Struggling to come up with new content for PPC ads?
Not sure what to add to your landing page to help convince users to convert?
Are you wondering how to strategically expand your ad targeting?
Your best ideas may only come from the people most attuned to your product: your customers.
You may already have this content handy, in the form of surveys, reviews, and other customer feedback.
In this article, you’ll find nine ways to incorporate information from customers into your PPC advertising strategy.
1. Customer survey data
If you conduct customer surveys, you can include data from those surveys within your ads and landing pages. For example, if you find that 98% of your customers are very satisfied with your product, that stat is something to be proud of.
Here are specific suggestions for where you can test highlight status like the one above:
- Search the titles of the ads.
- Responsive display ad headlines.
- Call feature extensions.
- Landing page headers.
- The graphic accompanying a post on Facebook or LinkedIn.
In addition, use the survey data to determine what benefits customers mentioned the most about your products, as well as which pain points they felt were resolved best. Include these elements in your ad and landing page copy.
For example, if you see many customers care about your support team’s response time, highlight your support capabilities.
If people frequently mention your generous return policy, put that front and center in your ads.
2. Customer reviews
Customer reviews can be a gold mine for getting quotes that you can incorporate directly into ads, graphics, and inside landing pages.
Your brand may have existing reviews on third party sites such as Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. B2B brands may have reviews on sites like Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, or TrustPilot.
In addition, you may ask customers to submit reviews as part of the check-in and retention process.
However you get the reviews, spend some time reading them for cues that stand out for your brand’s potential marketing.
Just like with surveys, pull the benefits points people mention the most to include them in your advertising messages.
3. Customer support records
Don’t ignore internal sources that may lie outside the marketing department. Support teams are the front lines that talk to customers.
Data from chat logs and phone support can help hint at what these individuals care most about your brand’s products or services.
Listen to both your pain points and the areas where people find your brand solutions most beneficial.
You can highlight the features that people are calling for, and you can also pre-empt challenging areas by providing key walkthroughs in the marketing phase on your landing pages.
4. Keyword research
Learning from surveys, reviews, and even customer support records can help direct keyword research for your paid search campaigns.
Watch out for common words, phrases, and features mentioned.
For example, if you’re marketing a project management system, and people frequently cite the use of the project timeline feature, you might search for keywords like “how to create a project timeline.”
If you have a page on your site that includes customer reviews, enter this URL into Google Keyword Planner to display recommended keywords based on that content.
While you’ll likely have to scrape through queries to determine what’s really relevant, you can select some additional potential searches to bid on that you can’t catch elsewhere on your site.
5. Star rating
In addition to quoting directly from customer reviews, you can also include results from aggregated reviews to highlight third-party credibility.
For example, if your software platform has a 5-star rating on a major review site, include that rating in your display ad graphics.
If possible, cite reviews from multiple sources on your landing pages for added credibility.
Additionally, linking to the original sources of those classifications can help provide additional evidence. Some review sites may allow you to include their ratings directly (sometimes for an additional fee).
6. Video testimonials
Advertising platforms are increasingly integrating more video features, and many brands are making use of video ad testing as part of their arsenal.
According to Databox, 60% Many marketers have found that video attracts more engagement than images in Facebook ads.
Even if you don’t have the budget to produce high-quality motion graphics, a simple testimonial recorded on a smartphone carries the weight of being coming from a “real” client and can sometimes even perform better than a more refined video which may seem more scripted.
Plus, the vertical format video makes for the perfect placement in Facebook/Instagram stories, as well as for other social platforms like Snapchat and TikTok, depending on your audience.
To focus on lead generation, combine a video testimonial with a lead form on Facebook or LinkedIn to provide users with a straightforward way to enter their contact information.
If you’re targeting a cool audience, you might want to offer a downloadable asset behind the template.
If you’re retargeting people who were already viewing your content, you can test offering a trial, demo, or quote.
7. Customer photos
For retailers of physical products, customers can post photos on social media of these products being used “in the wild.”
For example, a backpacking brand might see customers tagging it in their hiking photos. A home improvement brand might see homeowners share photos of completed projects.
You can incorporate these images (with appropriate permission from the course owner) into graphics for social ads, as well as display them on landing pages.
Incorporating a testimonial quote from the same person can help round out the ad to include a very personal view of your product, rather than just your own marketing messages.
Even if you don’t have a physical product to display, including a photo of someone whose testimonial is being quoted can help add a personal feel and draw attention to the ad.
Faces often do well in social graphics to “stop scrolling” and get people to take a second look at the offer presented.
According to testing by AgoraPulse, Twitter ads with human faces make an impact 21.55% CPC is lower than regular graphics ads.
8. The customer matters
If your customer base is large enough for the number to appear impressive for your industry, cite customer volume as part of your letter.
For example, try including “300,000 customers and counting” as a headline in your ad.
You can also include a piece of text on your landing page that automatically updates to show the current number of customers.
Or you can mention the number of customers served during a specific time frame. For example, “250,000 customers served annually” or “50 new members every day”.
The software platform may focus on boosting the volume of active users.
If you’re running region-targeted ads, you can also mention the number of customers in a particular region. For example, for a campaign targeting the London metro area, the ads could say “10,000 customers in London”.
9. Demographic data
Use your existing customer database to get an idea of the characteristics common to people who actually use your products or services.
From age and geography to more nuanced attributes like job title and industry, you can use these items as a guide to build potential targeting for the future.
Additionally, you can identify gaps in your existing customer base. For example, you might target the financial industry and realize that you’re not only in your ways with local banks, but you have the opportunity to start building a relationship with credit unions.
conclusion
In short, if you are looking for additional messaging and targeting ideas, your existing customer base may be the best source of data.
Take some time to research what your customers say about your brand, what informational resources they can offer you, and what demographics can help determine future targeting.
You’ll likely find creative ideas and copy that you haven’t thought of before, along with identifying new keywords and audiences to target.
More resources:
- 10 best practices for paid search and PPC planning
- 6 tips for more targeted and engaging PPC campaigns
- A Complete PPC Marketing Guide for Beginners
Featured image: Shutterstock / Montri Nipitvittaya
