PPC Email Marketing: Powerful Synergy Between Marketing Channels
“PPC email marketing” refers to the process of two completely different marketing channels working together harmoniously to achieve a common goal.
Email marketing works really well with its distant cousins — social media marketing, search engine optimization, and content marketing — so it’s no surprise that PPC and email marketing can form a strong partnership.
In this detailed article, we share ways to integrate PPC with your email marketing efforts to achieve powerful results.
What is PPC?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. It’s a type of online advertising in which you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This means you’re only paying for targeted visits to your website or landing page rather than just showing your ad to a broad audience.
To use PPC to drive traffic towards your landing page or website, you must first create ads. These ads must target specific keywords or demographics. You can then pay platforms to display those ads — these include Google or Bing, or social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. You can also run PPC ads on websites.
PPC can be a great way to reach new customers who are already interested in what you have to offer. It’s a good option for businesses of all sizes, and while it’s expensive, it can be a highly effective way to advertise.
How PPC and Email Marketing Can Work Together
PPC and email marketing have a strong symbiotic relationship. While PPC can boost your email marketing numbers, you can also use your email list for PPC campaigns.
Below, we explore ways for PPC and email marketing to team up for different goals.
PPC Can Grow Your Email List
PPC ads can be a great way to attract new potential customers who are already searching for products or services like yours. You can include signup forms on your landing pages to capture their email addresses when they click on your ad.
Email Marketing Can Nurture Leads From PPC
Once you have a subscriber’s email address (and other data), you can send them targeted email campaigns based on their interests and how they interacted with your PPC ad. This helps nurture them further down the sales funnel.
PPC Can Retarget Website Visitors from Email Campaigns
You can leverage email marketing platforms to segment your email list and create targeted audiences. These audience segments can then be uploaded to your PPC campaigns for retargeting purposes. This means showing ads to people who have already interacted with your brand through email/website visits.
Create a Cohesive Experience
By using consistent messaging across both PPC ads and email marketing campaigns, you can create a more unified brand experience for potential customers.
Overall, PPC and email marketing work well together; they help you reach a wider audience, generate more qualified leads, and drive sales/conversions.
Before we go into each of the above methods in detail, let’s check out how a PPC campaign works.
How to Execute a PPC Campaign
PPC campaigns function through a bidding system on advertising platforms like Google Ads or social media platforms.
Here are details on the steps involved:
- Campaign setup: You define your goals (website traffic, lead generation, sales) and target audience through demographics, interests, and keywords. Keywords are the terms users search for, triggering your ad’s appearance.
- Bidding and budget: You set a daily or total budget for your campaign and determine your bidding strategy. This involves the maximum cost you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks your ad (cost-per-click or CPC).
- Ad creation: Craft compelling ad copy with a clear headline, description, and a call to action (CTA). It should be relevant to your keywords and entice users to click. You’ll also create a landing page, the destination users reach after clicking, designed to convert that click into a lead or sale.
- Campaign launch and analysis: Once everything is set, you launch your campaign. Closely monitor its performance, tracking metrics like clicks, impressions, CPC, and conversion rate. Analyze this data to optimize your campaign for better results.
Essentially, PPC allows you to target a specific audience with laser focus, reaching them at the exact moment they’re searching for relevant products or services. You only pay when your ad generates a click, making it a cost-effective way to drive qualified traffic to your website.
Top 5 PPC Platforms
These ad platforms are popular choices when it comes to running PPC campaigns:
| Platform | Where ads are displayed | Top features |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Google search results, YouTube, and Display Network | Keyword targeting, various ad formats, advanced audience targeting, robust analytics |
| Microsoft Advertising | Bing and partner networks (Yahoo, AOL) | Similar keyword targeting to Google Ads but has lower competition |
| Meta Ads | Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network | Detailed demographic targeting, various ad formats, retargeting options, audience insights |
| Amazon Ads | Amazon’s web/app properties | Product-targeted ads, sponsored products, sponsored brands, display ads, integration with Amazon search |
| LinkedIn Ads | On LinkedIn | Precise professional targeting, various ad formats, robust analytics |
Remember, you don’t have to stick to ad networks; there are various alternatives you should consider, depending on your industry.
Options include:
- Popular websites or programmatic advertising networks,
- Industry-specific websites,
- Mobile apps,
- Video advertising networks.
Ready to get your PPC and email campaigns to work together? Let’s explore the different ways they make your marketing efforts more productive.
Capturing Leads with PPC
Lead capturing for email marketing using PPC is all about attracting potential customers who are interested in your offerings and converting them into email subscribers.
