Why Quality Content Improves Your Paid Media Campaigns

A paid media strategy is crucial to a successful digital marketing campaign. Though they require an investment, paid media campaigns can enlarge your audience, leading to more conversions. However, there must be quality, motivating content waiting on the other side — i.e., on your website.

If a company spends significant dollars trying to drive traffic to its website, there should be relevant, engaging content there. When your paid advertising campaign works, you drive an online visitor to your website. However, this is just half the battle. If your goal is to push conversions of any kind, the job isn’t done yet.

Picture visitors landing on your company’s website after clicking on a paid ad, but not seeing anything of relevance. They are going to click away from your site, or worse, become annoyed about wasted time — thus creating a bad user experience. Cost per click will remain high, and Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and AdWords ads are paid for in vain.

If a company spends significant dollars trying to drive traffic to its website, there should be relevant, engaging content there.

How to Improve Your Paid Search Marketing

Step 1: Answer Your Customers’ Questions

Even when it’s time for a website redesign, it’s best to start with content. This is no different with paid advertising. If a prospective user of your website has a query or need, it’s best to answer that question or request on your website. Content — whether new or repackaged — creates that foundation.

This also results in trust, familiarity and recognition with your company or your product, resulting in higher conversions, lower cost per click and obviously, more successful paid search marketing efforts.

Step 2: Keep it Fresh and Seasonal

Evergreen articles — pieces that are useful year-round — absolutely should be a part of your content and paid search strategy. But one of the best ways to boost your paid search ROI is to think about what your potential customers need now.

Remember, what drove clicks and conversions in January won’t necessarily be the same as what succeeds in the summer. Arizona visitors won’t be hiking in June; instead, a DMO could create the article Scottsdale’s 10 Best Resort Pools, then frame paid advertising around that.

Step 3: Incorporate Keywords

Now that you know better content is needed, here’s a tip. You can target keywords within your site’s content that will benefit your paid ads.

For example, if part of your website exists to recruit volunteers, create an article or blog post that uses keywords like “volunteer opportunities” in the copy. Your ad would include that wording, and the keyword to bid on would be “volunteer opportunities.”

Basically, if you have keyword consistency in the content copy, SEO elements (meta tags and meta descriptions) and paid search elements (keywords and text ads), your campaigns are more likely to perform better. Google awards consistency and likes when components work together in unison.

Wondering how to connect your SEO and content efforts? Learn how to write content humans and bots will love here.

Step 4: Let Your Top-performing Content Inform Your Ads

Don’t fix what isn’t broken. What’s currently killing it on your website? Is that article about healthy meeting food providing astronomical organic search traffic and conversions? Or is the spring break staycations listicle racking up thousands of shares on Facebook two years later?

Your top-performing content is doing well for a reason. Consider testing some of these pieces — whether articles, slideshows, videos or infographics — for your next paid search campaign. Don’t forget to make sure the content is up to date: test links, revise old dates, edit thoroughly and add or upgrade your existing call-to-action.