{"id":10363,"date":"2019-06-05T14:54:53","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T18:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/?p=10363"},"modified":"2022-06-21T12:24:57","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T16:24:57","slug":"getting-started-with-paid-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/getting-started-with-paid-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"39 Marketers Share Excellent Tips for Getting Started With Paid Ads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To start attracting new leads and remarket to past customers, it&#8217;s wise to learn about getting started with paid ads. This is precisely why we wanted to reach out to see how other marketers got started using <a href=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/paid-owned-earned-media\/\">paid media<\/a>\u00a0so that we could learn tips and tricks for getting started in this realm.<\/p>\n<p>We ran a survey to learn marketers\u2019 best tips for getting started with paid ads, and 39 respondents shared their insights. The survey consisted of four multiple-choice questions and two open-ended response prompts. We\u2019ll cover the tips themselves later in the article, but first, let\u2019s take a look at the surprising statistics that we found.<\/p>\n<h2>Most marketers only spend a week or less testing new ads<\/h2>\n<p>First, we asked marketers about their initial budget when they started testing ads. We offered four numerical responses ranging from less than $100 to $1000 or more.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>46% said they allotted between $100 and $500 for their ad budget<\/li>\n<li>21% spent $1000 or more<\/li>\n<li>15% spent between $500 and $1000<\/li>\n<li>15% spent less than $100.<\/li>\n<li>3% did not have an answer to the question or answered with something other than numerical data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10355 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-246.png\" alt=\"budgets for getting started with paid ads\" width=\"698\" height=\"518\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-246.png 698w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-246-300x223.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We also asked marketers to share their investments of time within their first month of working on ads, by selecting one of 6 set responses ranging from 1 day to the entire month (\u201call their time\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>The majority of marketers (70%) reported that they spent one week or less working on ads.<\/p>\n<p>In the survey, 3% of respondents spent only one day on ads, and 8% of respondents spent all their time on ads, showing great variety in time investments in between.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.wrs3dkpfrcnu\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10360\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-248.png\" alt=\"working on ads statistics\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-248.png 912w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-248-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/h3>\n<h2 id=\"h.r6rv0d7a7v9t\">Most respondents set a longer initial testing period<\/h2>\n<p>The majority of our respondents (87%) defined a set testing period to gauge their ads\u2019 efficacy.<\/p>\n<p>About 41% of the marketers used a two to three month testing period (the most popular response), and 33% tested their ads for one month. Longer testing periods of at least a month were preferred, and only 13% did not have any set period for testing.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10352\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-247.png\" alt=\"testing period statistics\" width=\"700\" height=\"386\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-247.png 924w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-247-300x166.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h.jv3b3ph69ru6\">There are two clear winners when it comes to ad networks<\/h2>\n<p>We also wanted to see which ad networks marketers turned to when they first started to work with paid ads. Marketers were allowed to select multiple responses to this question and were also allowed to add their own response if a network they used was not listed.<\/p>\n<p>Although marketers shared a wide variety of responses, two networks dominated as popular choices: Google Ads (69%) and Facebook Ads (67%).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10359\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-269.png\" alt=\"Google and Facebook ad preferences\" width=\"700\" height=\"374\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-269.png 1136w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-269-300x160.png 300w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-269-1024x547.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In comparison, only 26% used the third most popular platform, Bing Ads. All the other platforms listed were each used by 5% or less of the respondents.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10354\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-268.png\" alt=\"Marketing networks\" width=\"700\" height=\"379\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-268.png 1146w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-268-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-268-1024x554.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, just over half of the marketers we surveyed (54%) used two or more ad networks when they first started out. Meanwhile, 46% chose to use a single ad network. Testing out multiple options was the more popular choice, but not by much.