Beyond Clicks: Using Surveys To Measure PPC Campaign Effectiveness

Clicks are a vital metric in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. They signal interest and engagement, driving users to your landing pages. However, clicks alone offer an incomplete picture of your campaign's effectiveness. You need to venture beyond those initial clicks to get a deeper understanding of why users take certain actions. 

This is where surveys become an incredibly valuable tool. They help you uncover the motivations, experiences, and perceptions that shape user behavior. By understanding the 'why' behind the 'what,' you can make informed optimizations to your PPC campaigns that resonate with your target audience and drive better results. 

Read on to uncover how to use surveys in measuring your PPC campaign effectiveness.

Challenges faced by PPC campaigns

Usually, many businesses struggle with targeting the right audience, campaign messages, and budget. All this means that the ads won’t reach the right people and there’s a risk of poor ROI.

To help with these challenges, businesses hire solutions like PPC services in Atlanta . They ensure the correct demographics are targeted, as well as offer quality ad copies for your campaigns. They also help pinpoint specific areas of improvement within the user journey prompted by your PPC ads to reduce friction and increase conversions.

Why surveys matter for PPC 

Surveys dive into the 'why' behind the actions taken by customers and website visitors. Here's why they’re crucial for PPC: 

• Uncovering customer experience (CX) 

Traditional metrics like CTR and bounce rate explain how users interact with your ads and website. However, they don't explain the reasons behind those behaviors.

Surveys shed light on the qualitative aspects of the customer journey. Did users need clarification on your landing page? Was the product description clear enough to inspire confidence? Were there unexpected hurdles in the checkout process? This level of insight allows for targeted improvements that directly address the root causes of positive or negative experiences.

• Understanding brand perception 

PPC ads don't just promote your product or service; they’re an integral part of your brand image. Meanwhile, surveys let you gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns in building awareness and fostering a positive brand perception. Questions aimed at measuring familiarity, overall sentiment, and key brand associations can offer a nuanced view of how your ads impact how people view your company. 

This insight is incredibly valuable. Surveys reveal that your ads leave users confused or unimpressed, so you need to rethink your messaging and presentation. On the other hand, consistently positive feedback indicates your ads resonate with your target audience and contribute to a strong, customer-centric brand image.

Types of surveys for PPC evaluation 

Different types of surveys can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. Some of the major ones include the following:  

• Post-click surveys 

These short, targeted surveys pop up directly after a user clicks on your PPC ad, usually on the landing page. Because the experience is fresh in their minds, post-click surveys are ideal for gauging initial impressions of your ad's relevance and the landing page experience. A few concise questions gather valuable feedback without disrupting the user journey significantly. 

Since post-click surveys are focused on immediate reactions, they help you quickly identify potential misalignments between your ads and landing page content. If users consistently report that the ad didn't match what they found on the landing page, it's a clear sign that your targeting or messaging needs refinement. 

• Net promoter score (NPS) surveys 

NPS surveys are centered around how likely one person is to recommend your brand to a friend or colleague.

Users rate their likelihood on a scale, creating a quantifiable score that reflects overall customer sentiment. While not directly tied to individual campaigns, a positive NPS score signals that your brand is resonating with customers, a success to which your PPC efforts likely contribute. 

Tracking your NPS score over time, in conjunction with analyzing other survey feedback, helps measure the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns in driving positive customer experiences. A declining NPS could indicate issues like misleading ads, poor landing page experiences, or wider customer dissatisfaction – all problems that impact your PPC results. 

• In-depth customer feedback surveys 

Longer surveys are better suited for customers who’ve already engaged with your brand or completed a conversion. These offer room for more detailed questions and encourage deeper exploration. Focus on understanding their motivations, potential pain points in their experience, and their overall satisfaction with your product or service. 

In-depth surveys offer an opportunity to gather insightful feedback that can significantly impact your PPC campaigns. For example, a customer indicating hesitation due to high shipping costs might lead you to experiment with free shipping promotions in your ads. Positive comments about a specific product feature could inspire you to highlight it prominently within your ad copy. 

