
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)