How Manufacturers Can Use PPC Advertising and Google Ads
If you have a website, a pulse and the word “marketing” in your job title, chances are you’ve been pitched pay-per-click advertising. B2B Manufacturers tend to dismiss the advances; viewing PPC tools like Google Ads as vehicles for deals on retread tires and coupons for Top Ramen. However, for manufacturers willing to think beyond the point-of-purchase, PPC’s unmatched reach and billing structure can be an efficient source of new leads.
Connect with a New Market
One of the challenges manufacturers face selling to a new group of consumers (when launching a new product or tweaking an existing product), is gaining organic search traction within the new industry. Search engines have armies of programmers ensuring links are prioritized by their perceived “value” to the searcher, so as a newcomer it’s highly unlikely that a few small changes to your website and marketing copy will send you skyrocketing to the first page of Google.
Pay-Per-Click advertisements can provide a buffer while you compile enough content and quality to build your organic search rankings. Ads, BingAds, etc. have simple bidding settings that ensure your paid ads appear at, or near, the top for desired keywords. Yes, paid ads only get about 6% of all search clicks, but with only 4.8% of all traffic navigating to the second page of Google (and 1.1% to the third page), high-ranking PPC ads are a better option than being buried as the 15-30th organic listing. Furthermore, the “Match Search Query” report within Google Ads/Google Analytics will show the exact keywords that trigger your ads to appear. This will provide you with valuable, less competitive “long-tail keyphrases” that you can target with content marketing and SEO.
Promote Up-Selling Opportunities
Pairing Google Ads and Analytics allows you to create remarketing lists that deliver PPC ads to searchers based on actions they took on your website. Manufacturers can harness remarketing lists to promote upselling opportunities such as warranties, solutions, and onsite installations.
For example, create a remarketing list comprised of visitors that browsed your website’s support and service pages. Import the list into Google Ads, and have the PPC ads targeting at this group tout the various customer-service packages available for purchase (rather than a simple product pitch).
Beat an Industry-Leading Product
Like breaking into a new industry, competing with an established product for organic search keywords can be a labor-intensive process. The established product has had time to build links, get reports/reviews written about it, gain traffic…all the activities that signal trust and relevance to search engine algorithms.
To begin taking on a product like this using PPC, visit your competitor's website and examine the product page. Look for keywords within headlines and body copy, then use Google Ads to bid on these keywords, tailoring your PPC content to highlight your product's direct competitive advantages. If you’re adventurous, consider targeting ads at searches that include the name of your competitor’s product.