How Small Business Can Compete Against Larger Companies in PPC

Do you own or manage a small business? If so, you may be wondering how you can compete against larger companies and big brands. While you might be intimidated to try to compete against bigger rivals and established brands, you shouldn’t be.

Just because a competitor may have deeper pockets and a dedicated marketing team while you have a limited budget and one marketing expert (and it’s you), you can still compete effectively when it comes to pay per click advertising online. While you might not be in a position to produce a commercial or pay for an ad in a national or regional print publication like your competitors can, PPC enables small businesses to compete on the same playing field as their larger competitors.

While PPC is as close to a level playing field as many small business owners can hope for in the context of advertising, it won’t matter if you don’t know how to use this marketing channel to your advantage. Keep reading to pick up some tips you can use to make the most of PPC and compete with larger companies and well-known brands.

Update Your Website

Have you ever seen an intriguing advertisement online, clicked it and felt like the website you ultimately visited was amateurish as best? If that’s happened to you, you already know that you should start your PPC campaign by updating your website.

While your online ads are what will draw people to your website, it’s unlikely you’ll convert your visitors if your website fails to establish trust and inspire confidence in your goods, services and brand. For your website to achieve these things, you must give your website a refresh so that it looks great and works seamlessly. In today’s day and age, it’s also essential that your website is mobile-friendly. More accurately, your website should be mobile-first.

For a PPC campaign to be a success, it’s critical for you to revisit your website over and over again. You should always look for ways to improve your website to better the experience people have when they visit. As technology changes and new trends become apparent, be sure you update your website to reflect them quickly.

Use Long-Tail Keywords

In general, you can make your advertising dollars go further by targeting long-tail keywords instead of shorter ones. While a long-tail keyword might have a lower search volume, it may be more likely that it will lead to a conversion.

If you run a hardware store, you may want to use a long-tail keyword such as “pressure washer with Honda motor” instead of “pressure washer,” for instance. The first keyword clearly relates to people looking for a power washer with a specific engine, which may indicate they’re closer to making a purchase than someone looking for a power washer with a generic engine.

Keep an Eye on Your Competitors

Even if you already have a clear idea of the PPC ads you want to run, it’s important for you to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. You can only offer incentives that will convince consumers to shop with you instead of a rival outfit by knowing what your competitors are offering, after all.

Going back to our hardware store example, imagine selling outdoor grills at full price when your big box competitors are selling the same grills at 20 percent off. While you may not want to advertise the same percentage discount, you can still compete by offering a specific dollar amount off of your full purchase price even if it equates to the same amount of money. When a competitor offers 20 percent off on a $500 grill, you can advertise the same grill with a $100 discount to differentiate your offer from your competitors’ offer.

Work on Your Messages

When it comes to PPC and many other forms of messaging, you need to communicate a fair amount of information pretty quickly in a small amount of real estate. For these reasons, it’s crucial for you to work on your messaging and ensure you make the most of the space that’s available to you.

One of the keys to a successful PPC campaign is for it to only include ads that relay your competitive advantages without redundancy. Don’t waste valuable space by offering your own testimony about how great your company, products, or services are. Consumers aren’t likely to respond to an ad in which you describe yourself as an expert or you call your goods or services the best.

Instead, consumers will respond to PPC ads that explain why they should shop with you instead of another business. Use your ads to inform shoppers about your competitive advantages. Is your company local? Do you offer a lifetime guarantee on the things you sell? Do you provide a free, on-site consultation for your services? Do you use your employees exclusively without hiring subcontractors to install flooring or appliances?

If any of those things apply to your business, you probably have some advantages over your bigger competitors. Use your PPC campaign to identify your competitive advantages which will, in turn, lead to conversions.

Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

Earlier, we referred to you as your company’s sole marketing expert. Even if you graduated with a degree in marketing and you’ve been creating ads for your business for years, PPC can still be difficult to master and execute effectively. Things are only more challenging for business owners and managers who don’t have a background in marketing and those who lack the time and resources to follow through with PPC.

Luckily, you can work with a digital marketing agency that can design and implement a PPC campaign for you. From choosing the right, affordable keywords to monitoring your competition, updating your website, creating effective messages, analyzing your PPC results and much more, a digital marketing agency like GoingClear can take your sales to the next level and beyond.

To learn more about the PPC and digital marketing services we offer, we invite you to contact GoingClear. We look forward to helping you achieve your business goals through effective PPC and other digital marketing channels. Contact us today!