Optimizing Your PPC Strategy: Leveraging Branded and Competitor Keywords Effectively
Is It Worth Bidding on Branded and Competitor Keywords in Pay-Per-Click?
There’s a growing debate on the effectiveness of bidding on your own brand and competitors’ keywords in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This largely depends on your specific business objectives, the level of competition, and wider marketing strategies. With all this in mind, let’s delve into the multiple use cases of brand and competitor keywords and whether it’s worth the investment.
Understanding Brand and Competitor Keywords
The concept of business brand and competitor keywords is largely divided into four categories:
1. Your own business brand
2. Your competitor’s business brand
3. Third-party brands that you stock
4. Third-party brands that you do not stock but compete directly with the brands that you sell
To put this into perspective, we can use a distinctive example.
Let’s consider SpaceNK as your own business brand and Sephora as your competitor’s business brand. Aveda, Cowshed, and Elemis represent third-party brands that are stocked. bareMinerals, Chanel, and Bobbi Brown stand for brands that you do not stock but compete directly with those you do.
In this write-up, we’ll focus on the strategies behind bidding on business brands.
Considering the Pros & Cons of Bidding on Brand Terms
While the idea of bidding on brand terms in PPC advertising can sound compelling, there are both advantages and drawbacks to this approach.
Benefits
Bidding on your brand’s keywords can:
– Safeguard your brand position and help you secure a top search result position
– Prevent loss of branded traffic to competitors
– Enhance customer trust by ensuring both paid and organic visibility
– Offer more control over the brand ad placement
– Ease the customer search journey
– Choose where customers land on your website
– Decrease the cost per click (CPC), enabling more site traffic within your specified budget
Drawbacks
Despite these benefits, there are a few pitfalls to ponder:
– Increased spending on traffic that you might get anyway
– Limited support for new customer acquisition as users are already familiar with your brand
Weighing the Pros & Cons of Bidding on Competitor Terms
As with everything, bidding on competitor terms through PPC advertising also has its upsides and downsides.
Benefits
Bidding on competitor terms can:
– Amplify brand visibility and awareness
– Siphon off traffic and sales away from your competitors
Drawbacks
However, this approach also comes with a few drawbacks:
– Potential increase in CPC due to heightened competition for the terms
– Lower ad relevancy, leading to higher CPCs and lower ad delivery
– Decreased click-through and conversion rates
– Possibility of retaliatory bidding
Choosing When to Bid on Brand and Competitor Terms
Choosing to bid on brand and competitor terms is subjective and mostly depends on your specific business objectives, competitive landscape, and overall digital marketing strategy. Here’s what you should consider before you start bidding on these terms:
– Bidding on your brand terms when competitors are doing so
– Investing in brand awareness activities
– Targeting specific audience sets
– Bidding on your brand terms when it appears to have multiple meanings
However, there are also certain instances where bidding on these terms might not be necessary:
– When there’s no competition bidding for your brand
– If there’s a mutual agreement with competitors
– If your offer doesn’t stand out among competitors
– If your website has a poor conversion rate
Bidding on Brand and Competitor Terms: A Final Takeaway
If after careful consideration, you decide to bid on brand and competitor terms, recall these main points:
– Don’t overpay for the traffic. Test different bidding strategies
– Add negative keywords
– Be strategic with your selected competitor keywords
– Monitor your audience, especially when bidding on competitor names
– Regularly review and adjust your ad schedules
While MKTG Plan encourages the use of brand and competitor keywords in PPC advertising, it’s crucial to remember that they form part of a broader SEO and Web Design strategy. Depending on the current situation of a brand, bidding might not always be the right course of action.
Remember, it takes effective keyword selection and smart planning to win the PPC battle. Be strategic, monitor the results closely, and adjust your bidding strategy as necessary.
Boost Your Overall Digital Marketing Strategy
After the detailed evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks of bidding on your own brand terms as well as your competitors’, it becomes evident that this PPC technique isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it could be a valuable part of your overall digital marketing strategy, particularly if used thoughtfully and correctly.
Incorporating SEO and Web Design
While PPC can pave the way to instant website traffic, consistent and organic traffic generation comes from effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO). You mustn’t neglect your SEO efforts while focusing on PPC campaigns. Performing keyword research, creating high-quality and relevant content, and maintaining a user-friendly website contributes to improving your visibility on search engines.
On the other hand, Web Design plays a crucial role in retaining the visitors that come to your site through your PPC efforts. A well-designed, user-friendly website ensures visitors stay longer on your site—increasing your chances of converting them into customers. Remember, first impressions count, and a professional, easy-to-navigate website will help cement a positive impression for your brand.
Pivoting Your Strategy with MKTG Plan
Your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats guide whether or not to bid on competitor or brand names. After considering all the variables, if you decide that bidding is a strategic move for your business, MKTG Plan is ready to help you implement a successful PPC campaign.
By leveraging our team’s skills and understanding of SEO, Web Design, and digital marketing, we can help you strategically bid on both brand and competitor terms—potentially boosting your online visibility, brand awareness, and lead generation efforts.
FAQ on Bidding on Branded and Competitor Keywords in PPC
1. What are the benefits of bidding on my own brand terms in PPC?
Bidding on your own brand’s keywords can allow you to safeguard your brand position, prevent loss of traffic to competitors, enhance customer trust, and control your brand ad placement, among other benefits.
2. Are there risks involved in bidding on my competitor’s keywords?
While bidding on competitor terms can increase brand visibility and awareness and divert traffic away from your competitors, it can heighten competition for the terms, increase CPC due to your ad’s lower relevancy, and reduce click-through and conversion rates.
3. How can Web Design affect the outcome of my PPC campaign?
Your website’s design and user experience can significantly influence the conversion rate of your PPC campaigns. A well-designed, user-friendly website encourages visitors, coming from your PPC ads, to stay longer, hence increasing your chances of conversion.