The start of any year is exciting. Individuals set new goals and ambitions, and it’s a time for companies to secure new business, or launch new marketing campaigns. Whether you’re a PPC manager, an in-house marketer, or a business owner, there are a few things about PPC campaigns you should be aware of this year, before you kick yours off:
The Number of Campaigns is Going to Change
A lot of businesses either start their campaigns on January 1st or stop their campaigns on December 31st. You may have noticed one of two things this year already: a huge surge in competition, or a decrease in the competitive landscape. While the former scenario is irritating and the latter has you jumping for joy, be aware: neither are likely to remain in the long-term.
Budgets are Changing
Not unlike overall competition in the PPC space, many businesses are making budget decisions around PPC, which started on the first of the year. These budget adjustments will also result in an increase or decrease in competition around your campaigns. Again, these budgets can also change very quickly as your competition tweaks their spend. Stay the course.
More Players May Enter the Space
With a healthy economy, many companies are deciding to try their hands at PPC campaigns in 2020. However, we’ll likely find the problem to be that most of those running their company’s PPC campaign, may not fully understand the best practices for running them. The same can be said for agencies — with marketing executives wearing many hats these days, PPC campaigns are often run by those whose focus is on other specialties, and who therefore might not have the time, knowledge, or bandwidth to make sure your campaign is optimized to the fullest.
In both of these situations, you might see increased competition over the first quarter of the year — but we can predict that once companies recognize the amount of ad dollars that were spent with little-to-no return, that we’ll see the competition dwindle.
Final Thoughts
At the start of any year, everything you planned for your own PPC campaigns may seem like it’s gone up in flames. But PPC is not unlike a gym membership: regular members know that it sucks to go to the gym for the first month of the year — the gym is packed, you get stopped and talked to after every set, and every machine is glistening with other people’s sweat. But these members also know that many of the new members will drop off, and the traffic at the gym will eventually die down and stabilize.
If you’ve noticed your Cost Per Clicks (CPC) skyrocket at the start of the new calendar year, stay calm: costs will likely go back to normal after the excitement of the new year dies down. On the other hand, you may have noticed your CPC decrease; don’t let that lure you into complacency, as that may change very quickly.
Need help managing your PPC campaigns? We’d love to chat. Send us an email at info@tippingpointcomm.com.
An earlier version of this article appeared here.