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10353\" src=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-251.png\" alt=\"using ad network statistics\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-251.png 906w, https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Screenshot-251-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h.1l06tsygtlwd\">What surprised marketers about paid ads<\/h2>\n<p>Working with paid ads can bring unexpected insights, challenges, and successes. We wanted to share what surprised our surveyed marketers most when they first started with paid ads, so you\u2019re more aware of what to expect when you begin this process.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.29n89ji1w7zn\">1. Ads drive rapid, real-time results<\/h3>\n<p>When properly set up, ads can be an effective way to quickly drive traffic and convert new customers. Several of the marketers we surveyed were shocked by just how powerful paid ads can be.<\/p>\n<p>Karri Gonzalez of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ezmarketing.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EZMarketing<\/a> encourages other marketers not to underestimate ads\u2019 efficacy, regardless of their own point of view as a consumer: \u201cI was surprised by\u00a0how effective ads could be \u2013 I&#8217;ve personally rarely clicked on an ad and have certainly never converted on one personally, so in the back of my mind I doubted their effectiveness because I was judging them based on my own consumer behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morgan Taylor of Jolly Content \u201cwas surprised how quickly a pay per click campaign was able to drive traffic to the company\u2019s site,\u201d and reports that \u201cit was only a matter of days before the results started showing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like several other marketers, Jamie Burgess from <a href=\"https:\/\/cariadmarketing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cariad Marketing<\/a> was surprised by \u201chow responsive paid traffic is\u201d compared to the organic traffic gained from search results. \u201cComing from an SEO background, I was used to waiting weeks and months for trickles of visitors to start coming,\u201d Burgess explains. \u201cBeing able to drive targeted traffic immediately after setting up the campaigns, and having actionable data about what was working and what wasn&#8217;t fairly quickly was a game changer for me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, this rapidity of results pleasantly surprised Jean-Philippe Fortin-Cantin from <a href=\"https:\/\/dashthis.com\/ppc-sem-reporting-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DashThis<\/a>: \u00a0\u201cAt first, I was really surprised by the results being almost real-time&#8230;Compared to other marketing efforts such as social media or SEO, with Google Ads you quickly see the results of your work and can adjust accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Peters of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onlineturf.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Online Turf<\/a>\u00a0also experienced improved results compared with organic traffic: \u201cBy using a combination of text ads &amp; shopping ads and experimenting with the different search &amp; display networks, we very quickly managed to get more sales via paid traffic than organic.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.zdvq7gootsl5\">2. Developing ads can take more time than many people expect<\/h3>\n<p>Paid ads can require large time investments before they deliver worthwhile results. \u00a0\u201cThe lengthy process which was involved in creating my test advert surprised me,\u201d says Ollie Smith of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energyseek.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0EnergySeek<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cI went on a journey from initial brainstorming, SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis and research to channel selection and design through to delivery and analysis of the results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hans Harris from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/firetoss.com\/ad-copy-qualifying-ppc-leads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Firetoss<\/a> mentions even more factors that increase the time needed to develop effective paid ads: \u201cThe structure of your paid ad campaigns and ad groups must match as closely as possible searchers&#8217; intent based on the keyword research you conduct and the product(s) or service(s) you offer. I would expect around one hour of keyword research per topic, another hour organizing the keywords into campaigns and ad groups, at least one-hour writing ad copy and setting up your ad account for success, and potentially many hours setting up your ad account to track conversions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And educating yourself on how to construct effective paid ads can consume even more time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hausvonalbe.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Haus von Albe\u2019s<\/a> Christina Albe reports that her employment at Facebook gave her new insight into the time investment paid ads require for learning. \u201cIt wasn&#8217;t until I had to learn the ins and outs of the Facebook platform that I realized how difficult it is for the everyday person to utilize ads,\u201d she says. \u201cIt truly requires time and concentration to learn what you&#8217;re doing before you start to spend a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.pnnzqxem3qp3\">3. Running ads can get expensive, but you don&#8217;t have to break the bank<\/h3>\n<p>Tyler Horvath\u00a0of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solopreneurinstitute.