The Top 7 PPC Strategies for 2019

Looking for PPC tips and tricks to take your paid campaigns to the next level?

In this post, I'm going to share secrets for improving your paid campaigns, and you can use them for Facebook ads, search ads, native ads, and more.

All these tips are totally above board and easy to implement - yet most campaign managers aren't taking advantage of them.

Here are seven top PPC strategies to use in 2019 to maximize impact, and get ahead of your competition. 

1. Remarket by Your Long-Tail Keywords

Remarketing is the secret sauce in online outreach, since repeat customers provide more value. A good way to do it is to follow your long-tail-keyword queries in every remarketing platform - you do this by creating a list of retargeting users per ad group subject by using the UTM parameter.

You can also take it to the next level by using lookalikes, which is starting to catch on nowadays - this enables you to target similar audiences, thus extending your remarketing to a new group.

2. Reverse Engineer Your Conversion Funnel

A lot of online marketers like to say that they save clicks so users convert faster - the being that the faster you get them through your funnel, the more you get to convert.

But a lot of times, increasing the time you get people engaged with your ads can do the same. The key here is to reverse engineer your conversion funnel so that you know what actually works. You may find that adding something extra to one part of the funnel increases conversions - for example, adding a demo or interactive preview for your product can convince them to buy.

As such, pushing them to convert as soon as possible may not always be the best solution.

3. Use the Inverted Unicorn Tactic

Regular ad targeting is basically casting a narrow net to maximize engagement rates. That's the usual targeting of a particular demographic or niche to bring them in.

However, the "Inverted Unicorn" includes two other completely unrelated interests in targeting. From that, whoever may happen to also be a part of your actual targets could be brought in.

You can also use those seemingly unrelated interests in customizing your ads - they can add more dimensions to your campaigns, making them stand out and seem more compelling.

Such ads also tend to come at a significantly lower cost due to higher engagement rates.

4. Go All-in on Messenger Marketing

This may sound crazy, but I say you shouldn't bother with the News Feed or landing pages - Messenger marketing is the way to go. 

Research has shown that Messenger marketing can be 10-80x better than email or the News Feed. With a Messenger blast, you can see between 70% and 80% open rates, within the first 60 minutes.

It's worth switching focus to the methods that work better, even if the others used to work well.

5. Have an Advertising Slush Fund

Traditionally, advertisers tend to have a monthly PPC budget allocated for their ads, and they put up their ads as scheduled and see how well they perform. While this is a common approach, it can be limiting, as it doesn't allow for reacting to trends.

But with an advertising slush fund at the ready, you can come up with ads when something viral comes along. If the ad you come up with is so good that it's sure to work, then you use the funds to run it.

Having this leeway can potentially enable you to maximize the results of your various campaigns.

6. Turn Off Audience Network in Facebook Ads

By turning off Audience Network, you can eliminate up to 90% of click fraud from sketchy sites (you'll be able to see them on both Facebook and Display Network on Google AdWords).

Say no to managed placements on Google Display Network to save yourself from headaches. While you can exclude those sites from your reports, it takes too much time to exclude them all.

This tip will get rid of the vast majority of them from your Facebook ads, in just a single click.

7. Create and Advertise Off-Topic Content to Build Brand Bias

New visitors tend to have low brand affinity, while repeat visitors are more likely to have higher brand connection. Brand affinity dramatically impacts click-through rates, and later, conversion rates. When you remarket, you only target the small chunk of people who are familiar with your brand.

The goal, then, is to make that small chunk much bigger, and do it cheaply. That's why I dedicate at least 20% of my resources into creating off-topic content. It's like my inverted unicorn ad targeting method, but with content marketing. Visitors form more brand affinity and bias as I provide more value to them with my content.

Later, when they're thinking of getting a chatbot or PPC marketing software, they'll think of my company.

There you have it - my top PPC tips and tricks. Take these PPC strategies and use them in your own campaigns.

A version of this post was first published on Inc.com.