6 Ways to Decrease Your Cost Per Lead (CPL) & Avoid Major Fluctuations
Are you struggling to maintain consistent and low digital advertising costs? If you feel like you keep pouring money in, but aren’t getting anything out, then you might think about abandoning online ads altogether.
Luckily, there are ways to lower your ad spend without giving up on this highly rewarding form of marketing.
In this article, we’ll explain what you can do to decrease your overall cost-per-lead (CPL) and get more out of your online advertising budget. We've also included helpful tips on keeping major cost fluctuations to a minimum, so you can plan and strategize more effectively than ever.
What Does CPC Stand for in Marketing?
If you’re hoping to decrease your overall cost per lead, you might want to know what CPC means. CPC stands for cost-per-click. This is the cost an advertising platform will charge each time someone clicks an action on your ad.
On the other hand, the meaning of CPL, or cost-per-lead, is more general. A lead can describe any type of action, whether it be a phone call, email subscription, or even a store visit.
Why does CPL fluctuate?
There are various factors that can influence your cost-per-lead, some of which are completely out of your control. When it comes to CPC specifically, these include search volume for your keywords, target location, current market trends and how high your competitors are willing to bid.
If you’re looking to decrease your CPL rates online, follow the steps we’ve outlined in the sections below.
How to Decrease Your Cost per Lead
When it comes to digital marketing, clicks and conversions are the types of metrics you’ll want to optimize. Avoiding high CPC rates will help you get a better return on your marketing investment while still bringing in the traffic you need.
1. Test & Optimize
Usually, the best testing is done by conducting a standard A/B test. Run your regular ad (A), then run ads while changing one variable at a time (B) and assess how each performs. These changes might include altering the target location or demographics, using different ad copy or reimagining the graphics. As you learn more about the performance of your ads, you can continue to customize the A/B test to better optimize your results.
2. Fine-Tune Keywords
Keywords play a central role in determining CPC costs. Make sure you use keywords that are neither too broad nor too niche. Remember, using specific, long-tail keywords tends to result in a lower CPL. However, you want to make sure you have sufficient search volume to reach your desired audience.
3. Narrow Your Targets
If you’re targeting a large demographic, then visibility will be an issue. Therefore, you’ll likely have to pay top dollar to get high-quality leads. Carefully examine your products or services and the campaign you’re running, and really aim to target your ads at a specific group.
You can also consider targeting based on behaviour rather than a demographic. Behavioural targeting uses people’s online activities to determine which ads will have the greatest effect on them. It’s a very personalized and data-driven approach that may help you lower your overall cost-per-click.
4. Improve the Quality of Your Ads
Are your ads just not driving the conversions you’d expect? It may be easy to scroll past them if they lack attention-grabbing colours and headlines. Or they might be difficult to read.
When you’re spending money on online ads, it’s critical they feature high-quality graphics, engaging copy and effective CTAs to boost brand visibility and trust, all while pulling in the conversions you’re after.
5. Increase Your Budget
Increasing your budget improves your ad’s visibility. And, of course, with a better placement comes a higher price tag. But did you know that increasing your ad budget can sometimes lower your overall cost-per-click?
A slight increase in budget allows Google and other advertising platforms to place your ad in higher-quality spots. The higher the quality score it has, the more likely you are to get an increase in clicks for only a small increase in budget.
6. Measure Your Average CPC over a Longer Time Scale
This step won’t truly lower your cost-per-click, but it will give you a better perspective of your long-term spending. What some people might consider an alarming increase in costs may just be a minor anomaly that doesn’t impact their overall ad spend significantly.
If you’re looking at your CPC rates each day, then you're not gathering very meaningful data. There may be instances where costs spike for unknown reasons, but these have a minimal impact on your average CPC when you zoom out and look at the big picture.
Measuring your data over a longer period of time will show less fluctuation in your CPC rates and potentially show you a lower overall CPL. Therefore, by analyzing your stats properly, you’ll gain more meaningful insights that help you get the most out of your marketing efforts.
Bonus Step: Get Professional Advice
Whether your CPL has been jumping all over the place or you simply want to spend less on each click, expert advice can help you reach your goals quicker than ever. Professional digital marketers will work with you to optimize your advertising budget while multiplying your leads through proven techniques.
At WEB ROI, our team of online advertising experts can help you increase website traffic, generate more conversions and boost your brand’s visibility. Contact us today to get the professional guidance your business deserves!
