7 Common Reasons PPC Ads Fail and How You Can Fix Them

The truth is, you have to regularly adjust your PPC strategy. Even experts at a Chicago PPC agency do not always get it just right on the first attempt. However, failures such as low clickthrough or conversion rates are ones that you should address as soon as possible.

This guide looks at seven reasons why PPC ads fail, including:

1. Using too many ineffective keywords

2. Focusing on the wrong PPC metrics

3. Playing it too safe with your budget

4. Skipping all a/b testing for your ads

5. Forgetting to do any ad retargeting

6. Not optimizing your landing pages

7. Limiting your choice of ad platforms

There’s a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

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1. Using Too Many Ineffective Keywords

A profitable digital ad campaign relies on using the right PPC keywords. Without these to guide the ad platform and manage your ad triggers, your spending can quickly become excessive. The opposite could also happen, if you use an ultra-specific niche that gets no clicks.

Therefore, make it a point to review your keyword list as soon, and as thoroughly, as possible. Here are some pointers on which PPC keywords you should prioritize for maximum efficiency:

• Use the correct match type to control how ad platforms interpret your targeting goals.
• Find keywords for every kind of search intent and make ads to cover all your bases.
• Add negative keywords to remove unrelated or inaccurate search terms as ad triggers.

2. Focusing on the Wrong PPC Metrics

Having key performance indicators (KPIs) to guide how you progress with your PPC strategy is essential, but knowing which ones matter is even more important. For instance, clickthrough rate (CTR) is a shallow indicator of people’s interest and the effectiveness of your PPC ads.

In contrast, qualified leads are a more tangible and actionable metric that deserves your full attention. Add them to your campaign’s key performance indicators (KPIs) immediately. Put getting as many of them as possible front and center in your PPC strategy and campaign goals, including:

• Marketing qualified leads (MQL) are more likely to convert to customers.
• Sales qualified leads (SQL) are ready to convert to paying customers.

3. Playing It Too Safe With Your Budget

Many factors play into how a PPC ad auction works and how you calculate ad costs. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the thought of balancing your ad budget, return on ad spend (ROAS), and all the financial aspects of PPC. Conversely, overthinking prevents you from reaching your goal.  

Ad auctions are like contests to see who can pay the most for the best spot possible. In that sense, keeping a tight grip on your budget could cause you to miss out on potential leads because you failed to get a better spot on search engine results pages (SERPs).

What you can and should do to remedy this is, conduct extensive research into the ad auction process. Better yet, hire a Chicago PPC agency to properly do this work for you.

4. Skipping All A/B Testing for Your Ads

As mentioned above, trial and error are normal when it comes to digital marketing of any kind. You never really know how people will react to something until they see it, like a TV series, for instance, that flops despite getting greenlit.

Hopefully, that perfectly illustrates the necessity of conducting a comprehensive comparative test before deploying a whole PPC campaign. To drive the point home, here are other benefits:

• A/B testing lets you compare the effectiveness of multiple variants of the same variable.
• You see which variants are the most attractive and engaging for your target audience.
• Thorough testing allows you to optimize your ad copies for engagement and conversion.

5. Forgetting To Do Any Ad Retargeting

PPC does not stop after just one round of targeting. You can even say that the first round is preliminary, because the data you gather during that period only brings you closer to qualified leads for a business. Giving up too soon is one crucial mistake that causes a PPC strategy to fail.

As difficult a choice as it is to power through the “failure” of no leads or conversions during your first run of PPC ads, it is part of the growing process of digital marketing. Once you get past it, you will see that retargeting is where all of your hard work starts to pay off and yield results.

To help with retargeting, get customer relationship management (CRM) software to keep track of quality and worthwhile leads. Some platforms also use pixels to make ad retargeting easy.

6. Not Optimizing Your Landing Pages

By now, you should not be surprised to hear that a clickthrough does not guarantee a conversion. Actually, it is only the first part of turning a lead into a customer. If your ads are the hook that gets people through the door, then your landing pages are the pitch that convinces them to buy.

An ineffective landing page misses the mark in introducing your business, products, or services, because it is not inviting enough to encourage visitors to keep learning and hopefully convert. In other words, your ad can be effective, but a bad landing page stops people in their tracks.

Fix this by aligning your ad copies and landing pages. In addition, make improvements where you can. Be genuine and deliver exactly what you promise customers at the outset of their journey. 

7. Limiting Your Choices of Ad Platforms

Although posting on social media is technically more SEO than PPC, it is a reliable precursor to a paid ad campaign. You want to post on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to measure potential engagement.

This way, you get the best of SEO and PPC without spending until you are ready to commit to a campaign. YouTube, the second-largest social media platform to date, would be ideal for this PPC strategy if not for the lengthy process of building a decent-sized community there.

Whatever you select, remember that Google Ads and Bing Ads are not the only ad platforms from which to choose. For example, LinkedIn works better than those two for B2B ads.

Summing Up

PPC ads can look exciting on paper, but can be extremely challenging in practice. It is not as simple as putting together a clever hook and colorful images, then waiting for an influx of customers to patronize your business. It takes working hard on refining your concept and filling gaps that you did not realize existed.

Need help improving your PPC ad strategy? Contact us to learn how we can help.