Myths of PPC advertising

I started this post 10 days back - original title: 10 big myths surrounding PPC. Even as I was consolidating my thoughts, Rajiv posted his PPC myths article and stole my thunder. well almost.... . I just changed my title (so there is no pressure to discover 10), racked my brains and here are the realities as I see them.

Myth 1: X, Y and Z are important keywords. They will generate a lot of clicks/sales.

This myth is a throwback to offline. Underlying this myth is the belief that we have near perfect understanding of our brand/product, our target group, kw's for every stage of the buying cycle.

Reality -
a. Keywords rarely stand alone in determining their success. Clicks happen to the kw+ad combinations. Sales happen to the product +landing page combination.

b. Searches happen on one kw, but sales rarely happen just on the basis of 1 search or 1 kw.
There are at least 3 steps from search to sale:
Step 1: general keyword,
Step2: specific phrases - price related or sales related or kw, and
Step 3: product/brand or company name - the sale concludes.
The kw's in step 1 and 2 do not get the sale but are the catalysts to the sale.

Myth 2: Nobody reads beyond the headline of an ad.

Reality -

The headline is the most 'eye catching' statement on the ad. But if visitors only read the headline, then adding a dunamic kw insertion to the ad should ensure a click. It does not. For every kw there are at least 5 to 7 ads. 90% of ads carry dynamic insertion kw's in their headline. The customer has to read beyond the headline to make a choice.

Dare I say, with dynamic insewrtion, headline may soon be the one line that leaps to the eye, but nobody reads?

Myth 3: Leads and sales through PPC increase exponentially forever.

Reality -

All campaigns, irrespective of search engine, have a maximum cap. This is especially true for campaigns where cost per lead has to be maintained at a fixed number. Long tail keywords help maximize the potential of an account, but there is a cap on the number of leads/sales you can generate tough 'a' campaign.

Myth 4: Daily budget is one of the critical factors in the relevance factor. Increase your ad spend budget, and your CTR's will increase while CPC's decrease.

Reality-
If Daily budget is a factor at all, it is a very small factor. Daily budget determines the number of impressions the kw gets. nothing more.

Myth 5: There is only 1 way to optimize an account. And you optimize forever using the same formulae or set of rules.

Reality -

PPC optimization is a series of changes puntuated by regular overhauls. It is not a 1 step processs or a set of definite rules. At every stage, we need human judgement. The process for each step is dependent on the outcome of the previous step. outcome of a step is dependent on timing, intensity (of the change) and value of the change.

Myth 6: Knowing the product is the most important part of PPC or For PPC, you dont need any knowledge of the product/brand or its marketing.

Reality -

Both these statements are incorrect. Best performing accounts are created when a thorough knowledge of the product is married to extensive experience in PPC. Both form critical pieces of setup and management of a PPC account.

I will add to this post when something strikes me. leave your thoughts.