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyton Media<\/a> warns that the cost of creating and maintaining ad campaigns may catch you off guard at first: &#8220;You will spend more than you think. When you first start, you think that you will see an instant return, but this is never the case. With ads, you need to do constant optimization to your images, text, headlines, and targeting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But if you make the right moves, you don\u2019t have to spend large sums of money for a high return on investment \u2013 especially after the initial learning period.<\/p>\n<p>Two marketers reported that Facebook Ads is especially cost-effective. \u201cAs I started working with Facebook advertising, I realized that you don&#8217;t have to have a big budget to make an impact,\u201d reports Tessa May Marr of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marrmediagroup.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marr Media Group<\/a>. \u201cSure, there is learning that&#8217;s required as you figure out what audiences, what creative and what types of ads get you the results you&#8217;re happy with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs you work through this, you&#8217;ll see your CPC rates lower, relevance scores higher and ultimately, more of your desired result. But Facebook has done a good job of making this fairly intuitive and helping your money go far. If you only feel comfortable spending $100\/month while you&#8217;re getting started&#8230; you can!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marc Andre of <a href=\"https:\/\/vitaldollar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Vital Dollar<\/a>\u00a0was surprised at how easy it was to run Facebook ads at a low cost per click, especially when he just started out with the ad network: \u201cWith only a few small tweaks to the Facebook ad copy I was able to get a much lower cost per click than I anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Zeshan Jeewanjee from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.g1g.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">G1G Travel Insurance<\/a> reports that a little research and testing can go a long way cost-wise, no matter which platform you use. \u201cWhat surprised me most was how quickly a little research on keywords&#8230;could make an impact on our cost per click and our click-through ratio,\u201d says Jeewanjee.<\/p>\n<p>But Jeewanjee also recommends discriminating by platform to save money: \u201cAfter our Google Ads campaigns were in a good place, I set up our Bing Ad campaigns, and learned that certain keywords were much cheaper to advertise on with Bing so I only use Bing for those keywords and products.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.svz18fgpab9z\">4. Paid ad networks offer easy\u00a0setup<\/h3>\n<p>Some marketers were surprised by the ease<em>\u00a0<\/em>of setup that ad networks offer. This shows that, while crafting ads that convert may take time and money, the process is still quite accessible to people with no paid ad experience.<\/p>\n<p>Dane van Zyl of <a href=\"https:\/\/ukuinbound.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Uku Inbound<\/a> was most surprised by how easy it was to get started with paid ads. \u201cWe started with Adwords nearly a decade ago, and although the functionality and features have changed significantly, it is still very easy to get started with some basic marketing knowledge,\u201d van Zyl says.<\/p>\n<p>Blair Heckel from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/datasciencedojo.com\/data-science-bootcamp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Data Science Dojo<\/a> shares similar sentiments: \u201cInitially, I was intimidated by creating and running an ad with no experience. More specifically, I was afraid of putting my company&#8217;s money to waste. After working with platforms from Google Ads, Facebook, and Twitter, I now realize you do not need to have a degree in advertising or even formal training to create and run an ad campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.a0t4nw38tt3v\">5. Ad copy is different from most other content<\/h3>\n<p>If you regularly write website copy and long-form content, you may be surprised at how different writing paid ad copy can be, like Yaniv Masjedi of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextiva.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nextiva<\/a>\u00a0was. \u201cWriting copy for ads is totally different than writing onsite copy and content,\u201d says Masjedi. \u201cYou have a tight character count. Plus, your leads respond to different copy while browsing Facebook&#8217;s News Feed versus Google SERPs versus your web pages.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.jdcwxe8ebuk3\">6. Ad networks allow for<em>\u00a0<\/em>specific targeting<\/h3>\n<p>Several marketers were surprised at the precision targeting options ad networks offer, and just how detailed they enable ad campaign goals to become. \u201cWhat surprised me was the hyper-targeting,\u201d reports Andrew Gregor of Page 1 Solutions. \u201cWe can target so specifically that we can target people who walk in and out of a certain door. It&#8217;s insane! You can use display ads to target people for almost anything that you have to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Matthew Ross from <a href=\"https:\/\/myslumberyard.