Paid Ads: 7 Key Metrics to Track for a Successful Strategy

Tracking metrics for a successful strategy is just as important as tracking your steps. Tracking our steps and eating healthier to get fit means we are looking after our body. Just like our body, we need to track metrics in our business to make sure it has a healthy input of money and output of quality content. They say success is subjective but if you don’t track any metrics, how do you know if your business is booming? Nobody likes to waste money so in this months blog, we are highlighting the top 7 metrics to track for a successful paid ads strategy. We got you covered!

Let’s break down why tracking metrics is important for your business.

Posting content is crucial for your business because it gets your product or service in front of your ideal customer.

Without content, it makes it hard for people to find your business and buy your products or services. But posting a piece of content once a week isn’t enough to understand if the content resonates with your audience.

The amount of content produced across platforms such as TikTok and Instagram can make it feel like you’re posting into the void. We know the feeling, don’t worry. 

Understanding your metrics is crucial to understand your customers’ pain points, how they interact with your content, and whether it’s bringing you in sales.

Posting content that goes viral is great but how many times does this type of content convert? Not often. 

It gets eyes on your content and your business but the percentage of people who come from a viral video aren’t your ideal customer.

Having a large following is a boost for vanity metrics but that doesn’t pay the bills. 

At GoViral, we are proud of our marketing strategies because we combine inbound marketing with targeted PPC campaigns to get the best visibility for our clients.

Adding PPC campaigns into your strategy is a cost effective way to target your ideal audience but in a less spammy way.

The cost? The only time you pay is when someone clicks on your ad.

Integrating these two methods ensures our clients get their content in front of the right people and guide them along the customer journey. 

PPC campaigns achieve amazing results for your business but tracking key metrics is vital for ensuring every click is worth the cents.

Setting up a PPC campaign needs to be well thought out and adjusted if you’re not achieving the results you want.

First things first, goal setting. What’s the purpose for the PPC campaign?

To achieve anything worthwhile in life, you need to set goals so you have something to work towards.

Outlining the process of how you are going to achieve that goal makes the process simpler and smoother to achieve.

If you don’t have an end goal in sight, you are just going through the motions and the end never ends.

Let’s not do that, especially with a PPC campaign. 

Whether its new customers, driving traffic or increasing sales, PPC campaigns are the most effective way to get your products or services in front of them. 

Start off defining your goal by using the SMART method (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related) to break it down into simple steps. 

For example, if you’re a B2B company and want to generate leads, you can run PPC campaigns to get customers onto your landing page using targeted keywords related to the problems your software solves. 

You can then offer a free trial or demo of their product.

Here they can capture emails and create an emailing list for new product releases or events in the future. 

You need to A/B test ad variations to see which ad performs best, adjust the bid depending on how well it’s doing and be ready to refine the campaign if it isn’t achieving the results you want.

Everything in marketing is about testing until you find the “stickiness”. 

 

Think of it like shopping for the best outfit. 

 

You spot two dresses that are in the shade blue but one is slightly lighter. 

You decide to try them on to see which one suits you better.

In the changing room, you try on each dress and notice the lighter blue makes you look pale, draining you of colour. 

The darker blue makes you look more vibrant and bronzed.

You decide to go with the darker blue because it makes you look and feel better. 

Like choosing the best outfit that makes you look and feel good, people are more inclined to click on an ad and convert if it makes them feel like you understand their problem and can provide a solution. 

If people are clicking into your ad and not converting on your landing page, something is wrong with the copy or your audience targeting isn’t right.

Get clear on WHO you’re speaking to, what you can do for them and target the right audience who are likely to convert.

At GoViral, we see the importance of PPC campaigns and the amazing results it has achieved for our clients.

Our client, Jabra, attended GITEX Africa last year and needed our help in creating a campaign before, during, and after for GITEX Africa this year.

We discussed their goals for the PPC campaign and what they’d like to achieve.

Last year, their PPC campaign achieved 44 sales qualified leads and 4 marketing qualified leads. 

With our expertise and knowledge of getting the best results from PPC campaigns, we exceeded last year’s results, achieving 99 sales qualified leads and 24 marketing qualified leads.

When done right, PPC campaigns are powerful for your overall business objectives. 

 

Let’s dive into the top 7 key metrics we focus on to achieve these results.

1. Impressions 

This is how many people have seen your ad while browsing the internet. Impressions give you an indication of whether your keyword targeting is correct, if your bidding is too high or low and if your copy is resonating. 

Main reasons for low impressions are incorrect keyword targeting, poor ad copy or boring creatives. 

Your bid might be too low for it to compete with other ads that are bidding for the top.

This can be a struggle for smaller businesses but investing in keyword research, targeting the right audience and have copy that speaks directly to the customer can increase your impressions.

 

2. Clicks or CTR (Click-Through-Rate) 

CTR is an important metric to analyze because it helps when optimizing your budget.

Ads with a high CTR cost less per click which reduces spending large amounts of money on PPC campaigns. 

A/B testing ad variations and copy can single out cost-effective keywords and highlight what ad is resonating most with your ideal customer.

Once you notice what ad variation is resonating most, the budget can be adjusted accordingly and help push your ad. 

