Paid advertising is one of the cornerstones of online marketing. Sure, every business wishes they could receive unlimited traffic without having to pay for it, but that’s an outdated dream that simply isn’t possible.
But paid ads aren’t all that bad. In fact, when done right, paid ads can be far more effective than organic traffic sources, anyway.
Pay-per-click, otherwise known as PPC advertising is one of the best ways to boost your web traffic, getting new leads and customers every single day. You are able to target very specific types of people who are likely to purchase.
Your ads can show up in the places where your target users spend the most time. And the best part of it all? You only pay when they click through to your website.
If people ignore your ads, you don’t have to pay for them. Want to know why else PPC marketing is awesome? Keep reading to find out now.
Why Other Types of Ads are Less Effective
There are many types of ads you can run online. You can use ad networks such as Google Adwords, and many others, to create banner ads, which can be displayed on a wide range of websites.
You can create social media ads, that show up in newsfeeds when people are scrolling through the latest posts. You can create product ads that show up on shopping websites like Facebook Marketplace.
You can create YouTube ads, where your ad interrupts a user’s video to talk about your company. And you can create many other types of ads as well.
But the problem with most of these types of ads is that they cost you money, even if nobody clicks on them. You are paying for the slight chance that someone might actually be interested in your ad. And this leads to lots of wasted money.
With this strategy, you are spending and hoping that something works. But with PPC ads, it’s a different strategy altogether.
The Benefits of Pay-Per-Click
So why are PPC ads so much better than other forms of advertising? Here are our favorite benefits.
Only Pay for Results
As mentioned earlier, when it comes to PPC marketing, you only pay each time a user clicks on your ad. That means that by the time they reach your website, they’ve already expressed interest in your company and are more likely to make a purchase or subscribe to your content.
So for all of the thousands of people who see your ad and ignore it, they won’t cost you a dime. With PPC, you only pay for those users who are expressing interest. Then, it’s up to your website, your design, your copy, and your landing page to convert them.
Immediate Results
When it comes to PPC advertising, feedback and results are instant. Campaigns can go live right away and people will start seeing (and hopefully clicking) on your ads right then and there.
That means you’ll get instant feedback as to the effectiveness of a campaign. So you can make adjustments quickly, before wasting lots of money. This helps you dial in your ad campaigns much more effectively.
Highly Targeted
Each ad network has different levels of user targeting. Some companies, like Google or popular social media platforms, have extensive data on their users, allowing you to advertise to perfectly targeted traffic.
So if you know what type of user you are targeting, which you should know before spending any money on ads, you can send your ads directly to them, not wasting your time on those who are unlikely to make a purchase.
Accessible to Any Business
With PPC ad networks, you are free to set your desired budget. You can set a daily limit, ensuring you don’t blow past your marketing budget right away. Or you can set a cost per click limit.
Either way, you can determine how much you are willing to spend every day and every month. Without a minimum spending requirement, any business, new or experienced, can get in on the action with PPC.
Leverage Experts
Many businesses try to save money by launching ad campaigns on their own. Unless you employ advertising experts, it’s best to outsource this process.
When you hire out PPC services, you get to leverage the knowledge of experts who have been succeeding in this space for many years. That means you can have an effective campaign from day one, instead of spending months and months trying to figure it all out.
If you want results fast, you can have them. It just means bringing on the right person or company to make it a reality.
Plan Your Advertising and Marketing Funnel
So what do you need to know before launching your PPC campaign? The first thing you need to define is your target customer. Once you know exactly who you want to market to, you need to plan your marketing funnel.
Most of the time, you can’t run an ad directly to a product and expect to get sales. You have to bring people into a marketing funnel.
First, you need to expose new users to your products and services by creating interesting, engaging content. This could be videos, blog posts, informative articles, inspiring social media posts, or other forms of content.
Once you’ve attracted a user, you need to capture them. You can do this by getting them to follow you on social media, or by signing up for your newsletter list.
Once the user has interacted with your company, they will be aware of your products and services. You can then run retargeting ads to them, as they are now much more likely to actually make a purchase from you.
You need to take users on a journey, from exposure to your company to interest in your products, and then finally to becoming a customer.
Incorporate PPC Into Your Marketing Strategy
Pay-per-click advertising can be an extremely effective form of marketing. It works even better when it’s part of a well-thought-out marketing plan that combines multiple platforms, such as social media, SEO, and email.
And once you have it up and running, you can tweak it as you please until you start getting the results you desire. If it isn’t working, you can turn it off at any point in time.
You never have to waste money with PPC, which is what makes it so great.
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