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Slumber Yard<\/a> says that he \u201cwas surprised just how detailed you can get in terms of demographics.\u201d Ross continues, \u201cI had no idea you could drill down that much into the personal lives of consumers. I think the general population would be shocked by how much data these large platforms collect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to take advantage of these options and create ads that will reach the audience most likely to purchase your products. Daniel Brophy of Page 1 Solutions\u00a0recommends taking full advantage of different Facebook campaign types to do so, with your goals in mind. \u201cOne thing that surprised me when I initially started working with Facebook Ads was the existence of the different campaign types, and how each one is designed to encourage people to complete a single, specified action,\u201d says Brophy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis made me take a step back and consider the value of each action that a Facebook user might take, and where that fits in with our overall marketing strategy, and the buyer&#8217;s journey&#8230; Then I was able to tailor the ad creative and message to more effectively cater to each step of that journey, and serve the right ads to the right people.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.pd3p0e5le11x\">7. If you use search ads, you\u2019ll need to optimize constantly<\/h3>\n<p>The work needed to maintain search engine ads may shock you, but it\u2019s vital for staying ahead of your competition. Niles Koenigsberg of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.figadvertising.com\/denver-digital-marketing-services\/ppc-seo-advertising-denver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FiG Advertising + Marketing<\/a>\u00a0was \u201csurprised by how the competitors that bid on the same ad space are optimizing on a regular basis.\u201d Koenigsberg continues, \u201cWith other ads (like Facebook Ads) you can take a general plug and play approach, but not with search engine ads. Those need to be constantly re-optimized for new keywords to get the best traction.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h.4jrdycqi8wcz\">What is your best tip for getting started with ads?<\/h2>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s check out the top tips marketers shared to help anyone thinking about getting started with paid ads.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.j25qzdxredft\">1. Thorough planning is essential<\/h3>\n<p>Don\u2019t just jump into the paid ad process without a plan. Otherwise, you\u2019re likely to waste money on ads that aren\u2019t even well targeted for your audience. Instead, take valuable planning time, as Energy Seek\u2019s\u00a0Ollie Smith recommends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my opinion, it is important that you create a paid advertising checklist,\u201d says Smith. \u201cTaking the time initially to thoroughly plan your campaign will increase chances of success. \u00a0Take measured steps to plan your strategy, goals, budget and which tracking software you will use to measure the results. \u00a0The more planning &#8211; the better!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Jean-Philippe Fortin-Cantin of DashThis says that his \u201cnumber one tip for anyone getting started with ads, particularly Google Ads, is to start with a good structure. Before you start, you should have a plan of how you want to structure your ads into groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fortin-Cantin continues, \u00a0\u201cDefine the theme of each of your campaigns, then define ad groups for each, and choose your keywords accordingly. This will ensure that the intent of your audience will be relevant for each of your ads. Once well-structured, optimizing your ads will be a lot easier, and it will also be easier for your team to work on those ads in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.9xqtxcj4q8gh\">2. Research ad basics before you start<\/h3>\n<p>Educating yourself about the fundamentals of ads should be part of your planning process. \u201cMy best tip for getting started with ads is to get educated about them first,\u201d advises Nathan Piccni of <a href=\"https:\/\/datasciencedojo.com\/data-science-bootcamp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Data Science Dojo<\/a>. \u201cYou can read articles, watch videos, or receive certifications. It will make your life a whole lot easier if you take a few days to learn how they work before jumping right in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Piccni also warns that there is no substitute for solid experience: \u201cNothing you read or watch will fully prepare you for the real thing. You will learn much more the more you work with ads, be it Facebook, Google, or anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Research can also help you significantly lower ad costs. Tyler Horvath of Tyton Media<a href=\"https:\/\/www.solopreneurinstitute.