PPC For Small Business - How to Scale Your Growth Fast

PPC is hands down the most effective advertising channel for small businesses to attract new customers.

That's our opinion of course, but hear us out..

In 2022 alone, the United States witnessed a surge of over 5 million business applications, which is nearly double the annual applications that were received a decade ago.  

Competition is tough.

According to Backlinko, the first result on Google is ten times more likely to be clicked on than the tenth result. 

One way to beat these odds is through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, a specific type of search engine marketing. 

This ensures that when potential customers search for something online, your business appears at the top of their search engine results.

In this article, we delve into the nitty gritty of PPC advertising for small business owners.

What Is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?

If you invest in a $1,500 billboard for a month, your small business might gain some visibility. 

However, unlike pay per click advertising (PPC), the cost remains fixed, irrespective of how many people engage with it. 

With PPC paid ads, you're only billed when potential customers click on your ad. 

This means that you pay for actual engagement rather than just exposure.

Let’s consider a real-life example. If you search for “Auto Repair Shop Utah,” you might see the following results:

The top three entries are Automotive PPC ads, and “Durango Motor Company” has managed to secure the top spot. If you click on their ad, you will be sent to this landing page on their website: 

Here, customers can easily find out when their auto shop is open for services or parts, and there are several calls to action (CTAs), such as “Schedule Service.” 

PPC campaigns, unlike fixed-cost billboards, provide real-time, targeted visibility, turning clicks into new customers for small businesses. 

PPC is also quite different to SEO, where you invest in content over time for a long-term pay off.

How Do PPC Ads Get Selected?

When you set up a PPC campaign, you don’t automatically hit the top of your preferred Google search. 

Instead, you join a bidding war with other small businesses, where the winner’s ad gets displayed to the next user. 

This doesn’t mean you have to manually outbid your competitors, like traders shouting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. 

Instead, this is an automated, online process that’s handled by your chosen advertising network, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

When you set up your campaign, you supply the following information that’s then carefully considered against your competitors:

✅ The amount you’re bidding

The bid amount you set has a big impact on your campaign. 

This is because your advertising network receives several offers for each advertising spot, and they use the bid amounts to choose the winner. 

For instance, if you bid $2 for the top PPC spot, but your competitor offers $2.50, they’re more likely to win the prime real estate. 

Have a look at the graph below that outlines the average costs and success rates of PPC online advertising on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads for various industries: 

Here, you can compare the average CPC with the following metrics: 

• Click-through rate (CTR): This measures ad engagement. In other words, the percentage of people clicking on an ad compared to those who see it. 
• Conversion rate: This looks at campaign effectiveness, which is the percentage of website visitors completing a desired action, such as making a purchase. 
• Cost-per-lead (CPL): This outlines lead generation efficiency. It’s the number of average leads divided by the average advertising spend. 

✅ The quality of your advert

In addition to bid amounts, you need to make sure you submit a high-quality ad. 

Advertising networks, such as Google, want to make sure users enjoy their time online. If your ad doesn’t contribute to this, it won’t win its auction. 

Once you’ve started your campaign, your chosen platform will assess your adverts and they will automatically join an auction for ad space in their network. 

For example, Google Ads calculates an Ad Rank for each client. This is determined by multiplying their bid amount with their quality score. 

Imagine you run a pet grooming salon and decide to use Google Ads. 

When you submit your ad, they will look at how much you're willing to spend (your bid) and how decent your ad’s quality is (quality score). These factors are then considered to give you your Ad Rank. 

Next, they check what other grooming salons are doing, and the one with the highest Ad Rank will get the top spot in Google’s search results. 

Here’s an example of a successful bid for a “pet grooming salon” in America: 

Choosing the Right Ads Platform for Your Small Business

There are several advertising networks you can choose from. 

We have found that small businesses can benefit most from one of three advertising networks: 

1. Google Ads 
2. Facebook Ads
3. Amazon Ads (Ecommerce)

Each of these gives your business access to large audiences and their success rates are tried and true. 

Choosing the right advertising network depends on the nature of your business, and where your potential customers are active.

Let's delve deeper into which networks could be a real game-changer for your business: 

Overall, if your clients are likely to search for your services online, then you will benefit from Google Ads. 

The above list outlines this well, but it doesn’t mean that a small business outside of these parameters won’t benefit from this ad network as well.

In a nutshell, if your business can inspire potential clients with beautiful pictures and videos during their downtime, then Facebook Ads may work wonders for your business. 

If you’re interested to learn more about this, consider these Facebook PPC strategies for your business.

At PPC.io, we specialize in all three of these advertising networks. 

We do a deep dive into your small business, determine which adverts would yield the best results, and then set up and run your PPC campaigns while you focus on running your business. 

If you’re ready to kickstart your PPC digital marketing services—or take them to the next level—reach out to us for a private consultation. 

How to Set Up Your First PPC Campaign

Now that you have a good understanding of what PPC advertising is, how it works, and where you can execute it, let’s have a look at how you can launch your first PPC marketing campaigns.

To help illustrate this process, let’s follow Lakeside Bakery, a fictional business that’s based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, as it embarks on its first PPC campaign.

1️⃣ Define campaign goals

Start by clearly defining your goals. Do you want to increase your sales or create more brand awareness? 

Specify the number of new clients you hope to acquire through your PPC campaign and paint a vivid picture of what success looks like to you.

