How to Use PPC Advertising to Diversify Your Traffic and Protect Your Business

Small businesses spend more than 40 percent of their marketing budgets on digital ads. Experts predict that number will continue to rise.

The question for small business owners like you is where to spend that money. There are so many digital advertising options, including SEO, content creation, and more.

If you want to step up your game, though, then you’ll want to consider your click traffic. PPC advertising is a tried and true method of generating traffic. You can use it not to just get more clicks but to diversify where your traffic is coming from too.

Wondering how to drive diversity in click traffic with PPC ads? This handy how-to guide covers the steps.

Look at Your Current Click Traffic

Before you turn to PPC, take a moment to take stock of where your current web traffic comes from. Organic search drives most web traffic, even for businesses that use PPC advertising.

PPC is most effective where your SEO efforts can’t get you the win on the SERPs. It also helps you reach demographics on other platforms, like Facebook or even Amazon.

Knowing where the traffic you’re already getting comes from is key to diversifying. If you don’t know who’s already clicking, you might end up targeting the same groups over and over.

Creating buyer personas can be helpful here. Look at people who have liked your Facebook page or pull stats from your website. With this information in hand, you can begin looking at ways to diversify your traffic.

Create Lookalike Audiences

You can use the data about your current click traffic to create lookalike audiences.

These are people who “look” like the people already buying from you. These people aren’t already clicking your ads, but they’re like the people who do click them or visit your site. There’s a good chance they’ll be interested in what you’re offering.

A lookalike audience may also differ on one key aspect, such as geographic location. You may have noticed most of your users are 18 to 34 year old men in Los Angeles. You might use this information to craft lookalike audiences in San Diego or San Francisco.

Don’t Forget about Retargeting

Before using buyer personas to diversify traffic, make sure you add retargeting to your strategy.

Retargeting is aimed at people who have already clicked an ad. It helps move them along the funnel by providing them with a new ad or new offer.

Suppose your business sells video games to young adult men. You get quite a few clicks on an ad that shows them a current sale. Many of these leads don’t convert though.

Retargeting lets you show a new ad to those who clicked but didn’t buy. Maybe you can entice them to sign up for your weekly sale newsletter so they’ll always know about the best deals. You might offer them a discount or a gift for signing up.

In this way, retargeting moves them further along the funnel until they’re ready to convert.

Try Out Different Platforms

Now you’ve created some lookalike audiences and added retargeting to your PPC ads. It’s time to move beyond Google Ads.

Google has the largest share of the search engine market, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only search engine out there. Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo! are still popular competitors. There are also other alternative sites, like DuckDuckGo and Yandex.

You should consider any of these platforms. By using them, you can reach out to the search users you’re missing by being a “Google exclusive.”

You should also think beyond search engines. PPC ads exist on almost every social media site, from Facebook to Instagram to YouTube.

For B2B companies, LinkedIn actually drives the most traffic. Different social media platforms reach different demographics. It’s important to consider all platforms as a way of diversifying your traffic.

Suppose your ideal buyer are those young men between the ages of 18 and 34. Facebook tends to skew older, so it may not be your first choice. You may still reach gamers who are outside of your “target” age demographic.

Twitch and YouTube are popular platforms for the gaming community. Investing here may make sense. You may also decide you want to reach a female audience, so you’ll want to discover which platforms they use the most.

Start Testing

The next step is to make sure you’re testing your ad sets and campaigns to optimize them for each target group. Since each group uses different platforms, you’ll want to adjust your messaging across platforms.

The video ads you use on YouTube may get very different responses from those on Instagram. Testing lets you see how ads perform across different platforms and user demographics. You can then use the data you collect to improve your ad sets.

Manage Your Ads

If your goal is to use pay per click advertising to drive traffic, remember that all ads eventually go stale. You’ll need to refresh ads from time to time, so make sure you’re paying attention to what’s working and what’s not.

You’ll also want to be sure your ads are working to support your other digital marketing efforts. If you’re using SEO to climb the ranks, you don’t want your PPC ads appearing where you’re already in the top three.

Instead, focus on using PPC for traffic where you’re having trouble outranking your competitors. You can use PPC ads to leapfrog them and get your business in front of potential customers.

PPC Traffic Can Help You Grow

You might get most of your click traffic from organic rankings, but PPC ads can help you target new audiences across platforms. In short, PPC ads can help you diversify your traffic and grow your business.

Looking for more great advice about digital advertising? We have plenty of how-to guides and tips for improving your strategy. Check back often for the latest news and trends, then watch your business grow.