In order to ensure that long-term profitable business goals are achieved, it’s crucial to manage your PPC campaigns strategically.
Whilst we’ve previously discussed the different keyword match types to consider for your PPC campaign, this post will cover how to align your keyword match types to different stages within the buying cycle.
First off, let’s have a recap on what actually happens during the buying cycle…
During the initial awareness stage, a prospect will start by researching your company and will therefore require the right type of informative, educational content to then guide them towards the buying stage. Whilst some customers may look elsewhere and drift off, others will continue to engage with your products and services before converting into a customer.
For many construction companies, the buying cycle goes something like this…
During each of the key stages, the online queries that user’s carry out will vary (depending on what type of information they’re after). Searches during the awareness stage for example, where they’re simply browsing for a wide range of information, will differ from searches carried out at the conversion stage, where they’re in purchasing mode and therefore want instant results.
This is where you can used different keyword match types in order to maximise the chances of your ad campaign being seen in search and most importantly, to ensure that the right type of person with the relevant search query is clicking onto your ad.
Aligning keyword match types to each stage
• Build Awareness
This is where “Broad match” can be used to generate awareness about what your company provides and the type of products on offer – do you have supporting blog content or case studies proving that your products can solve their issues?
• Establish Interest
“Modified broad search” could be used here to eliminate irrelevant searches and guide them towards your brand, as the prospect begins to educate themselves more about the various solutions available to them, perhaps including your Ecommerce site and the products’ it offers.
• Acknowledge Problem
“Phrase match” usually comes into this stage as they’re approaching the mindset to actually buy a product. i.e. ‘Where to buy Product A’. At this stage they would have researched what type of product best solves their issue, having eliminated those that seem to only marginally satisfy them.
• Look for Solution
Having narrowed the field, the buyer makes a decision, hopefully to buy from you – here you’ll want to use “exact” search to bring them directly to your shopping page. By this stage they are committed and will go on to refer you to another potential prospect.
Choosing the appropriate keyword match types and optimising these is crucial to the effectiveness of your PPC campaign; the above process will enable you to reach your target audience online whilst avoiding unecessary spend on irrelevant click-through’s.
For more information on implementing an effective PPC strategy for your construction business, download our brand new PPC eBook for Ecommerce websites here.