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0<\/a>recommends \u201cinvesting in a course or book that can show you the basics of how ads work on each platform. If you just start running ads without any idea about what you&#8217;re doing, you&#8217;re going to spend a lot of money and get no results. Just knowing the basics about targeting, keywords, tracking, retargeting and ad optimization will help you save thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In addition to extensive research on ad fundamentals, Niles Koenigsberg of FiG Advertising + Marketing<a href=\"https:\/\/www.figadvertising.com\/denver-digital-marketing-services\/ppc-seo-advertising-denver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0<\/a>also suggests \u201cseeing what your competitors are doing on their ads\u201d and positioning yourself accordingly. That way, it\u2019s more likely that you\u2019ll convert your competitors\u2019 customers into your own customers!<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.xnoob56tsqvx\">3. Select your keywords carefully<\/h3>\n<p>If you\u2019re using search ads, part of your initial planning stage should involve \u201cserious research\u201d on keywords, as Morgan Taylor of Jolly Content recommends. Says Taylor, \u201cMake sure the keyword you are targeting is one that will directly lead to sales conversions. You may drive traffic to your site, but if it isn&#8217;t targeted well, you won&#8217;t make sales.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.e5vczni8gpbk\">Lower cost-per-click with your quality score<\/h4>\n<p>The amount you\u2019ll ultimately spend to run ads on a keyword depends on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wordstream.com\/cpc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cost per click<\/a>\u00a0or CPC. Every time someone clicks on one of your ads, the search engine charges you the cost per click. Prominent factors that determine your cost per click are your maximum bid (how much you\u2019re willing to spend to run ads on a keyword), the maximum bids of your competition (who also want to run ads on that keyword), and the Quality Score of your ads.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Begola of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.titanium-buzz.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Titanium Buzz<\/a>\u00a0explains the importance of Quality Score, and how to raise it: \u00a0\u201cIf your Quality Score is higher, your acquisition costs will be lower, and you\u2019ll get a better placement. Quality Score is based on the quality of an ad and its relevance. Google measures it by the click-through rate.\u201d (Click-through rate is the number of clicks an ad receives relative to the number of people who see the ad.)<\/p>\n<p>Begola continues, \u201cYou can improve your click-through rate by choosing relevant keywords that match the searcher intent, making an impressive ad copy that offers a clear solution to the personas pain points, and creating a quality landing page to ensure better user experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.us3ymhqw648\">Reduce unnecessary ad spend<\/h4>\n<p>Lewis Peters of Online Turf recommends using \u201cnegative keywords\u201d to help reduce unnecessary ad spend. After all, the more irrelevant keywords a given paid ad triggers for, the greater the odds that you\u2019ll be charged for gaining a visitor who is unlikely to convert.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Get familiar with keyword match types as well as negative keywords to ensure that your budget is not wasted on any irrelevant searches,\u201d says Peters. \u201cIn Google AdWords there are 4 to choose from; Broad Match, Broad Match Modifier, Exact Match &amp; Phrase Match. Each work differently and can be tailored to make your campaign as specific as you need&#8230; Negative keywords ensure your ad will not trigger for a specified term which is incredibly useful when using broad match or [broad match modifier] match types.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For efficient spending, \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/elitedigitalagency.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elite Digital\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Alexis Soer recommends buying ads for extremely focused keywords for your brand, rather than trying to monopolize all the keywords that may relate. \u201cWhen it comes to Google Ads, make sure the keywords you are bidding on are specific to your business,\u201d says Soer. \u201cMany people focus on obtaining the highest bid for every relevant keyword but this strategy can lead to a lot of unnecessary ad spend that leads to your ads having a low conversion rate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hans Harris from Firetoss recommends checking which other companies are buying ads on a keyword before you decide to run ads on it: \u201cWhen wondering whether or not to include a keyword, my top tip is to Google it and look at the results. What kinds of companies show for that keyword? Would (or should) you compete with them? Taking the time up front to groom your keyword list will pay dividends in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Ross of The Slumber Yard\u00a0\u201cthink[s] the key for people just starting to experiment with ads is to dip your toe in slowly in terms of cost and competition.\u201d Says Ross, \u201cWhen you&#8217;re just starting out, chances are you won&#8217;t earn a good ROI, which is why you should target low competition keywords. Don&#8217;t go after the big keywords in your industry right away. If you do this, the big players in your industry will eat your lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Tina Bailey of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.girlsgospel.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GirlsGospel<\/a>\u00a0advocates for using Bing to test keywords efficiently, before moving to the more popular but more expensive Google Ads: \u201cStarting with Bing means you spend less per click, so use it to experiment with keywords before you move up to Adwords for volume, once you&#8217;re confident with your keyword choices.