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Did you know that according to recent research, businesses on average earn $2.00 for every $1.00 they spend on Google AdWords? There’s no denying the fact that advertising is a costly endeavor, but when implemented correctly, the rewards can be substantial. For instance, did you know that appearing in mobile search ad results has been shown to increase brand awareness by as much as 46%?
The truth of the matter remains however that PPC advertising is a highly competitive market. If you want your business to truly shine, you’re going to need to learn a few tricks of the trade in order to gain the advantage over your competition. This article will give you 10 tips and strategies on how you can effectively hack your competitor’s PPC campaigns. So, if you’re interested in learning more about the various steps and techniques you can use to drive traffic from your competition and into your lap, then look no further than these next few lines.
1. Identify your competitors.
So, first thing is first. If you’re going to make an attempt to hack your competition’s PPC ads, then you should probably know who your competition is in the first place. If you haven’t already done your competitor research, then this is the time to do it.
Once you’ve identified companies that you are competing with, there are numerous ways you can get information on their campaigns. This of course varies based on the platform you’re using. For instance, Facebook makes it super simple to get information on your competition’s ad campaigns. All you have to do is go to their business page and click on “Info and Ads” to see details on current campaigns. Twitter also has a feature very similar to this.Google AdWords makes the process straightforward and easy as well courtesy of their Keyword Planner tool.
All you have to do is click on “Get search volume and forecasts” and the platform will populate information on keywords including price and historical data such as the average number of clicks, impressions, click-through-rate and more.
2. Gather insight into competition’s strategy
So, the truth of the matter is that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter don’t exactly provide you with a wealth of information on ad campaigns. However, there are numerous platforms and tools available online that can help with this. Spyfu, for example, is an extremely popular one and a personal favorite of mine in part due to the fact that it’s chock-full of great insights and completely free to use. The platform allows you to type in the URL of your competitor’s website and then it populates a wealth of information on their performance, ranking and overall strategy, including their estimated PPC budget, annual spend and more. Also, if you’re having a bit of trouble identifying more than one competitor, you’ll be happy to find that Spyfu lists additional competitor sites in their breakdown for your competition.
3. Rank for the same or similar keywords.
Platforms such as Spyfu also give you a wealth of information on your competition’s keyword strategy. What better way to hack your competition’s PPC ads than to see exactly which keywords they’re using to drive traffic to their site?
It furthermore tells you which competitors also purchased these keywords, making it super simple to see which ones are the most popular within your niche. You can use this list as a means for making a decision on whether or not you want to attempt to rank for the same keywords. Another strategy you could use that would prove effective would be ranking for similar phrases. For example, if your competitor purchased the keyword phrase “art for sale”, you may want to look into other phrases that are similar to this such as “paintings for sale”.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better – it totally does.
The platform additionally gives you access to a detailed report on your both your direct competitor and their competitors’ AdWords history by month. You can gain access to a limited history or full history and the platform additionally gives you the ability to export the report to your computer for your records.
4. Rank for branded keywords online.
Another great way to hack your competition’s PPC campaigns is to rank for branded keywords. This is one particular strategy that far too many people miss out on. Branded keywords are, much as their name implies, keywords which include a company’s name in them.
For example, “Ikea furniture” is a branded keyword. When you purchase branded keywords, you’re essentially hijacking your competition’s traffic. These, after all, are search queries that your competitor’s customers are making to find your competition for the purpose of benefiting from their products and/or services. When you purchase these keywords, you begin to rank for them and slowly drive some of that traffic towards your products and/or services instead. #winning.
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5. Target your competition’s traffic on Facebook
Perhaps the easiest way to target your competition’s traffic on Facebook is by going to their page and checking out who is engaging with them. However, engaging with these individuals in such a manner can quickly become a slippery slope at best.
Relax. There’s another way.
Did you know that you can also target your competition’s traffic on Facebook by using branded keywords? One of the options that Facebook’s ad platform gives you in order to identify your target demographic is the “Interests” tab.
Many people simply put activities similar to or related to the niche in which their business is in. However, you can also put your competition’s name into these fields (i.e. “Bikram Yoga”). This is where Facebook really stands out. This is because when you enter branded keywords, the algorithm searches for individuals who not only rank for your general parameters, but those who have additionally gone out of their way to include this brand as one they vet.
