We are serious when we say that your business, no matter big or small, can reach millions of customers. The question is: Are you using the right mix of techniques in your digital strategy to generate quality leads? And most importantly, have you explored the immense potential of PPC marketing to target specific audiences and make quick gains on your ROI?
Using a mix of different channels in the digital marketing strategy is a good way of generating leads. And PPC has proven to be highly effective. Today, 45% of small businesses invest in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and an impressive 64% of brands have decided to ramp up investment in PPC in the coming 12 months.
By using PPC advertising, you can cut the clutter and directly pitch your products and services to an audience more likely to be interested. And it starts from the day you float your campaign. But what’s the catch? It comes at a cost. You need to pay for it, unlike SEO.
Scope of the blog
By the end of the article, you will have a fair idea about PPC. The article focuses on PPC, keeping SEO in perspective. The pros and cons of both methods will equip business owners and decision makers as to which options suit their business needs or whether a judicious mix of both is required.
We are discussing the suitability of one customer acquisition strategy over the other. While looking into their benefits, we will stress more on PPC.
What Is Pay-Per-Click PPC Marketing?
PPC, or pay-per-click, as the name suggests, is a standard advertising model in digital marketing. Businesses showcase their products and services through ads. A business using PPC to run ads agrees to pay a certain fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It’s like a paid version for gaining visitors. You pay to appear at the top of the search engines.
In the image shared earlier, the first two links with “sponsored” are paid PPC advertisements, while the organic result appears below it.
Organic
traffic requires no payment of a fee. Advertising platforms are search engines,
social media platforms, and third-party websites that host these ads, putting
your ads to the prospective visitor whenever he types a search query that
matches the products or services your business offers.
While there are other
forms of marketing, handsome ROI makes paid advertising one of the best marketing channels.
In case you are wondering if people click on PPC advertisements on Google. While some users ignore the ads, a million others click on a PPC ad if it matches their search intent.
It’s a no-brainer that with whopping 8.5 billion daily searches, Google’s platform Google Ads is the dominant player in this segment.
Different PPC platforms
Google Ads is one of the many platforms out there providing paid advertising. We list here other popular ones.
- Facebook- You can choose to run your ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, or across them all.
- LinkedIn- Ideally suited for B2B companies and highly recommended, LinkedIn Ads are displayed in the home feeds of the specific target audience.
- Bing Ads- A Microsoft proprietary, serves as an excellent alternative to Google Ads, and only second to it, the network runs ads on Yahoo and Bing search engines.
- Twitter- The ad is essentially a tweet. Choose from text, image, video, carousel, Live, or "Moment" Ads.
- Pinterest- Pinterest Ads are optimized for mobile devices, allowing you to target individuals using smartphones or tablets.
Since ads run on your money and involve know-how of bidding and other metrics to get optimized results, it is always good to have the help of social media marketing companies.
Benefits of PPC marketing
When we talk of the benefits of PPC marketing, we are referring to the effectiveness of PPC over other forms of marketing channels. Let’s look into it.
1. Gives faster results
The
ads get clicks quickly. While the conversion isn’t the same as clicks, you sure
have visitors streaming into your business website. Businesses aim differently.
On most occasions, it is about profitability, but if you are aiming for clicks,
PPC guarantees it.
As the campaign progresses, it churns valuable data. You get to know which strategy suits your business best, what keywords you need to target, and, likewise, even demographical data to help fine-tune it in real-time.
2. Assured increase in traffic
As your product and services are prominently visible, visitors will click on it. In a way, traffic is made to flow to your web pages. While the conversion into a purchase depends on other factors like business reputation, quality of services, etc., PPC accurately connects the search user to your business.
3. Reach your target audience
How does PPC help you target the right audience? A PPC campaign can produce exciting results in customer acquisition by using the most critical set of keywords that match user intent and target audience.
What makes it interesting is the range of customization PPC offers. It can be country-specific, state-based, city-specific, or even in a small radius! The host of targeting options ensures precise audience targeting- personalization and segmentation. These are the parameters for targeting your audience.
4. Cost-effective
A business has to pay only for the visitor it receives. Other advertising models offer space to ads and similarly charge for it, but there’s no guarantee it will attract leads.
It is possible to hit the right set of customers using a well-defined precision-based PPC marketing strategy. Also, you can loosen your purse string or tighten it depending on how your PPC campaign performs.
5. Measurable and trackable
As with all things, initially, you might need some help designing your campaigns, but later on, as you gather experience, it is easy to create one.