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.jufb6ouielwa\">If you\u2019re willing to spend more, plan to track results carefully overtime<\/h4>\n<p>But the opposite approach&#8212;being willing to spend more on keywords&#8212;can also work, as long as you\u2019re keeping track of what works and what doesn\u2019t. Sara Desmond of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.page1solutions.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Page 1 Solutions <\/a>describes the world of search ads as \u201ca pay to play universe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Says Desmond, \u201cIf estimates are showing a budget higher than what you want, then take the plunge and get the campaign going with a higher than you wanted budget. After you have spent a few weeks generating traffic, bid patterns, and quality scores, you can start fine-tuning and getting a more specific focus to the leads you want to generate, as well as modifying your budget. Also, by coming in with specific types of leads you want to generate, the campaigns can start off much more tailored and needless refinement over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.4cz80uu11z00\">4. Focus on your objectives<\/h3>\n<p>Make sure that you keep your brand\u2019s overall objectives in mind when designing ads. Blair Heckel of Data Science Dojo says, \u201cYou have to think about the who, what, when, where, and why. Who is your target audience, what copy and creative will you be showing them, how long will you run the ad, where will they land, and why are you running the ad? It is essential to understand your business objectives versus spending money blindly on an ad, hoping people will convert.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also, Camille Ferland from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clientattract.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Client Attract Marketing<\/a> emphasizes the importance of designing ads to guide a customer along a \u00a0journey of small conversions. \u201cIt is important to set up the ad in a thoughtful way that guides your clients to the next step that you want them to take and to not simply boost posts,\u201d \u00a0Ferland advocates. \u201cFor example, they may go from reading the ad to clicking the &#8220;Claim Offer&#8221; button, to going to a landing page, to submitting their information to be contacted.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To see if your brand\u2019s objectives are being met, you\u2019ll need to set up tracking. &#8220;You need to make sure you have your tracking set up correctly before you even think about creating an ad,\u201d says Jack Paxton of <a href=\"https:\/\/topgrowthmarketing.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top Growth Marketing<\/a>. \u201cTracking is the most important part, without knowing who visited or your website or who converted, you will be burning money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, Dane van Zyl of Uku Inbound\u00a0says, \u201cMake sure your goal tracking is properly set up. That way you can focus on metrics that matter for your business.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.9nvavfkqkjp\">5. Testing is key<\/h3>\n<p>Then, once you\u2019re ready to place your first ads, don\u2019t expect to just leave them be. \u00a0Instead, you\u2019ll need to keep testing your ads and tracking your metrics to see what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Pedro Campos of <a href=\"http:\/\/pedrocampos.co\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pedro Converts<\/a> says that other marketers should never discount the importance of tests. \u201cTesting is essential,\u201d says Campos. \u201cIt allows you to see what\u2019s working or not based on data, not on emotions. You should test everything from your copy, images, placements, targeting to landing pages and offers. If in doubt always test. Advertising is risky and you can end up with empty pockets if you&#8230; assume too many things.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jamie Burgess of Cariad Marketing warns that your first ads might not bring the profit you expect, but these tester ads will help you chart a path forward. \u201cBe willing to test and prepared to lose money, especially when starting,\u201d advises Burgess. \u201cYou need to gather data and then work through it to find the opportunities. If you have a limited budget, start small and work on your campaign\/s to get them profitable, then scale up once you&#8217;ve found what works.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Deborah Sweeney of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mycorporation.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MyCorporation<\/a> recommends that marketers not yet willing to pay for a full ad campaign should test ads on \u201ca trial basis for a month,\u201d and then check the results compared to organic traffic. \u201cDid you notice an increase in conversions, impressions, reach, and engagement?\u201d asks Sweeney. \u00a0\u201cIf so, then you should definitely continue using paid ads. If paid ads aren\u2019t showing much of a difference, then stick with your organic ads and save money.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.5ar9briirvhb\">Test different variables<\/h4>\n<p>Tessa May Marr of Marr Media Group recommends \u201ctesting at least one variable each month,\u201d including \u00a0\u201cdifferent audiences\u201d and \u201cdifferent creative &#8211; copy, images, calls to action,\u201d and then seeing what works, \u201cso you can walk away with results and also learning.