6. Disrupt their video content on their YouTube
Did you know that you can also disrupt your competition’s video content with your own ads? It sounds crazy, but it’s totally true. This is another great way to hijack your competition’s traffic. All you have to do is create a new campaign and change the video ad format “In-stream or video discovery”.
Once you’ve finished creating all of your parameters, you’re going to want to click “Search for placements”. Keep in mind that not every single video allows ads. The only way you can find out if your competition’s videos allow ads are by manually searching through their videos and seeing if ads pop up on their content. Some may allow it, and some might not. This is absolutely normal. The key is to find the videos that do and choose your placements there.
7. Gmail Ads
Did you know that you can advertise on Gmail? Furthermore, the platform has many of the same features as other advertising platforms and as a result, users can take advantage of the various options to target their competition’s audience.
One way you can do this is by using branded keywords, similar in theory to the ways we’ve discussed previously in this article. When you use branded keywords in Gmail Ads, your ad content pops up in an individual’s email every time your competition’s does. It’s pretty genius.
The platform also offers domain targeting and will show your ads to individuals based on the whether or not they are sending and/or receiving emails from a particular domain.
8. Use Google’s ‘Custom Affinity Audience’ Feature
If you’re advertising on Google’s Display Network, then you can effectively leverage their ‘Custom Affinity Audience’ feature in order to hijack traffic from your competition. This awesome feature factors in consumer interests and activities such as website visits in order to get your ad content in front of the exact audience you want to see it. The downside of this option is that it is relatively broad targeting as audiences are pooled together in pre-defined lists based on interests and activities. It is also somewhat costly if you’re not prudent.
However, if your goal is to get your ad in front of your competition’s audience, then using this feature is a great way to do that. This is because the feature allows you to target audiences based on URLs they visit, so all you have to do is type in the landing page of your competition to start hijacking their traffic ASAP.
9. Imitate your competition’s ad copywriting strategy.
Your ad’s copy is pretty much the single most important feature that will set you apart from your competition and either set you up for failure or success. So, the question remains, how does yours stack up against your competition’s?
If you’re finding that your ad copy is a bit too blasé or your having a bit of a creative block, then you should try mirroring your competition’s copywriting strategy. Are they straight, succinct and to the point? Do they chock their copy full of high-ranking keywords? Which keywords do they include in their headline and description? Do they use a CTA? These are all important things you should take into consideration when crafting your own ad copy.
10. One-up your competition in some way.
Last but not least, the most effective way to hijack your competition’s strategy is to one-up them in some way, shape or form. Does your competition use a still image for their Facebook ads? Think about incorporating a video in yours.
Are they not using a CTA? Add one. What about their pricing? Can you outdo them in some way by offering a special offer such as a discount or coupon that will entice their traffic to venture off into your space over theirs? These are all great tactics to use in order to up the ante and increase the appeal of your brand over theirs once you get the audience’s attention.
Conclusion
Let’s face it, advertising online is no cheap pursuit. If you want to be successful, your going to need to learn a few tricks and tips in order to help increase the effectiveness of your efforts. Use these 10 ethical tips and tricks get the leg up on your competition and start getting the online traction you deserve.What are some useful tips or tricks you’ve used to hack your competition’s PPC ad strategy? Let us know in the comments below!
Social Media Blurb
Did you know that according to recent research, businesses on average earn $2.00 for every $1.00 they spend on Google Ads? There’s no denying the fact that advertising is a costly endeavor, but when implemented correctly, the rewards can be substantial. For instance, did you know that appearing in mobile search ad results has been shown to increase brand awareness by as much as 46%?
There’s no denying the benefits of PPC advertising, but the truth of the matter is it’s a highly competitive market. If you want your business to truly shine, you’re going to need to learn a few tips and tricks f the trade in order to gain the advantage over your competition. This article will give you 10 tips and strategies on how you can effectively hack your competitor’s PPC campaigns.
So, if you’re interested in learning more about the various steps and techniques you can use to drive traffic from your competition and into your lap, then look no further than these next few lines because we’re going to show you exactly how to do just that.
Sources:
- Analyze & Beat Your Google Ads Competitors With These 5 Powerful Tools
- 5 Brilliant Competitive Advertising Strategies to Outsmart Your Competition
- How to Copy Effective PPC Campaigns From Your Competitors
- How To Run YouTube Ads In Front Of Your Competitors’ Videos
- Introducing Custom Affinity Audiences across the Google Display Network
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