typically represents a smart place to advertise. However, thinking outside of the box can help you further improve your ROI. Let’s say you have a slightly older audience than most companies, targeting a demographic between ages 35 and 65. You may want to consider running PPC lead gen ads on Bing. Bing is a small but mighty search engine that only brings in around 4% of all organic search visits in the US. However, most Bing users are older than 35, which makes the search engine a prudent decision for many advertisers. Studies show that over 70% of users are older than 35, while 33% are over 55, across the search engine. For some businesses, this means lead gen PPC would be more beneficial for their company than Google and help them follow their audiences more strategically.

2. Take advantage of landing pages

When you run PPC ads on search engines, you want to ensure you have a solid, well-thought-out landing page where you can send your users. If you send them to a site that doesn’t align with your CTA, your PPC lead gen efforts might not hit the mark. By contrast, dynamic landing pages help streamline the user experience and give all users the opportunity to convert. Think about how confusing it would be for a user if they clicked your ad, and ended up on your homepage instead of the page they expected. Your homepage may be great, but it likely doesn't provide the information potential customers expected to find after they clicked. A landing page should align with your goals and CTA. It’s a webpage designed to drive prospects to take action, whether that means submitting their information, making a purchase, visiting a location, or calling your business.

3. Add a form

Forms are a great lead-capturing tactic that can help you turn prospects into customers. Some platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, have built-in features that introduce your form to your audience. This means prospects won't need to leave the social platform to learn more. If you’re sticking with paid search lead generation campaigns on a search engine, you may want to embed a form onto your landing page. That way, you can easily capture information about potential customers and place them into a customer journey, where you can market to them in the future.

4. Add in an offer

Consumers love deals; that’s why promo codes and offers are still effective in generating leads. These promotions allow your brand to remain one step ahead of the competition and are a great way to generate excitement around your deals and offers. Here’s the best part: adding an offer to your existing paid search campaigns is an easy strategy to implement. Bring the promo to your audience, provide them with something they can’t refuse and tailor the content to meet their needs. Free trials, discounts and buy-one-get-one offers are just a few examples of promotions you can utilize to improve your ROI with paid search lead generation advertising.

5. Use negative keywords

Keywords are the driving force for Google Ads and other PPC campaigns. At first glance, you might not think negative keywords have any value. However, these keywords are often ignored by competitors. Capitalizing on negative keywords is a strategic way to improve your CTR and ensure your ads only run against relevant queries. Negative keywords can also help your ROAS (return on ad spend) and save your business money in the long run.

6. Test, revise and re-strategize

Paid search marketing isn’t always a perfect science. Some platforms or keywords work better than others, and campaign performance can change over time. If something doesn’t work out, don’t be afraid to revise your marketing plan and optimize your plan of attack. Every campaign you run creates a new opportunity to make meaningful changes to your lead gen strategy and improve your ROI over time. After every PPC lead gen campaign you run, make sure you’re taking the time to read through the analytics and use gathered data to make improvements.

Take your marketing skills to the next level

Prioritizing paid search lead generation can help businesses scale in new directions and achieve the growth you’ve been looking for. It allows you to meet prospects where they are and create paying customers that keep coming back for more. One of the best ways to grow familiar with paid search, alongside other proven digital marketing strategies, is through the use of an accelerated Digital Marketing Bootcamp. Transform your understanding of cornerstone digital marketing practices — including lead generation through paid search — through modules led by globally recognized digital marketing leaders. Hands-on labs, one-on-one coaching sessions and on-demand lessons quickly qualify you for high-level paid search strategy and execution.

At Workforce Institute, our Digital Marketing Bootcamp can help you make your PPC lead gen strategies even more effective.Connect with our Admissions team today to identify exactly how we can accelerate your understanding of key paid search strategies that generate real leads.