\u201d She also mentions that \u201cFacebook will automatically allocate more budget to ads or ad sets that are getting you the best results!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Zeshan Jeewanjee of G1G Travel Insurance advocates for comparing results across platforms: &#8221; Once you begin running your campaigns, keep testing and making changes to your campaigns&#8230;What works well with Bing may not work well with Google, and the same applies to Facebook and other platforms. So try the same campaign on multiple platforms and see which one provides you the highest quality customers and best ROI.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Christina Albe of Haus von Albe sums it up: \u201cTest, test, test. Test audiences, test creatives, test channels &#8211; but not all at once! Once you find what works, THEN spend the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.7q9po8dtobzk\">Conduct A\/B testing<\/h4>\n<p>A\/B testing is vital because it lets you see the effect of changing one variable. David Hamilton of <a href=\"https:\/\/oppilomarketing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oppilo Marketing <\/a>recommends a repeated cycle of A\/B tests to refine your ads. \u201cStart with a small budget [and] split the spend across two ad campaigns. Only change one variable across the campaigns,\u201d advises Hamilton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor instance, use a different graphic, change the offer, or test a different demographic (e.g. men vs. women). Allow both ads to run for about two weeks. At the end of the trial, stop the lower performing campaign and double the budget for the higher campaign. Then, repeat by adding another campaign&#8230; Continue this process over and over to scale your ads.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Derek Coleman of <a href=\"http:\/\/jungletopp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">JungleTopp<\/a> recommends a similar approach and advises that you don\u2019t need to spend much on A\/B testing at first: \u201cStart with just $5 or $10 a day and test something with every ad. A\/B test two different audiences and once you find the best performing audience then test the winner against another audience. Continuing progressing in this pattern so that you&#8217;re always learning something new with every ad.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.wo31kmn4gpjy\">Listen to data<\/h4>\n<p>The results of your ad campaigns may surprise you because your own preferences usually aren\u2019t in line with what attracts customers. Instead, the data from testing will show you the best ads to use for your audience. Top Growth Marketing\u2019s Jack Paxton says, \u201cIt&#8217;s always important to test variations, what you think is a good ad and is sure to convert usually doesn&#8217;t. Most of the ads you create will not convert, by testing the ad type, creative, copy and targeting you will be able to focus in on the ads and audiences that do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paxton gives an example from his own experience: \u201cWe had a campaign where we spent a lot of resources on creating awesome video content, but the best converting ad was from a single image with only 100 characters of copy. So you never know what will work and what won&#8217;t until you test it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nathan Piccni of Data Science Dojo also emphasizes the importance of listening to data and making changes based on it. \u201cYou need to constantly be updating [your ads]&#8230;you are almost always wrong when it comes to what your target audience wants,\u201d advises Piccni.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMake sure to listen closely to what the data is telling you. 99.99% of the time, the data is right. You may think you know what your potential customers will click on, but you don&#8217;t. Listen to what the data is telling you. If you are getting views but no clicks, make a change. Your ad should never be considered as perfect and always be willing to make changes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Camille Ferland of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clientattract.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Client Attract Marketing<\/a> recommends to &#8220;let data do the talking, creating many different versions of the ads and letting your audience vote with their opt-ins. Often the ad images that I thought wouldn&#8217;t perform as well performed the best, and those that I thought would outshine the rest did the worst. It just shows the importance of testing different images in your ad and running campaigns in a data-driven and not the opinion-driven way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"h.lr3mo1kz0xlf\">Be patient for the best optimization<\/h4>\n<p>At the start of your testing, though, you\u2019ll need to be fairly patient before making changes to given campaigns, so you can properly gauge results. \u201cAlways wait, especially on Facebook, for the algorithm to learn your ads and the target consumer,\u201d says Omar Fonseca of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicareplanfinder.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Medicare Plan Finder<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cThis usually takes two weeks to a month, but if you try to tweak and make changes before your ads are fully optimized, the algorithm has to input new information which then takes longer for your ads to optimize. Once optimized, making slight but meaningful changes should keep the campaigns running smoothly!