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Craft high-performing strategies: a cross-channel PPC audit handbook


Published: November 8, 2023
Last updated on October 1, 2024
5 min read

Craft High-Performing Strategies - Blog Image-1

Introduction

Ever felt like you're pouring your budget into the PPC black hole without reaping the revenue rewards? You're not alone. 

Welcome to the wild world of digital marketing, wherein campaign strategy & implementation are just the tip of the iceberg.

Enter the hero of the story: PPC auditing. 

Superman

Source: Flickr

That's right, the not-so-secret weapon to establishing revenue growth in the digital realm. 

It's not just about routine checks; it's about constant strategy optimization based on derived data from your multichannel PPC audit.

If you’re curious about turning PPC woes into revenue wins- You're in the right place! 

In this blog, we’ll talk about the underlying impact of multichannel PPC auditing, the role of cross-channel attribution & how to leverage the rise of Martech tools to smoothen out your auditing process for revenue maximization.

Understanding Multichannel PPC Auditing 

Using different channels for your PPC campaigns is really important nowadays because so many people are online. Being on multiple platforms helps you reach more customers and make your brand more visible.

But just being on different platforms isn't enough. 

To do well, you need to check and understand how your ads are doing. Multichannel PPC auditing involves the meticulous evaluation and analysis of Pay-Per-Click campaigns dispersed across multiple platforms. Its importance lies in providing a holistic view of campaign performance across these diverse channels. This helps you see how well your ads are working across these different channels.

BakeMate Case Study Banner_2

As we grasp the importance of evaluating PPC campaigns across multiple platforms, let's pivot towards the role of cross-channel attribution within PPC auditing to delve into how different touchpoints influence consumer decisions and significantly impact the assessment of campaign effectiveness.

Role of Cross-Channel Attribution in PPC Auditing

In marketing and advertising, customers often interact with a brand through various touchpoints across different channels before making a purchase. These touchpoints might include social media, paid advertising, organic search, email marketing, direct website visits, and more. 

The primary goal of cross-channel attribution is to understand the influence of each marketing channel on the customer's decision-making journey. By properly attributing the value of these touchpoints, marketers can:

  • Determine Marketing Effectiveness: Understand which channels or touchpoints are most effective in driving conversions or purchases.

  • Optimize Budget Allocation: Allocate marketing budgets more effectively by investing in the most impactful channels.

  • Enhance Campaign Performance: Improve campaign strategies by leveraging insights into the customer journey and focusing on the most influential touchpoints.

Establishing a strong foundation through the understanding of cross-channel attribution sets the stage. Now, let's venture into the use of MarTech tools in executing an effective PPC audit.

MarTech tools and their role in PPC auditing

MarTech tools serve as the architects behind integrating and analyzing data from diverse channels. They offer a consolidated view of the customer journey, painting a comprehensive picture of how different channels contribute to conversions. Insights derived from these tools further enable better campaign performance and higher conversion rates, directly impacting sales and revenue.

Here are a few tools and their specific features to help optimize your PPC auditing process:

Google Analytics (GA4)

  • Multichannel Tracking: Provides a comprehensive view of user behavior across multiple channels, allowing marketers to track and analyze the performance of PPC campaigns on various platforms.

  • Attribution Modeling: Offers insights into attribution and conversions, essential for understanding the impact of PPC strategies across different channels.

  • Goal and Event Tracking: Helps in setting up specific goals and events to track the success of PPC campaigns across various touchpoints.

HubSpot

  • Campaign Management: Equips marketers with tools for managing and tracking customer interactions and campaign performance across multiple channels.

  • Reporting and Analytics: Provides valuable insights into multichannel campaigns, aiding in evaluating PPC efforts and aligning them with broader marketing strategies.

  • Lead Scoring and Nurturing: Assists in lead management and nurturing across channels, aligning PPC strategies for a cohesive user experience.

Find out how you can leverage these 7 HubSpot reports to help you track your Paid Ads performance

Mailchimp

  • Email Engagement Metrics: Offers insights into email marketing engagement, complementing multichannel PPC strategies.

  • User Behavior Analysis: Helps understand user behavior through email interactions, enabling alignment of PPC campaigns for enhanced engagement across channels.

Marketo

  • Lead Management Tools: Provides tools for lead management and nurturing across multiple touchpoints, aiding in understanding the impact of PPC campaigns on the customer journey.

  • Engagement Insights: Offers insights into user engagement across different channels, aiding in aligning PPC strategies for a cohesive user experience.

Salesforce

  • CRM Capabilities: Contributes to a comprehensive view of customer data and interaction, correlating PPC campaign performance with customer behavior.

