Demographic Targeting In PPC Campaigns
The Good, The Bad and What You Need To Know
When first venturing into the world of Pay Per Click marketing, many companies take a broad approach to who their ads get displayed to. While they may focus on geographic targeting, many will leave aspects such as gender, age range and income level completely open to get their ads in front of everyone they can. Others will start with a tight focus on these demographic identifiers or will adopt them later in their marketing strategy. Those that adopt later get to see firsthand the differences between a broad targeted campaign and a narrow-targeted campaign, and the good and bad that comes with both options.
To help you better understand the difference between these, we’ve compiled a few noteworthy things on the positives and negatives of each type:
Broad Demographic Targeting
The Good
Faster Time To Get First Traffic/Lead:
Your ads will get before more people right away and this will decrease the wait time to start seeing some results.
Higher Exposure/Brand Awareness:
With a larger audience your ads will be seen by more people, which will increase the awareness of your name.
More Leads Generated:
With a larger pool, you will normally see a larger number of leads
Lower Click Cost:
Click cost can be reduced because you are bidding to show to everyone.
The Bad
More Wasteful Clicks:
A larger portion of clicks will be “tire-kickers” that will take no action past clicking the ad.
Less Qualified Leads or Visitors:
Leads generated may not have the ability to afford or utilize your product/services.
Narrow Demographic Targeting
The Good
Higher Quality Leads/Visitors Generated:
Leads and Visitors are within a specific group that you already know is more likely to take action and/or in the situation to afford what you have to offer.
Ability To Design Content Based on Specific Audience:
When focusing on specific demographics like age and gender, you can further tailor your landing pages to be more appealing to that group.
Less Wasted Clicks:
Since you are showing to fewer people, and the ones you are showing your ad to are within your ideal demographic, you don’t have excess clicks.
The Bad
Higher Click Costs:
In order to really utilize demographic targeting, it is best to increase clicks for the various groupings you have a more likely chance of converting. This will increase click costs a bit.
Slower Time To First Traffic/Lead:
With your ads showing to a smaller pool, less people will see the ad and that can increase time to seeing initial results.
Less Leads Generated:
Because of the smaller viewing audience, you will generate fewer leads but those generated should be of a higher quality.
When it comes to marketing with PPC ads, you have to figure out the main purposes of the campaign, is it to just grow the awareness of your brand, or to promote specific actions and results. If you’re just focused on awareness, a broad-based demographic is probably a great way to go. However, if your product or service really is more useful or affordable for a certain demographic, the narrow-targeted campaign can decrease wasted time following up on leads that just aren’t qualified and get rid of people who are going to look at your offering and take no action.
If you are interested in venturing into PPC based marketing, or would like opinions on your current PPC endeavors, please contact us. We would be happy to review your current situation or help you understand your options for marketing through PPC channels.
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