Key metrics and questions in surveys 

While traditional surveys often use ratings or scales to measure satisfaction, the most powerful insights for your PPC campaigns lie within carefully crafted questions. 

1. Ad recall and relevance 

One of the most important metrics to measure in a PPC campaign is how relevant the ad is to the audience. You don't want to spend money when the targeted audience is uninterested in your products. Here are some questions to ask:  

• Do you remember seeing our ad before arriving on this page? This question gauges whether your ad is making a memorable impression. A low recall could indicate your ad blending in with competitors or failing to target the right audience. A strong recall is a positive sign but should be analyzed alongside the following question for deeper insight. 
• How relevant was the ad content to your search?- Even a memorable ad is only effective if it aligns with the user's needs  and what they were looking for. This question assesses the quality of targeting and your ad's messaging. Consistently low relevance scores suggest refining your keywords, ad copy, or audience targeting. 

These questions help you understand whether your ads are shown to and clicked by the right people.  

2. Landing page experience 

Users spend an average of 54 seconds  on a website, and there’s only one thing that can keep them staying longer than that on your internet domain: experience. But it ought to be a great one, though. Here are questions to ask in this regard.

• Was the landing page easy to navigate? Navigation is crucial for a converting landing page. If users report confusion, you could have structural issues with your page layout, a slow loading time, or poor design choices. This type of feedback points you towards technical optimizations and UX (user experience) improvements. 
• Did you find the product/information you expected? This question measures how well your landing page delivers on the promises made in your ad. The disconnect here indicates a mismatch in expectations. Revising your ad copy to be more accurate or ensuring your landing page content directly addresses the search terms that trigger your ad might be necessary. 

Remember, your landing page carries the weight of your marketing campaign. Therefore, constant refining is necessary until you find the one that easily meets your standards.  

3. Brand perception 

Brand perception is how customers will likely remember your business after the first interaction. Here are questions to include in your survey: 

• Before seeing our ad, were you familiar with our brand? This question helps you measure the impact of your PPC ads on brand awareness. If most new customers discover you through your ads, it affirms their effectiveness in reaching a wider audience and building brand recognition. 
• In a few words, how would you describe our brand? Open-ended questions like this give you a window into your brand's reputation. Look for recurring words and themes in the responses. If they align with your desired brand image, your ads resonate. If the words seem negative or off-target, it indicates a need to refine your messaging and presentation. 

Remember that 64% of customers  will likely create a relationship with a brand that shares their values. Therefore, use these questions to understand what they are and what they like or dislike about your brand, then refine it to meet the customers where they are.  

Implementing surveys: best practices 

Surveys are incredibly valuable tools for enhancing your PPC campaigns, but their effectiveness depends on careful implementation. Here are a few best practices to ensure you're gathering high-quality feedback and maximizing their potential impact: 

• Keep it short  

Users have short attention spans, especially when just clicking on an ad. Keep your surveys focused on a handful of your most essential questions. This encourages higher response rates and helps you zero in on critical insights without overwhelming participants. 

• Incentives work  

People are more likely to spend a few minutes on your survey when there's a benefit for them. Consider offering small discounts, coupons, or access to valuable content as a ‘thank you’ for completing the survey. A study found that providing a five-dollar prepaid discount doubled the survey responses. It's a small investment for significant improvements in response rate. 

• Timing matters  

The best time to trigger your survey depends on the type. Post-click surveys work well immediately after an ad click, while in-depth feedback is better suited to existing customers. Experiment with different triggers – immediately after a click, after a certain time spent on the landing page, or even post-conversion – to see what yields the most informative responses for your campaign goals. 

Conclusion  

Clicks, conversions, and costs are the bedrock of PPC success. However, surveys add an essential layer of qualitative insight that traditional metrics can’t provide. You can supercharge your campaigns by understanding the motivations, perceptions, and experiences of the people behind the clicks. Remember, surveys aren’t a replacement for your core PPC data but a powerful tool to understand the human story behind those numbers.