Lakeside Bakery is a family business that’s been a staple in St. Cloud for 20 years. Up to now, it’s relied on good SEO on its website to bring in new clients. 

However, they have noticed a slowdown in new customers and they’d like to expand their marketing efforts. 

2️⃣ Choose the right platform

The platform you choose will depend on the kind of business you’re running. If you’re working with a lifestyle brand, then Facebook Ads is a good fit. 

For example, have a look at how MAC Cosmetics uses Facebook PPC adverts:

On the other hand, if you’re selling products online, then Amazon Ads may be a better fit. 

On Amazon, you can connect with buyers who are already on the lookout for products. Here’s an example of a sunscreen brand that’s being promoted: 

Since Lakeside Bakery wants to target its local community, it would benefit from Google Ads. 

If either a local or an out-of-town visitor searches for a bakery in St. Cloud, the business can ensure that it will appear at the top of the latest search results. 

This is an example of what they will have to compete with should someone search for “bakery St. Cloud”: 

3️⃣ Set a budget

When working out your PPC budget, consider the competitiveness of keywords in the local market, desired ad placements, and the expected CPC. 

Your budget should also include the cost of creating appropriate designs, preparing a landing page, and setting up the adverts. 

You can either do this work internally and bill yourself, or outsource the work you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself. 

For Lakeside Bakery to achieve its goal, it decided to allocate $1,500 over the next 3 months to its PPC campaigns. 

The amount you choose for your own business may vary significantly, depending on your industry and goals. 

4️⃣ Do keyword research

With the right keywords, your small business will reach the right audience, which will lead to increased click-throughs and, ultimately, more conversions. 

Here’s an example of a New York-based bakery that capitalizes on the keywords “bakery near me”:

Since Lakeside Bakery is using Google Ads, they will use Google's Keyword Planner for their keyword research. 

Once they have this ready, they will evaluate each term’s search volume and competition, and organize their preferred keywords into groups. 

You can also compare search volume on Google’s Keyword Planner. Here’s an example of the search volume for “blueberry muffin.” 

You can see how it changed from month to month and even compare the total searches with mobile searches.

5️⃣ Design ads

When you design your PPC adverts, there are two important rules you should follow: 

Here’s an example of some great CTAs when searching for “math tutor Phoenix”:

This PPC advert from Synthesis offers five different links. If you want a math tutor for your child, you may be drawn to the link: “Why Parents Trust Us.” If, on the other hand, you’re hoping to save money, you might opt for the CTA: “Start Your Free Trial.”

Lakeside Bakery is the oldest bakery in St. Cloud, with family recipes that date back generations. This is their unique selling point, so their ad may include this text: 

“Experience the Tradition of Lakeside Bakery – Where Artisan Baking Meets Family Warmth. Order Now for Freshly Baked Goods” 

6️⃣ Design landing pages

Your landing page will impact the quality of your ad, which will influence its bidding performance. 

Lakeside Bakery already has a website set up for its customers. 

For this PPC campaign, they decided to send users to their bakery menu, where they will be able to browse their latest lineup of baked goods and easily place orders. 

7️⃣ Set up and launch campaign

Now that you have everything you need, you can log in or sign up to the ad network you decided to use and start setting up your campaign.

Use the average CPC as a guide when you set your bidding amount. 

Here’s an outline of some general industry averages: 

Although this is a technical process, Lakeside Bakery decided to run the campaign themselves rather than rely on PPC agencies. 

They decided to focus on St. Cloud locals looking for a nearby bakery, and they set a bid amount of $2, which is slightly higher than the restaurants and food average of $1.95. 

8️⃣ Monitor and optimize

Once your PPC campaign is up and running, you will slowly start to see the results come in. You can now measure this against the goals you set at the start of your campaign journey. 

It’s important to adjust your campaign if you find that you’re not seeing the results you were hoping for. 

After having run their campaign for three months, Lakeside Bakery managed to achieve a 4.5% click-through rate (CTR) on their PPC campaign. 

Despite falling slightly below their target, Lakeside Bakery deemed their campaign highly successful because they noticed a substantial uptick in foot traffic at their store and a notable increase in online orders.

Advanced PPC for Small Businesses

Once you've mastered the basics, you can start layering on top some advanced PPC strategies to dominate more of your market. 

Video Ads

We think YouTube ads are the most underused and cost effective channels out there.

The reason is very simple - most of your competitors don't have the time or resources to create them, so that market is way less competitive and advertising costs are lower.

Video ads generate the most engagement of any format and have a CTR of around 1.84%.

They can be more engaging and informative than traditional ads. This helps improve brand recall and conversion rates. 

• Here is a useful guide to set up PPC video ads for Facebook.
• Here’s a guide to set up PPC video ads for YouTube.

Remarketing

We love remarketing for PPC, because it converts so well. 

This is another tool that is available through Google Ads. 

It lets you to see which users visited your website and what they did while they were there. 

You can then target those specific customers who are already qualified and already visited your website before.

The beautiful thing is most of your competitors won't be doing remarketing, so your small business will become a household name in your local area. 

Should You Outsource PPC Management?

Running PPC for small businesses is hard work. To succeed, you need to wear the hats of a designer, writer, developer, and campaign manager. 

There are many good reasons you should outsource PPC management to a reputable marketing agency. The primary reason is being able to rely on an expert team and getting better results from the same budget.