Welcome to the insightful world of PPC campaign goals and metrics!

Here at Digital Sunbird, we believe in strategic goal setting for PPC campaigns, that are designed in alignment with business objectives. Surprisingly, many businesses aim for general goals such as boosting traffic or conversions, rather than aligning campaign goals with specific business targets. To guide you better, we are providing a comprehensive framework for setting effective key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, that directly tie up with your business goals for each stage of the funnel.

PPC KPIs and metrics: What’s the difference?

Understanding the difference between goals, KPIs, and metrics is crucial for success. In simple terms:

• KPIs are the desired end goals.
• Metrics are specific data points that measure progress toward the set KPIs.

When defining metrics, they need to be relevant to the set KPIs. For example, if your goal is to increase qualified leads, relevant metrics would include conversion rate, new users redirected to a specific URL, and so on.

PPC campaigns can help achieve various objectives, thus it is essential to choose KPIs that relate to your business, and tie them with appropriate metrics.

Significance of aligning PPC goals with the marketing funnel

Although PPC campaigns significantly benefit bottom-funnel marketing, entirely relying on it can be a mistake. These campaigns can aid every part of the marketing funnel, provided they are rightly set up and measured against suitable metrics and benchmarks for each stage of the funnel.

This requires the establishment of distinct KPIs and metrics based on the specific goals and funnel stage for an accurate performance evaluation.

A glance at Top-of-funnel PPC campaigns

Top-funnel campaigns are intended to generate awareness among a broad audience of potential future customers and spark interest in your product/service. They often employ campaign types that offer high visibility at a lower cost. KPIs and metrics suitable for top-of-funnel campaigns should be chosen for a fair evaluation.

Suitable KPIs for top-of-funnel PPC campaigns

• Increasing brand awareness.
• Boosting website traffic.
• Driving social media engagement.
• Enhancing brand engagement.

Appropriate metrics for top-of-funnel PPC campaigns

• Impressions
• Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
• Click-through rate (CTR)
• Engagements (Google Ads)

Moving to mid-funnel PPC campaigns

Mid-funnel campaigns aim at connecting with users in the Interest/Consideration phase. Your KPIs and metrics should correspond to this end goal.

Relevant KPIs for mid-funnel PPC campaigns

• Establishing industry authority.
• Increasing engagement.
• Driving consideration.
• Nurturing leads.

Suitable metrics for mid-funnel PPC campaigns

• Micro conversions such as demo sign-ups or PDF downloads
• CTR
• Bounce rate
• Engagement rate (GA4)

The Bottom-of-funnel PPC campaigns

Bottom-funnel campaigns are effective in driving actions such as form fills, phone calls, purchases, and quotation requests. Campaigns in this stage often comprise:

• Search campaigns with very high-intent keywords
• Display remarketing campaigns targeting engaged users

Appropriate KPIs for bottom-of-funnel PPC campaigns

• Acquiring new customers
• Increasing revenue
• Generating leads
• Boosting purchases

Relevant metrics for bottom-of-funnel PPC campaigns

• Primary conversions (i.e., form submissions or purchases)
• Conversion rate
• Cost per acquisition/conversion (CPA)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Average order value (AOV)
• Cart abandonment rate
• Item quantity

How metrics and KPIs intersect with business goals

There should be a clear correlation between broader business objectives and specific PPC KPIs and metrics.

Remember, the biggest mistake in setting up a PPC strategy is to select KPIs and metrics that don’t contribute to business success. It’s equally crucial to simply and clearly explain how your set KPIs and metrics contribute to this success.

Setting KPIs and metrics for your PPC campaign

Remember, KPIs for your PPC campaign should directly link to your business objectives, and the metrics you use for their measurement should correlate to the nature of your business and the campaign setup.

Avoid blanket setting of KPIs for all your efforts. Instead, individualize your KPIs for each stage of the marketing funnel to ensure a more effective PPC strategy.

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