Starting Out With PPC, Need Some Advice

[inhouseseo]

We are starting out with PPC for our site. I wanted to know what the best starting point is for our site. First, some basic info:

• We sell thousands of products from a large number of manufacturers

• We can offer the same prices as competitors, but we can't beat their prices

Here are my questions:

1. What would be my USP if my prices are the same, and we have the same store policies as competitors?

2. Is it best to start with product pages (as opposed to keywords)? Meaning, setting up a feed via MC and connecting to our adwords account.

Any advice is appreciated

[tomcraig86]

Based on what you are saying, I'd suggest getting an Agency to set this campaign up for you, as it will take a lot of time. Getting the feed in of your products will help a lot, but there will be a large number of ads you'd want to run alongside your individual products to your category pages etc.

SEOMoz probably isn't the best place to ask about PPC, so I'd recommend asking some more questions on a PPC forum.

You'd be best to lead with a USP - perhaps free delivery, next day delivery, local call centers, live chat, freephone numbers, etc.

[DanielFreedman]

The problem with agencies -- at least the good ones -- is that they have little interest in small accounts. Commissions of $1,000 to $1,500 per month are often required to attract their attention. That implies an ad spend of $100,000 to $150,000 per annum.

You might try to educate yourself by joining the Google Engage program and taking other education steps. But this will most likely take weeks or months and you will waste hundreds or thousands of dollars along the way. And beware: the advice you get from Google is not only self-serving, but surprisingly ignorant about PPC basics.

I describe myself as a "web strategist" and PPC is only about 10% of what I do. I use PPC for only a few of my clients; a purely organic approach  works best for most.

It's impossible to say more without knowing more about your client's competitive position. But I agree with emphasizing the USP, if prices are the same as competitors.

I've had success with ad copy that talked about:

• family-run business
• guaranteed
• personal service
• made in USA by licensed ________
• Save 12% in big summer sale

These lead directly to landing pages that repeat the keywords and and ad text phrases.

Too many people confuse PPC with a roulette wheel: if only you get lucky on a magic phrase you will win big. Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated.

PPC is hard.

You have to come up with ad groups containing tightly related groups of keywords. You have to test ad copy over time. You have to refine keyword, dropping some and breaking others into new ad groups. And you have to develop the capacity to easily create new landing pages.

[inhouseseo]

I have talked to a few reputable PPC companies. Many of them want what amounts to 30% of your PPC spend if you are on a small budget (around $1,500/mo), PLUS a setup fee of a few hundred dollars.

I talked to one that suggested starting with products and moving to other categories/section - a narrow to broad approach. This seems like the best way to go if you are starting.

The others want similar startup/monthly fees, but they will do the keyword research, ad group creation, etc.

It seems to me the best way to go is either create my own feed via MC and connect to my adwords account, or pay an exorbitant amount to a very reputable PPC company and hope their expertise will bring in revenue. I am leaning towards the product feed.

[inhouseseo]

BTW, have you ever heard of PPC companies managing campaigns in return for a percentage of sales generated via PPC?

[DanielFreedman]

No, I haven't heard of reputable PPC companies accepting of percentage of sales in lieu of a flat fee or percentage of the spend.

Why would they?

Because they're nice guys who want to mitigate their clients' risk? Um...no.

[tomcraig86]

Generally in the UK the industry average is 12% of monthly Adwords spend.

[DavidKonigsberg]

We do ppc and Let me just warn you if you are a drop shipper and can't do better pricing then your competitors and have no real advantage over the competitors it is very hard to make alot of money with ppc especially if you have small margins. I would try to find a ppc company that has experience with your situation and it would be worth every penny.

[flowsimple]

I agree with David, find a reputable and experienced PPC company that is experienced with your situation, and pay for their expertise. Even if you are spending $1,500 per month on their services. Chances are they will also do MUCH MUCH better than you would in terms of your bottom line.

Let's just ignore the time savings from hiring out a good PPC company and focus on your return. Then it just comes down to a number game, and that should help you decide on how much you can invest on hiring a PPC company. Here's an example:

Let's say your budget is $4K a month on non-brand campaigns, and you're averaging 40 conversions, so your CPA is $100. If the PPC company does 100% better, you're getting 80 conversions for $5.5K a month ($4K + 1.5K service), and now your CPA is about $67. So what's better? You managing $4K and getting 40 conversions, or spending $5.5K and getting 80? And we haven't even factored in the possibility of an increase in average revenue per conversion yet! If the company can increase that too, well then... you get the picture.

Now, let's just focus on just the TIME savings, and let's say you can't go above $4K in total. So the PPC company eats $1.5K, and the rest goes towards your spend. Then the PPC company would only need to do 38% better to achieve the same results and number of conversions.

Hope all that made sense.