Although PPC campaigns can be used to expose an audience to your brand in a general way, it is terribly difficult to measure the results. Brand exposure is something every brand wants, but if you can’t measure it then it can be seen as something that “everybody does” at best, or a money sink at worst.
My preferred method is the Adsense to PPC Landing Page approach. It’s simple and measurable so it can be tweaked to deliver the desired results. In B2B the aim is usually to get a potential lead into the sales funnel because it takes an average of seven interactions before a purchase is made.
Here’s a simplistic overview of the PPC to landing page process.
- Create an ad
- Measure ad views
- Measure ad clicks
- Send to a landing page
- Measure action taken on that page
This article on Unbounce about landing page best practices gives a detailed overview of how to design a landing page. Just out of curiosity, I clicked through a few PPC ads on a Google search for “embedded system” to see what I’d see. I focused on those that are hardware providers. Here are the results.
Advantech
Landing page: Advantech Link
Advantech are a big deal in industrial computing, so I would expect them to be doing at least some things right. I like the overall layout that doesn’t present too much information on the page.
The good… the clean design, easy-to-read layout
The not so good… no call-to-action, too many links, no relevance to ad copy
Suggestion… send visitor to specific page, not the homepage
AAEON
Landing page: AAEON Link
Also a big name in IPC, this was one site that made an effort to direct me towards what I was looking for. This embedded box PC page shows me what I’m looking for, which is a fantastic experience for any searcher. However, once there it’s like hitting a shopping site where there’s nothing interesting to watch. B2B buyers are usually on very long lead times because they’re looking to buy in bulk, this page doesn’t help them along their journey.
The good… targeted landing page, content matches ad, clean layout
The no so good… text heavy, no clear CTA, too many links away
Suggestion… reduce text, make images bigger
EPS
Landing page: EPS Link
The top banner does nothing but provide visual stimulation. There’s nothing useful in there. This is the home page and I was presented with a bunch of irrelevant content. The large images are very clear, but I’m also not too sure which one I should be looking at because they are all the same size.
The good… simple, easy to navigate
The not so good… big banner, no focus, no CTA, too many links, dated design
Suggestion… send visitors to specific page, change or remove banner
Neousys
Landing page: Neousys Link
This page impressed me the most because of its focus on delivering useful information rather than a product listing. There is useful content on there, but still very product-focused. Wrap up this information into a PDF, then provide it by download in exchange for an email address,
The good… clean design, useful information, targeted, matches ad, limited links
The not so good… no CTA, many links
Suggestion… wrap up content in a PDF and offer for download
GigaIPC
Landing page: GigaIPC Link
Pretty clean layout from a big player. Very similar in substance to the AAEON site. The page is targeted, but there are also options for looking at other products and a whole bunch of embedded system stuff. I think the extra text must be a “technical” tweak for page relevance numbers because it doesn’t seem to enhance the narrative.
The good… clean, targeted, relevant to ad
The not so good… no CTA, too many links, unfocused
Suggestion… reduce links and reduce text
Some Thoughts
It’s a little surprising that there were no specially designed landing pages to speak of. Not just a page to land on, but a page specifically designed to meet a marketing goal. Although some of these companies did show products that matched the original search for “embedded system” they are at best simple catalogs.
What audience is actually coming to these pages? Most big buyers, i.e., B2B buyers, are looking around, they are not ready to make a purchase, and the last things they want to see is another massive listing of CPU specs, and terms like ruggedized. And if they are ready to buy, they would probably contact a salesperson.
Google is a search engine. People go there to find answers. The person coming to this page is searching for something. Let’s help them out because, in a sea of sameness, it’s the helpful company that wins the deal.
Some Suggestions
Adopt a simple process to optimize the landing page so that people that get there don’t just click away. Display your leadership.
- Create a compelling lead magnet such as a white paper, case study, use case, or ebook.
- Create a custom landing page to show them how this lead magnet can help them.
- Require an email address to access it (and now you have their most basic contact information)
- Two days later… follow up to see if it was useful.
- Four days later… follow up to see if they have any other questions.
- Six days later… begin an automated followup email sequence.
- Repeat until… Sale!
Image credit: tswedensky on Pixabay