The process consists of the 6 steps below.
1. Create a Compelling Offer
To entice users to provide their email addresses, you need a convincing reward. This could be a lead magnet, a discount code, or an exclusive membership. Ensure the offer is clearly communicated in your ad copy to attract clicks.
2. Design a Landing Page
Direct your PPC traffic to a dedicated landing page designed to convert visitors into subscribers.
The landing page should be simple, visually appealing, and focused on the offer. Include a clear CTA and a form to collect email addresses. Minimize distractions by avoiding excessive links or navigation options that could divert attention.
3. Write Persuasive Copy
Your PPC ad copy should be concise, persuasive, and aligned with the offer. Highlight the benefits of subscribing and use action-oriented language. Incorporate keywords relevant to your target audience to improve ad visibility and attract the right users.
4. Use Targeted Advertising
Utilize the targeting options available on PPC platforms to reach your ideal audience. You can target users based on demographics, interests, behaviors, and even past interactions with your brand. This ensures your ads are seen by people who are more likely to be interested in your offer and willing to subscribe.
5. A/B Test Extensively
Continuously test different elements of your PPC campaign. Split-test ad copy, headlines, landing page designs, and CTA buttons. Use A/B testing to identify what works best and optimize accordingly.
Monitor campaign metrics like click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA) to measure success and make data-driven adjustments.
6. Follow Up with Drip or Nurture Campaigns
Once you’ve captured email addresses, maintain engagement by delivering high-quality content that fulfills the promise of your offer. This helps build trust and encourages subscribers to stay on your list, making your PPC investment worthwhile.
This point deserves a section of its own, so let’s take on that next.
Nurturing PPC Leads with Email Marketing
Once you’ve successfully captured leads through your PPC campaigns, the next step is to nurture these leads using email marketing. This process involves engaging and building relationships with your prospects to guide them down the sales funnel.
Here are best practices to effectively nurture PPC leads with email marketing.
Target Immediately
The first step is to send an immediate follow-up email after a lead provides their email address.
This email should thank them for their interest and deliver the promised offer, such as a free eBook, discount code, or exclusive content. Prompt follow-up reinforces your brand’s reliability and sets the tone for future communications.
Set a Segmentation Strategy
List segmentation allows you to send targeted and relevant content to different groups of leads.
For example, you can segment based on demographics, purchase behavior, or the specific PPC ad they responded to. This personalized approach increases the likelihood of engagement.
Run Drip or Nurture Email Campaigns
Implement drip or nurture campaigns to gradually target your leads.
Start with introductory content that builds awareness about your brand, followed by emails that educate leads about your products or services, and finally, emails that encourage conversion with strong CTAs.
Focus on Valuable Content
Ensure your emails provide value to your leads. Share educational content, industry insights, case studies, testimonials, and tips that address their pain points and interests. The goal is to establish your brand as a trusted authority and keep leads engaged.
Track and Analyze
Use your email marketing dashboard to track how your campaigns are performing. Analyzing this data helps you understand which emails are most effective and where improvements are needed.
By integrating email marketing with your PPC efforts, you can nurture leads effectively, turning initial interest into long-term customer relationships and driving higher conversion rates for your business.
Next, let’s flip the script. Here’s how you can use email list data for superior PPC targeting.
Customer Match: Using Your Contact List Data Strategically
Customer Match by Google is a powerful advertising feature that allows businesses to target specific audiences based on their own customer data. This data includes email addresses, phone numbers, or mailing addresses.
Below are the stages involved; they explain how Customer Match works.
Data Upload and Customer Matching
You provide Google Ads with your customer data, which can include email addresses, phone numbers, or even physical addresses. This data should be from customers who have opted-in to receive marketing communications from your business.
Google uses this data to try and match it with users who have Google accounts. There is a privacy process in place to ensure user anonymity.
Targeted Advertising
Google then matches the hashed data with its own user base. If a match is found (if the customer data corresponds to a Google account), the user becomes part of a custom audience list.
Once this match is made, you can then create targeted ad campaigns that will be shown to your existing customers or similar users on various Google properties.
| Where the ad is displayed | How you benefit |
|---|---|
| Search Engine Results Page (SERP) | Appears in search results when your target customer searches for relevant keywords. |
| Shopping tab | Conversion opportunity if you have a Shopping campaign running. |
| Gmail | Personalized ads are shown at the top of inbox tabs. |
| YouTube | Reach new audiences similar to your high-value customers. |
| Display Network | Ads are displayed on relevant websites and apps. |
A good use case of this feature would be if you run a local promotion for your business. You can combine local email marketing with Customer Match and re-target subscribers with relevant ads across Google platforms.
