If you’ve ever wondered how international companies coordinate their PPC campaigns, you are not alone. From interviewing several international businesses such as Sixt Rent a Car and Bing on Webcertain TV, we have collected a number of useful pieces of advice when it comes to implementing PPC campaigns internationally. Let’s have a look at what these are.
1. What
International PPC campaigns require you to know each market where you operate in detail, as these can differ considerably from one to the other. As Ramona Federschmid from EF pointed out during our interview with her, people search differently in different countries, therefore the message has to match the way customers search. To know how they do this in your desired market, the research and testing phase is essential. What messages are buyers more receptive to? On what devices? In-depth research can tell you this and more.
Before venturing out to a new market, it is important to evaluate the opportunities for your business present in that market; the payment and delivery procedures are also very important, as each county has its own and there might be regulations which prevent you from using the same methods as in your home market.
The state of the technology in place in the country you are targeting is another vital aspect to consider: for instance, a slow internet connection could damage your business and considerably affect orders and sales. Moreover, as with delivery and payment methods, each market has its own laws governing business, and companies should be aware of these and adapt their approach accordingly.
2. How
Coming to the more practical side of implementing international PPC campaigns, there are various tools which can help you ensure your campaigns are successful, such as Google AdWords tools. You should ensure that you have a strong landing page to direct your customers to, as PPC expert Brad Geddes mentioned, as even the best strategies in place will not be able to make up for a low-quality landing page.
Carefully consider the language aspect, and whether you need to translate and localise your content. What language, tone, and type of address do your customers prefer in each market that you target?
Next, consider which devices you will be using, and adapt your ad copies accordingly. Day parting and bid adjustment can be particularly useful here to differentiate your strategy. Make sure you have a strong strategy in place for mobile: a mobile-responsive website is a must in most countries, and ad extensions can prove very useful too.
3. Where
Optimise your resources to manage more campaigns at once: make sure that you organise your keywords effectively and that you set up PPC campaigns for specific ones. When you are dealing with more international campaigns at the same time, it can be tricky to allocate the right amount of attention to each. Apart from allocating specific teams to look after your core markets, there are a number of tools that can help you keep track of what is happening in the various markets. It’s important to keep in mind what the main search engines are in each one, and to make sure that you are targeting them effectively.
When dealing with international campaigns, finally, a ‘glocal’ approach is very beneficial. You need to find the balance between maintaining a consistent voice as a brand, whilst adapting to each specific market individually. You should have a plan on how to achieve this, and clear guidelines to follow. While automation is sure to get incorporated more and more in future approaches to international PPC campaigns, Tor Crockett from Bing points out that ultimately you will always need to treat each customer individually.
So here it is, an overview of the key factors to keep in mind when implementing international PPC campaigns. Here we have offered an overview of each one, but we also have a more detailed guide which is available to download.
Anna Giulia Novero
Latest posts by Anna Giulia Novero (see all)
- 3 tips for PPC advertising in the education sector - November 29, 2018
- Marketing in travel and tourism - June 6, 2018
- 3 things to know about digital marketing in Africa - May 31, 2018
