Updated: February 23, 2022

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PPC Advertising Strategies to Apply During The COVID-19 Pandemic

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There's no denying the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically and drastically changed the business landscape in unprecedented ways.

Many companies have to be shut down, some indefinitely, others for good.

Businesses that have managed to stay operational face uncertainties as they try to move things in the right direction.

For most of them, there are only two options:

Adapt, stay afloat, and thrive
Fall far behind those who have found a way to navigate uncertain waters

Unfortunately, many businesses choose the latter route, especially when it comes to their PPC management and advertising.

Consider this: a recent report indicated that Google and Facebook stand to lose a whopping $44 billion in ad revenue because of the global shutdown.

The good thing is, if you adjust your PPC strategies accordingly, you have a big fighting chance of staying afloat, if not thriving.

COVID-19 Pandemic: How is PPC Faring?

Given the world's current state, it can seem like PPC is the last thing you should look into.

From a bird's eye view, it appears like no one is purchasing anything right now.

If no one is buying, it would be a complete waste of money to keep PPC campaigns up and running, right? However, as with most things in life, it would be best to examine the facts first before jumping into conclusions.

If you look closely, you'll realize that the general drop in PPC performance is concentrated in specific industries.

For instance, compared to others, the travel industry is one of the most affected.

The same is true for bars, restaurants, and other businesses in the recreation, entertainment, and hospitality industries.

However, many people do not know this: other industries are thriving when it comes to their PPC performance.

It does not always follow that you stay “business as usual” in terms of PPC campaigns.

Instead, consider tweaking (or potentially overhauling) your PPC approach to accelerate your growth throughout this shutdown.

COVID-19 Shutdown: Smart PPC Advertising Strategies to Consider

Below are some essential PPC advertising strategies and adjustments you can implement during these uncertain times:

Act Immediately and React Quickly

Pre-COVID, PPC best practices dictate that you look into as much data as you can find so you can be sure your next campaign will succeed.

However, today is uncharted territory for everyone, with uncertainty being the only sure thing.

While no one knows for sure what will and won't work when it comes to PPC campaigns, the ones who take their best-educated guess and put their campaigns into action gets ahead of the pack.

Consider this:

If you always play it safe and not try, you'll never learn and figure anything out.
As a result, you will fall even farther behind.
If you try but fall short, you'll have a better idea of how to move forward.

Also, with things changing rapidly, it is crucial that you can use whatever data you have access to make quick and agile decisions regarding your PPC campaigns.

If anything, it would be smart to be ultra granular by assessing your PPC campaign performance by the hour and day.

Recently, Google has created a section of Trends aimed explicitly at helping businesses keep track of Coronavirus-related searches so you can compare them to non-COVID search terms.

Tweak Your Messaging but Tread Lightly

When creating content during these uncertain times, it is ideal to be both empathetic and sensitive, not just to the target audience but also to the world.

Failure to do so, even if unintentional, may lead to a backlash.

If anything, your goal should be to create ads highlighting the value your products or services offer, given the current circumstances people are in (especially your target audience).

Businesses that are doing it right focus on how their brand fit into their audience's temporary way of life or the “new normal.”

Also, now might be a great time to revisit your brand's value proposition.

If you can get to the heart of the value you bring to your audience's life and deliver it tactfully, you will have a much better chance of staying afloat and thriving.

Find Quick Wins and Deep Dive Into Your Keywords and Position Level Data

One smart thing you should be doing right now is to analyze how much you have been spending on your clicks compared to the current market rates.

More often than not, the amount Google tells you to pay to appear within the top is overestimated.

With that in mind, don't keep increasing your ad budget just because Google tells you to.

Save on cost by checking your CPC data regularly and reducing it incrementally.

This way, you will always stay within the top 2-4 results while only spending a minimal amount.

Adjust the Ad Schedule, so It Shows up During the Best Performing Times

Head over to the Overview section of the Google Ads dashboard.

Towards the end, you can see a Day & Hour chart.

Adjust the chart to see the day and hour of the week where you get the most conversions.

Take note of the top 2-3 days where your conversion is at the highest and decide if you'll exclude other days for the time being.

Another option would be to reduce the bids on those days when the conversion is not that favorable, so you'll still show up but won't be spending as much.

Cut out Waste by Looking at The Device-Level Performance Data

On the Overview tab, you can find a chart indicating your campaign's performance on a device level.

Use the data to reduce your Cost Per Lead.

You can do this by adjusting your bids for the devices that are performing best for your campaign.

For instance, if computers have the lowest cost leads while tablets are the most expensive, consider reducing your bid for tablets or exclude them altogether.

Wrapping Up

There is no denying the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the PPC landscape in unprecedented ways.

While the strategy you can implement will depend on your business's unique situation, hopefully, the strategies above have given you the framework to adapt and make tough decisions during these uncertain times.