Also, it’s easy to measure success and ROI with granular details such as impressions, clicks, and conversions (depending on your business goals). As traffic is diverted to landing pages created for the campaign, Google Analytics helps you track your conversions and spending.
6. Puts you in control
Budget flexibility is the key element of PPC. And a host of other customization options to decide the kind of audience you wish to reach. You can start small, set your ad budget, and determine your spending. Go on to weigh the results and scale up if campaigns hit right.
If it doesn’t, you may either pause or abandon the idea immediately. From deciding the keywords to making real-time fine-tuning, you are in the driving seat with PPC.
PPC metrics
Monitoring
your PPC metrics is essential to ensure your ads generate sales and contribute
to your company's objectives. It allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your
PPC campaigns and assess your success in engaging your target audience.
Here are
the key PPC metrics to consider:
- Clicks: This indicates the percentage of people who click on your paid search ads.
- Average cost per visit: The average amount paid for each click on your ads.
- Click-Through Rates (CTR): The frequency with which your ad is clicked after being displayed.
- Shared Impressions: The frequency with which a keyword's advertisement is shown.
- Conversion: The percentage of clicks that result in a successful sale.
- Rate of Conversion: The cost incurred for each paying conversion.
- Custom Cost per Conversion: The average value of a complete conversion.
- Return On Paid Search Metrics: The percentage change in the value of your Paid Search Metrics.
By keeping track of these PPC metrics, you can gain valuable insights into your campaign's performance and optimize your efforts to achieve better results.
How PPC works?
Let’s say your business deals in shoes for daily wear, and you want to promote it online. And you wish to run ads. Here’s how PPC would work for you.
1. Creating a campaign
2. Ad creation
Next, create an ad that showcases your product or service. This ad will have a headline, text, and a link to your website or a specific landing page. Make sure it’s compelling.
Whenever you create or edit an ad, it has to pass through a review stage. The ad status changes to "Approved" when it is found to adhere to Google policies after review. Your ad is up and running.
3. Keyword Selection
Next, you choose specific keywords or phrases that are relevant to your business. You have to look into the popular search query (keyword) people use to buy shoes of a specific type. If you choose “ budgetary motion control shoes in Dubai” because you feel there’s a potential for sale, you must bid for it.
4. Bid Amount
Here's the bidding process. Since other competing businesses in your niche might be considering creating a campaign around the same keyword, you must compete with them to target the exact keywords.
A PPC bid (or keyword bid) in the auction, much like in the real world, helps you secure a top position in the search results. Businesses bid on specific keywords or keyword groups.
The most commonly opted bidding choices are:
- Pay per click (referred to as cost per click or CPC)
- Pay per thousand impressions (known as cost per mile or CPM)
- Pay per conversion/acquisition (referred to as cost per acquisition or CPA)
5. Ad Display
When someone searches for those keywords, the search engine or platform looks at all the advertisers who have placed bids on those keywords. Again it should be noted here the ads will appear depending on your choice of "broad match, phrase match, exact match, and negative match" for keywords. The platform then decides which ads to show based on factors like bid amount, ad quality, and relevance.
6. Cost and Payment
7. User Visit
8. Campaign Monitoring
As your campaign runs, you can track its performance through various metrics like the number of clicks, conversions, and the cost of each click. The insights help you understand your ads' effectiveness and whether you get a good return on investment (ROI). You can scale up incrementally or stop if it isn't working for your business.
Overall, PPC is a flexible and measurable way to advertise online. The only caveat is as a business owner, you need to sharpen your insights when bidding, or you may end up depleting your money.
What are the cons of using PPC marketing?
1. It is paid
Before utilizing PPC, you need to take stock of your budget. Are you willing to commit a certain amount towards it? Simply said, ads aren't for you if you are cash-strapped or your business limits spending.
It's undeniable some ads are highly profitable, and the leads can bring your enough money to fuel your next campaign, but you still need to invest initially. Moreover, if you are not designing your campaigns wisely, you may soon run out of money to support them.
2. Incremental cost
You may use PPC increasingly for your business, spurred by handsome revenues. But, due to a highly competitive market, the costs keep increasing. And Google revises the rates now and then. Cost per lead and cost per conversion increase as you decide to scale up with time. Each year you need to shell out more money to acquire customers.
What is SEO?
What SEO does is it places your products and services before the prospective online searcher organically. Since the buyer only clicks on the first page of the results, the collective aim of SEO is to help your pages rank higher.
