You've done your keyword research and come up with amazing ad copy. However, you're finding that although you're getting a lot of impressions, you're not getting as many conversions as you would like. Sound familiar? If the answer is yes, the PPC funnel can help.

What is the PPC funnel?

Think back to the last time you bought something online. You started off thinking about the benefits of purchasing a specific product, then researched potential companies to buy from. Finally, you went and bought the product from your company of choice.

With the PPC funnel, customers move through a variety of processes. Knowing which part of the funnel your customers are at and how to attract them will help you get the best results.

The four stages are:

1.     Awareness. This is when customers are thinking of buying a product or service

2.     Consideration. This is when the customer knows that they want to buy a product or service. They then do their research to determine who to buy it from

3.     Decision.  This is when the customer decides to buy a product or service from you

4.     Retention. Did you know that returning customers spend 33% more per order than brand new customers? Retention is when you keep existing and previous customers engaged, so they come back and buy from you again

How to utilize the PPC funnel

So, now that you know what the funnel is, how can you apply it to your PPC strategy?

Map your existing keywords to the funnel

Different keywords will apply to different customers depending on where they are in the funnel. For example, people at the awareness stage may look for "web design services" while people at the consideration stage may look for "affordable web design services in XXX".

Doing this will let you customize your ad copy and create landing pages that resonate with the specific needs of your customers.

Bear in mind that awareness keywords are usually more expensive as they are more generic. If you have a limited budget for PPC, you may want to skip this stage and focus on the other parts of the funnel instead.

Use the right advertising type for your customer's needs

• In the awareness stage, display ads will follow your prospective customers around, reinforcing your brand.
• In the consideration stage, try ads that show off the reviews and testimonials you have received, as well as videos that show what your product or service can do.
• In the decision stage, you want to make the final push to encourage customers to buy from you. With social media ads, customers can even buy directly from the platform!
• For retention, a remarketing strategy can work wonders for enticing customers back to your website.

The great thing is that you can apply this funnel to all your marketing channels and not just your pay-per-click advertising! So, give the funnel a go today and see how you can customize your marketing to your prospective customer's intentions.