By Gregory Smyth
Internet marketing and the rise of methods such as search engine optimization, paid search advertising, and advanced web analytics have turned on their heads much of what traditionally passes for marketing and communications academics’ lessons. Technology is new, a whole new range of channels and media needs to be learned, and fresh facets of your product become more prominent. But some marketing essentials do not change. To run a PPC campaign successfully, you do need a return to marketing foundations. One crucial step is a re-appraisal under new eyes of your product so that its characteristics, its advantages, and its unique selling propositions can be clearly ascertained.
Understanding Product Features VS Customer Benefits in PPC Advertising
The features and benefits of your product differ greatly from technical specifications or even its physical attributes. What matters in PPC ads, where you may have as few as 90 characters for headlines and 180 characters for descriptions in Google Ad, is how the product makes a consumer’s life better. To write effective ads, you’ll need deep knowledge of the product and a clear picture of your target audience. For example, if you sell lawn care products and you know your audience includes men aged 30–40 and 60–70 with higher-than-average household incomes in regions favorable for grass growth, the next step is to adopt their perspective. Do they care most about price, speed of results, durability, or the lifestyle image the product conveys? As always, whether you’re designing an offline campaign or a digital strategy, if you don’t know what your customers want, ask them. Market research, now often enhanced with online surveys and AI-driven insights, remains a valuable tool.
Focusing on Customer Benefits for Stronger Online Marketing Campaigns
When analyzing your product’s benefits in internet marketing, think in terms of outcomes for the customer, not just what the product “does.” Lawn care products, for instance, may save customers time, help them achieve a lush green lawn, or create a welcoming outdoor environment. These outcomes connect emotionally and practically with the customer, quite different from technical details such as nitrogen content or chemical longevity.
Finding and Using Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in Pay-Per-Click Marketing
Another timeless cornerstone of PPC success is clarifying your unique selling point (USP). This principle is as relevant to boosting search visibility and driving clicks online as it was in traditional marketing. Determining your USP requires understanding both your competition and your own strengths, especially since your online competitors may differ significantly from your offline ones. Today’s tools, such as GA4, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Similar web, allow marketers to benchmark digital competitors with precision. By analyzing rival campaigns, identifying gaps, and defining what sets you apart, you can leverage your USP to its full advantage in your PPC campaigns.
