Targeting Your Niche Market Using PPC Marketing
Targeting your niche market using pay per click (PPC) marketing can be very lucrative but obviously comes with risks attached. It is important that you understand how to set up a targeted PPC campaign properly and start with a small group of well chosen keywords.
It is not possible to cover all aspects of PPC marketing in this short article but whether you are using Google AdWords, Yahoo or MSN the most important thing to understand and grasp is relevancy.
So you must make sure that your keywords, adgroups, ads and landing pages are all relevant to each other.
Mini-sites
It is no longer acceptable to set up a single page website with your merchant link(s) included. You must first set up a relevant mini-site. Let’s say you are promoting ‘training my dog’ ebooks. Then you would set up a mini-site based around that broad keyword phrase, ‘training my dog’ . Include a Home page, a Review page (comparing different ‘training my dog’ ebooks), an Information page (containing articles about ‘dog training’) and a contact page as a minimum.
Landing Pages
Then set up more specific landing pages based around more targeted keyword phrases. e.g. ‘training my German Shepherd’ , ‘training my Labrador’, etc. Constructing your landing pages around those phrases. But also dig down deeper for long tail keywords such as ‘how to train my labrador’, ‘labrador training guides’, etc.
Group similar keywords into their own adgroups and include your keyword phrase in your ads and landing pages. Set up a landing page for each adgroup comparing your dog training ebooks. Link your individual landing pages back to your mini-site via links in the landing page footer back to your mini-site pages.
The Buying Cycle
Remember, customers go through three main phases when making a purchase. Research, Decision and Buying.
So, someone searching on ‘dog training’ is in the research phase. Someone searching on ‘labrador training guide reviews’ is looking for something more specific and is therefore likely to be in the Decision or even Buying phase. Someone searching on ‘buy labrador training guide’ is definitely in the Buying phase and it is your job to pre-sell them one of your chosen dog training ebooks from your specific landing page.
Using Product Names
If possible, start your AdWords campaigns using the actual product name as your keyword. Someone searching on an actual product name or ‘product name review’ is definitely in the Buying phase. Be aware though that some merchants do not allow you to use the actual product name in your ads. So check with the merchant’s terms of service before setting up an ad campaign using the product name.
The more targeted you are, the less clicks you will get but you are far more likely to make sales.
I have really only scratched the surface of PPC marketing in this short article and recommend that you seek further guidance. There are many good AdWords guides out there.
The Content Network & Placement Targeting
If you new to using AdWords I recommend you turn off the Content Network before you become more experienced. The content networks place your ads on sites as AdSense ads and you can receive a lot of unwanted non-relevant traffic.
However, when you become more experienced you should certainly have a look at Placement Targeting which gives you the ability to dictate which sites your ads appear on allowing you to target specific relevant sites. Again, you should seek further guidance before attempting Placement Targeting.
Conclusion
Targeting your niche market using PPC marketing is very effective provided you remember the importance of being relevant and to target your campaigns at the ‘Buying phase’ of the Buying cycle.