\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.pj8azb4t72u0\">6. Target carefully<\/h3>\n<p>Your ad campaigns must be focused on your audience for your ads to drive conversions, as Dane van Zyl of Uku Inbound\u00a0states. \u201cMake sure you have a clearly defined audience,\u201d says van Zyl. \u201cShowing your ads to just anyone is a waste of budget. Create campaigns that are targeted at specific audiences that way you are able to compare which audience responds best to which message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finding the right locations for ads (based on where your target audience browses regularly), and gaining knowledge of competitors\u2019 clients, are crucial in targeting. \u201cKnow where you should be targeting,\u201d advises Andrew Gregor of Page 1 Solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDisplay ads are great because you can target next to any location possible. If you have an offer that your competitor&#8217;s clients would like, target them. Make sure you&#8217;re targeting gender, interests, and age appropriate for the services you are offering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christina Albe of Haus von Albe advises other marketers to pinpoint where potential customers are in the \u201csales funnel,\u201d and then target accordingly. &#8220;Be aware of your customer journey,\u201d she says. \u201cYou cannot jump into paid ads thinking people will see an ad once and buy your product \u2013 that&#8217;s not how it works. Bring the sales funnel into your paid ads &#8211; start with a Traffic ad as it&#8217;ll accomplish both brand awareness and driving traffic to your website.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Albe also recommends remarketing, or targeting the visitors your ads bring to your website who haven\u2019t made a purchase: \u201cTake advantage of the traffic you&#8217;re sending to your website to retarget them with other ads &#8211; whether that&#8217;s lead generation or conversion.&#8221; Christina Albe, Haus von Albe<\/p>\n<p>Jack Paxton of Top Growth Marketing, though, recommends using remarketing ads as your first ads, right after you\u2019ve started tracking website visitors: \u00a0\u201cOnce you have tracking sorted, start with remarketing [ads targeted at people who have already visited your website]. These will be your highest converting campaigns and you will want these in place before you start spending money on cold traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether you use remarketing as your first ad type or as the driving force behind follow-up ads, it is a powerful tool that can help you target people who have already shown some interest in your brand. After all, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchevaluator.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Search Evaluator Academy\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Danilo Godoy states, success with ads all depends on how well you target and reach \u201chigh-quality visitors,\u201d defined as \u201chigh-converting users and leads.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"h.pwld7mtt9qor\">7. Just get started!<\/h3>\n<p>The final tip that the surveyed marketers shared with us is simple. As Mark Andre of<a href=\"https:\/\/vitaldollar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0Vital Dollar<\/a> says if you\u2019re thinking about starting to run paid ads, \u201cJust get started, even if it&#8217;s with a small budget.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Andre encourages other marketers to not let fear get in the way: \u201cI put off advertising on Facebook for a long time because I assumed that I wouldn&#8217;t be able to get clicks at a price that allows my campaigns to be profitable. I thought that with limited experience with paid ads, I would have a big learning curve and would lose a lot of money before figuring it out. Fortunately, once I did get started, the learning curve wasn&#8217;t as big as I had expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<p>As we\u2019ve found out from the marketers we surveyed, a successful start to your first ad campaign depends on careful preparation. So, be prepared to invest large amounts of time. You\u2019ll need to plan out your ads, select relevant keywords, research the fundamentals of paid ads, and define your audience. And, once you\u2019ve started, you\u2019ll constantly need to test your ads and track your results.<\/p>\n<p>But, if you\u2019ve put in the work, paid ads can deliver rapid results. And if you make the right moves, your ad investments won\u2019t break the bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you wanting to get started with using paid ads but aren&#8217;t sure where to start? We got the insight of 39 marketers on starting ads, here&#8217;s what they had to share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":10373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2579,5844],"tags":[2583,4396,2582],"class_list":["post-10363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","category-roundups","tag-lead-generation","tag-roundup","tag-strategy"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Megan Mosley","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10363"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26807,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10363\/revisions\/26807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}