11 Examples of Successful (And Unsuccessful) PPC Advertising Campaigns

You’ve likely heard about how important PPC ads can be in today’s digital marketing landscape. However, because the average consumer sees anywhere between 4,000 to 10,000 online ads per day, how do you stand out in a sea of marketing noise?

Paid search, or PPC, advertising is a popular way to reach potential customers, but it can be expensive and difficult to master.

In this quick guide, we’ll take a look at eleven different PPC examples to help you gain some insight into what to do and what not to do when running your PPC campaigns. Apply these lessons to your own business’s PPC advertising campaign. Let’s get started!

What Are the Benefits of PPC Marketing?

Not sold on the benefits of PPC marketing just yet? We won’t throw even more commonly quoted stats at you, but let’s take a look at the simple facts.

With PPC ads, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This makes this type of marketing a very cost-effective way to drive traffic and gain leads. Additionally, PPC ads have the potential to reach a large and targeted audience.

Ad targeting options allow businesses to choose their audience based on things like location, interests, and even past online behavior. This allows for more targeted ad campaigns and better conversion rates.

PPC also offers valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends through comprehensive data analysis. Overall, PPC can be a valuable tool for driving website traffic and increasing conversions for your business.

When Should You Use PPC Ads?

When done correctly, PPC ads can be a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website and generate conversions. But when should you invest in search engine marketing and use PPC ads?

One of the biggest benefits of pay-per-click advertising is the ability to target specific demographics and audiences.

For example, if you’re a local boutique selling women’s clothing, you can target your ad campaign to show only to women in your city. This can help save money by cutting out uninterested parties and ensuring that your ad reaches those most likely to buy from you.

Another good time to consider using PPC is when launching a new product or service. In these situations, quickly getting the word out and driving traffic to your website can make or break the success of the launch.

Finally, PPC can also be useful in helping boost sales during slow seasons or for temporary promotions.

11 PPC Examples: Tips & Tricks For Successful Campaigns

PPC ads date back to 1994 with AT&T’s “You Will” campaign. In the nearly 30 years since the first pay-per-click ad debuted online, there have been numerous PPC examples to pull from to learn what works and what doesn’t work.

Here are 11 tips based on PPC examples that can help ensure you see success with your PPC marketing campaigns, sourced from digital marketing specialists.

1. Bid On Your Brand Name

It may seem counterintuitive, but bidding on your brand name can be a helpful strategy to improve your click-through rate.

First of all, it helps prevent competitors from bidding on your brand. No one wants to see a competitor’s ad pop up when someone searches for their own company.

Additionally, bidding on your brand name can give you better placement in search results, making it more likely that potential customers will see your ad and click on it.

2. Start Conversations

Want to use PPC ads to build long-term trust and engagement? Don’t try to sell. Instead, focus on using these types of digital ads to build trust and engage with your audience in an authentic way.

Converse used this to attract their teenage audience. In using keywords such as “how to talk to girls” and “first day of summer,” they were able to attract the attention of their target audience. Once they clicked on the ads, the brand offered relevant content to engage them.

3. Create Retargeting Campaigns

Customers are 70% more likely to interact with your campaign if you engage them with a retargeting campaign. You can use your PPC to understand who to retarget and how.

Simply put, retargeting can be extremely effective in PPC marketing because it puts your brand directly in front of an audience that has already expressed interest in your products or services.

And because retargeting targets a specific audience, it can often result in lower advertising costs and higher conversion rates compared to more generalized advertising tactics.

4. Think About Search Intent

When it comes to PPC marketing, search intent is everything. This refers to why a person might search for a certain term or phrase. Are they looking for information, planning to make a purchase, or just browsing?

Knowing search intent allows you to target your ads more effectively and bring in potential customers who are interested in what you’re offering. It also helps save money by avoiding targeting users who aren’t likely to convert.

In the PPC examples we’ve analyzed, the successful campaigns all feature the correct search intent.

5. Include Seller Ratings

If you have a Google My Business profile (and great online reviews) then it can help to include those ratings on your Google Ads.

This is a really simple PPC tip to follow, too. You just have to create a review extension in your ad account. Just make sure that the rating is based on real customer feedback and is not made up or exaggerated.

Ultimately, adding ratings on Google Ads can help boost your click-through rate and ultimately lead to more conversions.

6. Use Ad Extensions

Audi has some great PPC examples where they use ad extensions well.

These extra bits of information, such as your business’s location or phone number, give potential customers more ways to contact and visit you. They also make your ad appear larger and more prominent on the search results page, increasing the chances of being clicked on.

Ad extensions can even improve your ad’s Quality Score, which in turn leads to a lower cost per click and better placement for your ad.

7. Optimize Your Headline

The headlines you use for your PPC ads can make or break the success of your ad campaign. So how do you optimize them?

First, make sure they accurately describe what’s being advertised. This may seem obvious, but it’s important to avoid clickbait and ensure customers are getting what they expect.

Next, try to include keywords related to what you’re advertising. This will increase the chance that your ad will show up when someone searches for those terms.

Finally, consider using powerful words or engaging language to catch the reader’s attention and entice them to click on your ad. By taking these steps, you’ll optimize your PPC ad headlines and potentially drive more traffic to your website.

8. Localize Your Ads

If you’re a local business or have multiple business locations then it’s extremely helpful to localize your PPC ads. Targeting specific cities or regions means that you’ll only be reaching the customers who are actually within your geographic range.

This not only saves you money by eliminating irrelevant clicks but also ensures that your ad copy is tailored to the specific needs and language of those local customers.

Additionally, localizing your ads can boost their effectiveness on search engines by incorporating local keywords and demonstrating a strong local presence to potential customers.

9. Include a Phone Number

While you can include an ad extension that allows you to place a phone number in the ad for easy clicking and calling, it can also be helpful to write out your phone number in the ad description. Why?

If someone is interested in your ad description enough, they might not even need to click on it. They’ll simply call the number you’ve listed. This means that you get a conversion but you don’t have to pay for the ad click.

In short, you will be getting a free lead! MetLife insurance did this in one of their PPC examples and it seemed to work well for them.

10. Don’t Repeat Words

In some of the most unsuccessful PPC campaigns we analyzed, one of the biggest mistakes was repeating words. You don’t have that much space to sell your brand enough to get users to click through to the landing page.

So, avoid repeating words. Instead, use any additional space you have to highlight discounts or specific features that will entice potential customers. Or, enhance your CTA to encourage more clicks.

11. Don’t Forget About Action Verbs

Finally, in analyzing PPC campaigns from brands like Audi, MetLife, Converse, and more, the biggest difference between their successful campaigns and others that weren’t successful is the use of action verbs.

Start your description off with verbs like “experience,” “view,” “find,” or even “call.” These types of words not only catch the attention of potential customers but also convey a sense of urgency and motivate them to take immediate action.

Get More Digital Marketing Tips

We hope these PPC examples have been helpful. Use them as a base from which to start monitoring and improving your pay-per-click campaigns.

As you start to grow your digital marketing efforts, however, you’ll need to learn about more than just PPC ads and how to improve your CTR.

To find out more tips, tricks, and advice on how to increase your digital marketing efforts, visit our digital marketing resources page. There, you’ll find numerous resources on everything from SEO to email marketing.