To understand how much each click costs, divide the total number of clicks by the total number of impressions and multiply by 100%.

Think of the last time you clicked on an ad.

What was it about the ad that made you click? 

 

3. CPC (Cost-Per-Click)

In an ideal situation, your CTR should be high and your CPC low.

This shows that your ideal customers are resonating with your ad and are clicking through to learn more about your business.

CPC focuses on optimizing your bidding strategy for PPC campaigns where you can identify keywords or ad placements that are driving clicks.

If a specific keyword is gaining more traction, you can adjust your bidding to be higher on that word and lower bids for others. 

If you have a high CPC, your ad could be targeting the wrong people.

Make sure your copy and creative is clear about who its targeting or you’ll end up with a hefty bill and no sales. 

To find out what your CPC is, divide your total ad spend for a specific day or campaign by the total number of clicks your ad receives during that period. 

 

4. CPA (Cost per Acquisition or Paying Customer) 

CPA relates to how much it costs to acquire a paying customer in terms of clicks. 

The only metric you want to be high is your click through rate.

If your CPA is high, like CPC, your audience targeting could be incorrect as its shown to those who are unlikely to convert.

Understanding your audience and segmenting them correctly will give you a much higher return on investment and less headaches. 

Find out how much it costs to acquire a paying customer by dividing the total ad spend within a specific timeframe by the number of conversions people carried out after your ad or campaign. 

 

5. Conversion Rate 

A huge indicator of whether people are carrying out the desired action is your conversion rate.

This looks different for every business. If you have a newsletter, a conversion could be a subscribe, if you have an E-book on the best ways to convert audiences into customers, this could be a download.

It doesn’t necessarily mean a sale. 

Low conversion rate means there’s friction somewhere along the customers journey.

Something is making them leave your landing page or worse, not even clicking into your ad. 

Understanding how a person interacts with your content will indicate what needs to be improved.

Maybe your call to action isn’t clear or your layout of your website is confusing.

Your website needs to be clear and straightforward so that you’re guiding the customer with ease through the journey. 

To understand what your conversion rate is divide the number of conversions by the total number of visitors to your website and multiply by 100. 

For example, 1,000 people visit your website a month and 50 people convert – (50 conversions/1000 visitors) x 100% = 5%.

 

6. ROAS (Return On Ad Spend)

This helps us measure the actual revenue generated for every euro you spend on your advertising campaigns. So think of your CTR, CPC, and CPA.

The ONLY metric we want high is your CTR. If your CPC and CPA are high also, your ROAS is going to be low indicating your campaign isn’t profitable.  

The aim of your campaign is to earn more revenue from your ads then the amount you’re investing in them.

If you have a set budget, ROAS is extremely important to ensure you’re making every euro count. 

Divide the total revenue generated from the ads by the total ad spend to figure out what the ROAS is for your campaign. 

 

7. Quality Score 

Your quality score is based on how relevant your content is according to Google Ads.

This rating can make or break how well your ad will do because it considers whether it will resonate with your ideal customers, whether the keywords match and if your landing page answers what the customer is looking for.

Your quality score is important when looking at your CTR. If your quality score is low, expect a higher CTR.  

As a passionate PPC specialist, I believe in the power of a well-executed Google Ads campaign, here are a few tips to help you on your path to PPC success!

Start by setting clear objectives that align with your business goals – whether it’s driving traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales, know what your goals are.

Make sure you conduct thorough keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner and aim for a mix of broad, exact, and long-tail keywords to capture both wide and specific search intents.

Write ad copy that’s not just clear and concise, but also engaging.

Highlight your unique selling points (USPs) and don’t forget to include strong calls to action that make users want to click.

When users click on your ad, your landing page should be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate, ensuring a seamless experience for visitors.

Don’t overlook ad extensions!

Use sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets to pack more information into your ads and boost their visibility.

Conversion tracking should be a top priority, set it up to see which keywords and ads are performing best, and use this data to fine-tune your strategy and get the most out of your investment.

Monitor your bids and adjust them regularly to make the most of your ad spend.

Automated bidding strategies like target CPA or ROAS can help optimize for your campaign goals.

Continuously A/B test different ad copies, headlines, and landing pages to find the most effective combinations and keep improving. 

Remarketing is your friend!

Re-engage visitors who’ve interacted with your site before, and use dynamic remarketing to show them personalized ads featuring products or services they’ve viewed.

Lastly, keep a close eye on your campaign data, regular analysis will help you spot trends, strengths, and areas for improvement, ensuring you’re always moving forward.

Happy Optimizing!

Understanding the seven key metrics of paid ads can transform your business and get your content in front of the right audience at the right time.

You want the customers’ journey to be smooth from the moment they see your ad to conversion.

At GoViral, we ensure your PPC campaign is tailored to your businesses’ objectives, targets your ideal customers and achieves the results you desire.

Don’t spend time on trying to figure out how paid ads work and lose out on money. Get in contact with us today to start getting a positive return on investment for your campaign. 

Contact GoViral Digital today to learn how our expertise in inbound marketing can develop an effective paid ads strategy, getting your content in front of the right people and achieve measurable results for your campaigns!