I'm a firm believer in being prepared, whether its for a camping trip or a PPC campaign. Here are some 8 quick tips for planning a successful PPC campaign.

Define your unique selling proposition
How do you stand out fro the crowd?

Define your PPC goals and objectives in measureable terms
Examples: Increase traffic X percent, acquire X number of new leads, etc. You must define your goals in a manner that is quantifiable so that you can determine the success of your efforts.

Set your campaign starting and end dates

Establish targets for click-through rate (CTR)
Click-through rates tend to range from 1% to 5% of the number of impressions. The formula is:
Click-Through Rate % = Total Number of Ad Clicks / Total Number of Ad Impressions * 100

Establish targets for conversion rates
Conversion rates vary but a reasonable target might be from 5% to 20% of the number of ad click-throughs. A quick view of the formula is:
Conversion Rate % = Total Number of Conversion Actions / Total Number of Ad Impressions * 100
or
Conversion Rate % = Total Number of Conversion Actions / Total Number of Ad Click-Throughs * 100

Set your campaign budget and ROI goal
Revenue increase or expense decrease, versus the cost of your campaign

Determine the value of each keyword and visitor
Divide the average number of new customers each month by the average number of monthly website visitors to arrive at the percentage of visitors who actually become customers. Next, multiply this percentage by your average profit margin on sales to new customers to determine an estimate a visitor's is worth on their first visit. Knowing these values will help you estimate your maximum bid prices for PPC success.

Plan how to track your PPC campaign results
Web logs? Analytic tools? Do have have tools in place that will help you track the success of your campaign? How will you track conversions?