Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is an integral part of the modern digital marketing realm. PPC supplements other marketing strategies, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media advertising, and lead generation. Insurance businesses rely on PPC to gain new customers. As with any marketing strategy, there are right and wrong ways to implement this practice. To get the most from your next insurance PPC marketing campaign, here is a look at five proven tips.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing is a marketing tool where advertisers pay a fee every time one of their ads is clicked. Prior to the development of insurance PPC marketing, many insurance businesses depended on attracting customers organically through online visibility and SEO. Now, PPC serves as a means of “buying” site visits.
One of the most popular – and effective – PPC tools is that of search engine advertising. You may have seen ad placements at the top of search results on Google; these are sponsored links purchased by a business. When customers click through those links, a fee based on ad bidding arrangements made between the business and Google is paid.
Tip #1: Defining Your Agency’s Goal
When developing an insurance PPC marketing campaign, what outcome do you desire? The goal of the campaign influences the direction, budget, and implementation of the campaign. Goal options can include:
- Driving more traffic to your agency website.
- Maximize qualified leads.
- Boost sales.
- Increase downloads or subscriptions.
These goals must be measurable; in other words, specific targets must be established before the campaign starts. This way, agencies can track the performance of the campaign and make adjustments where needed.
Tip #2: Targeting Competitive Keywords
Insurance PPC marketing campaigns are centered on identifying keywords, then bidding on those keywords for search engine sponsored link placement. Insurance businesses have a dizzying array of keywords to choose from, but not all will perform as desired. Instead, it is critical to identify the competitive keywords – high-performing ones that produce real results – and use those in your campaign. Keyword analysis tools can help pinpoint the words and phrases that generate the best return on investment. Avoiding low-performing keywords helps you get the most from your insurance PPC marketing budget. Also, take a look at which keywords your direct competitors are using; this can provide insight into carving out more market share for your own business.
Tip #3: Optimize PPC Ad Bidding
Google provides several ways for businesses to bid on ads displayed in search results. Each of these ways has its own advantages, but two methods stand out: Manual bidding and Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) bidding. Manual bidding gives you the most control, allowing you to adjust bidding costs on the fly as needed. CPA bidding establishes a target amount for bids, allowing it to adjust automatically for each ad auction. This method uses historical data to optimize bids, and generally produces the best conversion rate.
Insurance agencies should consider adopting one or both of these bidding methods in order to optimize the insurance PPC marketing process. Together or separately, they will help you get the most from your ad spend.
Tip #4: Focus on Ad Quality
In today’s digital marketing environment, the web is inundated by ads that simply do not convey the information consumers need to make purchasing decisions. Insurance agencies cannot afford to make that mistake – quality ads are a critical aspect of getting the most from your insurance PPC marketing efforts. Tips for creating compelling ads that attract and engage viewers include:
- Adding distinctive ad copy with eye-catching headlines and text.
- Tailoring ads to specific audiences.
- Avoiding the use of generic call-to-action (CTA) phrases.
- Focusing on what makes your agency’s business unique.
These tips add value to the equation, helping you to generate interest among search users. With eye-catching ad copy, quality lead generation is but a click away.
Tip #5: Leveraging Ad Extensions
Google provides numerous ad extensions to allow businesses to create attractive, appealing, and relevant ads for insurance PPC marketing campaigns. Some of the best ad extensions include:
- Call extensions to allow ad viewers to place a call with a single click.
- Review extensions that display online reviews of a given business.
- Location extensions, which display business contact information and a map.
- Sitelinks extensions provide links to specific web pages or landing pages.
Final Thoughts
Insurance PPC marketing can help your agency gain more customers through targeted paid ads. With the tips above, you can make the most of your marketing time and budget. Even with these tips, it is critical for insurance businesses and their marketing agencies to constantly monitor the performance of a PPC campaign. Testing different attributes and keywords can influence changes that maximize returns on investment. Insurance PPC marketing requires flexibility, adaptation, and proven strategies to produce results. With these tips, you are well on your way to growing your insurance business.
About Neilson Marketing Services
Since 1988, Neilson Marketing Services has been implementing innovative marketing solutions and strategies for our clients in all areas of marketing. Contact us today at (866) 816-1849 to put our talent, expertise, and vast resources to work for you. Let’s make things happen, together!