  • Campaign Attribution: Helps understand how PPC initiatives impact the customer journey by aligning campaign performance with customer interactions.

SEMrush

  • Competitor Insights: Provides data on competitor performance, keyword analysis, and ad monitoring across multiple channels.

  • PPC Benchmarking: Aids in benchmarking PPC performance across different platforms, helping marketers gauge their performance against competitors.

AdRoll

  • Retargeting Strategies: Focuses on retargeting, optimizing ad campaigns, and improving user engagement across channels.

  • Cross-Channel Alignment: Enhances PPC campaign performance by aligning retargeting strategies and user engagement tactics with the overall marketing strategy.

Optimizely

  • A/B Testing Tools: Facilitates A/B testing and experimentation across channels to optimize PPC campaigns for different audience segments.

  • Performance Optimization: Identifies the most effective strategies for different audience segments, enhancing overall campaign performance.

WordStream

  • Campaign Management: Offers tools for managing and optimizing PPC campaigns, including keyword research and ad performance tracking across multiple channels.

  • Channel-Specific Optimizations: Aids in aligning PPC efforts with channel-specific optimizations for enhanced performance and revenue maximization.

Here’s a quick 2023 guide to an 8-step PPC audit on essential steps to consider during the process:

Source: youtube

Each of these MarTech tools contributes uniquely to the PPC auditing process, providing insights, data, and analytics necessary for marketers to assess and optimize PPC campaigns across various platforms and channels- eventually improving their revenue potential.

Practical Tips and Strategies for Optimal Integration

Data Integration and Analysis

  • API Integration: Employ APIs and data connectors to enable seamless data sharing between PPC platforms and MarTech tools (e.g., Salesforce API, Google Analytics API). This integration allows for a unified and continuous flow of data for comprehensive analysis.

  • Data Mapping and Standardization: Ensure consistent data mapping and standardization across different systems and tools. Define clear data structures and standards for effective analysis and reporting.

Custom Audience Segmentation

  • Dynamic Segmentation Rules: Leverage dynamic segmentation features within MarTech tools (e.g., HubSpot Lists, Salesforce Segmentation) to create granular audience segments based on behavior, demographics, and engagement patterns.

  • Integrating CRM Data: Integrate CRM data with PPC platforms to create highly specific custom audiences based on customer relationship information, improving targeting accuracy.

Cross-Channel Campaign Alignment

  • Omni-Channel Campaign Management: Implement an omnichannel marketing strategy using tools like HubSpot or Adobe Campaign, ensuring messaging and targeting consistency across various touchpoints.

  • Attribution Modeling: Use advanced attribution models (e.g., Markov chains, Shapley value) provided by MarTech tools to understand the influence of each channel in the conversion path.

Continuous Optimization

  • Real-time Data Analysis: Employ real-time analytics tools (e.g., Google Data Studio, Tableau) to analyze data from MarTech tools and PPC platforms for immediate insights, allowing for quick decision-making and adjustments.

  • Machine Learning Algorithms: Utilize machine learning algorithms to predict campaign performance and suggest optimization strategies based on historical data patterns.

A/B Testing and Experimentation

  • Multivariate Testing Capabilities: Utilize multivariate testing functionalities to test multiple variables simultaneously, enabling more sophisticated analysis of campaign elements.

  • Attribution-Based Testing: Employ attribution-based testing methods to understand the true impact of PPC efforts on conversions, using tools that can accurately attribute conversions across multiple touchpoints.

Here’s an additional resource on actionable steps and best practices to conduct effective email A/B testing.

Implementing these technical strategies ensures a more robust integration of PPC with MarTech tools, leveraging advanced features and capabilities to optimize campaigns and derive more precise insights for refined marketing strategies.

Conclusion

The synergy between multichannel PPC auditing and MarTech tools stands as a catalyst for modern marketing success and establishing real revenue potential. This integration provides comprehensive insights, enabling data-driven decision-making, refined audience targeting, and personalized campaigns. Through continuous optimization, businesses can witness reduced improved lead quality, and conversions- positively impacting revenue. 

While we’ve given you the basics of how to leverage these tools for PPC auditing that can drive better conversions and revenue generation, you might still need some assistance in fine-tuning your PPC audit. Our team of RevOps experts is passionately driven to cater to such needs so you can focus on strategy-oriented tasks- reducing the work on your plate and allowing you more mental bandwidth for other business needs.

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Case study - VBHC

Discover how VBHC reduced their Cost Per Lead (CPL) by 150%, resulting in 2400+ sales qualified leads, through an AdWords campaign audit and revision with RevX.

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