The Acquisition Funnel: A How-to Guide for Perfecting Your PPC Strategies

Visitor Intent as a Temperature Scale

PPC Traffic Temperature Categories

In pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, the visitor's intent is to be roughly compared to some sort of typical three-tiered layer that would determine the exact "temperature" and represent another stage in the funnel:

1."Cold" Traffic (TOFU - Top of Funnel):

• This is the coldest traffic, with visitors having low intent and need to be "warmed up" with low-commitment offers.

• Display ads typically attract this type of cold, top-of-funnel traffic.

2. "Lukewarm" Traffic (MOFU - Middle of Funnel):

• Visitors in this category have some level of intent and can be swayed with offers like free trials or consultations.

• Engaged video viewers and social media audiences often fall into this lukewarm, middle-of-funnel stage.

3. "Hot" Traffic (BOFU - Bottom of Funnel):

• This is the hottest traffic, with visitors having high intent and being ready to convert.

• Search ads, especially branded search ads, tend to attract this type of bottom-of-funnel, high-intent traffic.

Traffic TemperatureVisitor IntentTypical PPC ChannelsRecommended Offers"Cold" (TOFU)LowDisplay AdsLow-commitment offers"Lukewarm" (MOFU)ModerateVideo Ads, Social AdsFree trials, consultations"Hot" (BOFU)HighSearch Ads (especially branded)High-value offers, direct sales

Identifying the right offer and call to action (CTA) that will match the visitor's temperature of intent is key to optimizing the conversions while getting the highest return from your PPC campaigns.

Cold Traffic (TOFU)

Basically, at the top of the funnel, the purpose is to make leads aware and attract them through interesting ads, targeting an audience, and multi-channel campaigns. There are two primary goals for top-of-funnel brand introduction and awareness targeting campaigns: to deploy tactics such as display, video, and dynamic search ads.

This is usually referred to as the "Top of the Funnel" (TOFU) marketing: the activities oriented at capturing customers' attention at the very top of the marketing funnel or during the first awareness stage.

Benefits of TOFU Marketing

• Increased brand awareness

• Capturing many top-of-funnel leads

• Helping define the value proposition and competitive differentiation

TOFU Marketing Channels

• Paid ads campaigns

• Content marketing and SEO

• Social media marketing

TOFU Content Examples

• Informational blog posts

• E-Books

• Whitepapers

• Social media posts, etc.

The display ads are more likely to bring in the cold TOFU traffic and, therefore, are the most appropriate for top-of-funnel campaigns aimed at building awareness and capturing leads.

Lukewarm Traffic (MOFU)

However, the middle of the funnel switches focus into nurturing these leads and building interest among them via hyper-personalized content, retargeting, and interactive marketing. The middle of the funnel of "interest" focuses on targeting users with remarketing, in-market audiences, and content-focused ads to nurture them.

Strategies for MOFU PPC Campaigns

• Remarketing Advertisements. Re-engage with the audience that has previously interacted with your brand, website, or content. Serve these people properly customized ads on various platforms to keep them excited.

• Target in-market audiences. Reach users showing an active interest in the product or service category, hence most likely ripe for your messaging and offers at mid-funnel.

• Develop Content-Focused Ads. Develop advertising campaigns around content assets. E.g., whitepapers, case studies, webinars. These can include content-focused ads that help in branding you as a thought leader and offering solutions to the problems faced by the customer.
• Synergize PPC with SEO, resulting in enhanced visibility that leads to a consistent brand experience. Use PPC data to fuel your SEO content strategy, targeting users at different stages of the marketing funnel with both.

MOFU Keyword Targeting

In a mid-funnel PPC campaign, the keywords should target information. The keywords should be relevant to your brand's offerings and interesting to your audience. Examples :

• "Are hot tubs good for you?"

• "Are hot tubs worth it?"

• "How much are hot tubs?"

Additionally, target keywords that indicate user interest, such as:

• "best hot tub brands"

• "hot tub store"

• "hot tub comparisons"

• "Jacuzzi hot tub reviews"

In other words, align your mid-funnel PPC efforts with the right targeting strategies and keyword selection. It will effectively nudge the leads closer to the bottom of the funnel in a bid to drive more conversions and maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS).

Hot Traffic (BOFU)

Towards the middle of the funnel, your website needs to be optimized for moving leads toward becoming customers with stronger calls-to-action (CTAs), optimized landing pages, and more irresistible, time-sensitive offers. At this stage of the funnel, you should be focusing your bottom-of-funnel campaigns on directly acquiring leads from the bottom — using tactics like remarketing and clear CTAs on branded searches.

Key Strategies for Targeting BOFU Customers

• Promote Your High-Value Offers and Premium Product Tiers. Make the most of the BOFU customers with the highest purchase intent by promoting your highest-value offers and premium product tiers.

• Use Power Words in Urgency Keywords and the Ad Copy. Add the words like "buy," "offer," "deal," and "now" to bring out powerfully the desire for ready converts. Besides, using powerful copy and vivid creatives to spike emotions into action is necessary.

• Use Promo Tactics. BOFU leads are really responsive, so using time-based offers, discounts, and other tactics can work best for them.

• Use retargeting and social ads. Reach  BOFU prospects on high-intent retargeting and social media advertising.

Best Practices for BOFU PPC Content Marketing

• Optimize the landing pages. Have the best-optimized landing pages that will wipe off any impediments to conversions and ensure a smooth user experience.

• Focus on Driving the Sale. Create ad copy and content that focuses directly on driving the sale, with clear and compelling calls-to-action.

• Involve the Sales Team. Involve your sales team to provide a personal touch and encourage the purchase decision.

• Highlight Competitive Advantages. Emphasize why your product or service is the best option compared to competitors.

• Leverage SEO. Use SEO strategies to rank for bottom-of-funnel keywords and nurture organic traffic.

• Use Fraud-Proof Campaigns. To increase your conversions and ROI, it is essential to safeguard your PPC campaigns from invalid traffic and fraud. That's where tools like CHEQ come in. They have features that help to block bot activity, click fraud, and every other malicious traffic.

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