The Benefits of Customer Match
Customer Match can help you get closer to your business goals by:
- Reminding past customers about your brand,
- Encouraging repeat purchases,
- Getting your brand in front of new potential customers,
- Motivating your target audience to visit your website or make a purchase.
Note: Due to privacy regulations, Google recently restricted the use of Customer Match for web and app targeting within the European Economic Area (EEA) starting March 2024. However, you can still utilize Customer Match for targeting leads on Google’s owned and operated properties within the EEA.
Use PPC at Different Stages of Your Marketing Funnel
Integrating PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising into different stages of your marketing funnel can significantly enhance your marketing efforts.
Consider these stages of the funnel:
| Funnel stages | Goals of this stage: |
|---|---|
| Top of the Funnel (TOFU) | Awareness and lead generation |
| Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) | Nurturing and engagement |
| Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) | Conversion and retention |
Each of these requires tailored PPC strategies to move leads closer to making a purchase and becoming customers.
Top of the Funnel (TOFU)
In this stage of the funnel, marketers must focus on generating brand awareness and attracting new leads.
Here’s how you can use PPC to achieve these goals:
- Display ads: Use Google Display Network or Facebook Ads to show visually appealing ads to a broad audience. These ads should highlight your brand, products, or services to generate interest.
- Social media: Leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to reach new audiences. Use engaging content, such as videos and infographics, to capture attention.
- YouTube ads: Create video ads that introduce your brand and offerings. These can be skippable or non-skippable ads shown before or during other videos.
Where email marketing comes in:
- Collect email addresses through lead magnets (such as ebooks or case studies) promoted via PPC ads. Offer valuable content in exchange for their email address.
- Run PPC campaigns that drive traffic to a landing page with an email sign-up form.
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)
In this stage, aim to educate leads and build interest in your products or services.
Try these PPC strategies:
- SERP or SEM: Use Google Ads to target specific keywords related to your products or services. Ensure your ads provide relevant information and direct users to detailed landing pages.
- Remarketing ads: Show ads to users who have previously visited your website or engaged with your content. Use these ads to provide more information or special offers to encourage further interest.
- Native ads: Use programmatic ad networks such as Taboola or Outbrain to promote informative articles or blog posts that highlight the benefits of your products/services.
How to tie in email marketing:
- Create email drip campaigns triggered by PPC ad interactions. For example, if a lead clicks on an ad about a specific product, activate a series of emails with more information, case studies, and testimonials about that product.
- Use PPC ads to promote webinars/live demos and collect data for follow-up emails.
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU)
At the bottom of your funnel, you must encourage leads to make a purchase or “convert.”
For customers who have already converted, you can maintain engagement and encourage repeat purchases.
These PPC methods can help:
- Shopping ads: Use Google Shopping ads to showcase your products with images, prices, and reviews directly in search results.
- Dynamic remarketing ads: Show personalized ads featuring products or services that leads have previously viewed on your website.
- Promo codes and special offers: Use PPC ads to promote limited-time discounts, free trials, or exclusive deals to encourage immediate action.
- Upsell and cross-sell ads: Use PPC ads to promote related products or services to your existing customers.
Use email marketing to close sales:
- Send targeted email campaigns with promotional codes or special offers to leads who have interacted with your PPC ads.
- Use email automation to send out abandoned cart emails to customers who clicked on PPC ads but didn’t complete the purchase.
To improve retention with email marketing, try these strategies:
- Combine PPC and email campaigns to promote loyalty programs. For example, send an email about a loyalty program and then use PPC ads to reinforce the message.
- Use email marketing to notify customers of upcoming sales or new product launches and support these emails with PPC ads for consistent messaging across channels.
- You can also run re-engagement campaigns for customers who are being unresponsive.
Campaign Refinery: The Perfect PPC Partner
For PPC and email marketing to work together efficiently, you need an email service provider that integrates well with CRMs and other marketing tools and is spot-on with analytics. You also need good segmentation tools and flexible automation, but most importantly — you need rock-solid email deliverability rates.
Here’s why Campaign Refinery is the answer:
- Email Deliverability: We have the best inbox placement rates in the industry.
- Segmentation and tagging: Contact management on Campaign Refinery is highly efficient and organized.
- Automation: No matter how complex your automation strategy is, do it with ease using our automation builder.
- Third-party support: Integrate with thousands of the most popular marketing software in the market.
- Gamification: Want a boost in engagement? Try our rewards-based system to see your metrics go through the roof.
Unlock email marketing performance at the highest level today — apply here to become a Campaign Refinery user!