A higher ranking means more traffic to your web pages. Also, Google has become the de facto leader in the search. No wonder most SEO techniques aim to rank a webpage higher on Google results.
The topper scoops a massive 39.8% of the total CTR. Imagine the traffic drifting to this top-ranking site. An un-optimized website can mean poor design, lackluster content, and the absence of clear CTAs. Homepages of as much as 70% of small business websites need a CTA, which is a missed opportunity.
SEO addresses
these pain points, ensuring traffic flows organically to your website.
Pros of SEO
1. It is scalable
You can gradually build a system that pays off in the long run. Keeping your website optimized and up to date, along with other SEO efforts while your authority in the given niche moves up, is all you need to do to drive organic traffic continually.
2. It's economical
You need money to fuel your paid campaigns. You can only do PPC if you have enough resources to invest. SEO is free from such constraints. While you may be paying for digital marketing services to get your SEO (strategy, content, execution) done, you do not pay to get ranked. Once you have implemented a robust SEO strategy, it keeps bearing fruits.
3. Profitability
SEO is a hands-down winner in the long run. As you build authority in your space, strengthen your backlink profile, and optimize your online presence progressively, you attract loyal customers who believe in your brand messaging. A comparison with PPC over a longer time frame shows a very low customer acquisition cost, making it an attractive option for small businesses. According to Hubspot, SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate.
The cons of SEO
What are the cons of using SEO? Let’s break them down.
1. Times time
It takes time for SEO results to be visible, which can take months or even an entire year. Since the growth is organic, it comes at the cost of time. Optimization, building authority, and measuring different strategies' relative success or failure take time. Paid ads are a better option if you want immediate results.
2. Highly competitive
SEO is competitive due to the higher ROI. A business has to write tons of customer-centric, people-first quality content, which search engines may not always reward.
3. Google updates
Not to mention, every time Google makes minor and significant changes to its algorithm, your business needs to catch up.
PPC Vs. SEO- Key parameters to consider
Deciding between PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) depends on your specific marketing goals, budget, and the nature of your business. It’s worthwhile to measure them now on particular parameters.
1. Cost and Budget
- PPC: With PPC, you pay for each click on your ad. While quick results are guaranteed, but costs can add up, especially for highly competitive keywords.
- SEO: SEO is generally considered more cost-effective in the long run since you're not paying for clicks. Still, you require an upfront investment and ongoing efforts to optimize your website and content.
2. Results
- PPC: With PPC, you can see immediate results as your ads start running as soon as you launch your campaign.
- SEO: With SEO, it takes time before tangible results are seen. It may take weeks or months to see significant improvements in your organic search rankings.
3. Sustainability
- PPC: The traffic from PPC stops as soon as you stop paying for ads. It's a short-term solution.
- SEO: SEO efforts, if appropriately executed, offer long-term compounding results. Once your website ranks well organically, you can continue to receive traffic without ongoing costs.
4. Keyword Targeting
- PPC: You can select specific keywords for which you want your ads to appear, allowing for more precise targeting. The kind of customization is impressive.
- SEO: SEO also involves keyword targeting, but it's focused broadly on optimizing your website to rank for relevant keywords
5. Competition
- PPC: Highly competitive industries can have expensive clicks, making it challenging for smaller businesses to compete effectively.
- SEO: While SEO competition exists, it's often easier for smaller businesses to target niche keywords and gradually improve their rankings.
Which one to choose- SEO or PPC?
Most businesses have to deal with a recurring confusion: are paid ads better than SEO for lead generation? So which one has better returns? Now that we have looked closely into both channels' pros and cons, we can safely put forward a conclusive argument.
- PPC can be a good choice if you need quick results and have the budget for it, especially for time-sensitive promotions or product launches that need immediate focus.
- For long-term sustainability and cost-effectiveness, SEO is a valuable time-tested strategy that can steadily increase your organic traffic, build your online presence and bring loyal customers
- In the third case, why not have the best of both worlds? We recommend using both in your digital marketing strategy to maximize visibility and ROI. PPC boosts your SEO and offers invaluable data to refine your digital gains.
Winding up
We at Proquantic have been at the forefront of digital transformation for businesses. We have your back if you are vexed about managing campaigns or if previous PPC efforts didn't produce the expected results.
As a PPC marketing agency of
repute, our dedicated team of internet marketers is more than happy to assist
you with PPC management or just about any pain points in your digital journey.
We recommend you speak with our strategist about PPC campaign management
services.
Do not hesitate to contact us! We are here to further your business goals.
