When it comes to reaping the incredible rewards of online marketing strategies, it’s never too early or too late to get started. One reliable arm of the digital advertising industry that a website can start their online marketing with is a customized, paid ad campaign. This is commonly known as pay-per-click, or PPC for short.
Uniquely-tailored PPC campaigns are best suited for those who aren’t satisfied with just increasing traffic to their website. A bespoke PPC campaign is for the organization or business owner who wants greater conversion rates from their website.
How much more can an e-commerce company, professional service provider, or retailer with a top-notch website get from a customized PPC ad campaign? This article will discuss what a PPC campaign is and let you in on the not-so-secret benefits.
What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a form of paid online advertising where the advertising party pays a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It is easily customizable and can be designed to target qualified buyers and new, relevant audience members.
Claiming valuable marketing space is done when an advertiser places a monetary bid on a chosen target keyword. This advertising model is like a silent auction, with the highest bidder claiming the top spot for ad space. The higher the place, the more likely the ad will be viewed by prospective clients.
You’ve likely seen examples of PPC campaigns while scrolling through social media, visiting your favourite websites, or searching from your smartphone or laptop. Examples of PPC ads you likely encounter each day include:
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Amazon Ads
How Does PPC Work?
A Brief Summary of PPC
Large and small businesses favour PPC marketing because advertisers only pay for advertising space once a reaction from a viewer occurs, not every time the ad is viewed. The response an advertiser pays for is the number of times an ad is clicked.
Each time an ad is clicked, audience members are redirected to the webpages the advertising company is promoting. This is a great way to drive more traffic to a specific web page or landing page and improve the site’s conversion optimization rates.
With PPC Ad Campaigns, You Pay For What Works
The PPC service tracks the number of clicks each ad generates. That number is then used to determine the cost of advertising for that campaign. A maximum budget can be set for each ad campaign, as well as the top bid rate.
Additionally, it can be adjusted as the advertiser sees fit. If the maximum budget for a campaign is reached before the campaign timeline runs out, the ads will automatically stop. With the automated workings of a PPC campaign, you’ll never go over your advertising budget.
Before You Begin
Let’s say a New York jewelry retailer decides to run a PPC ad campaign over the busy holiday season to promote their line of gold earrings. First, the store would determine which items they’d like featured and create quality ad copy promoting available products or services.
Next, they would work with a marketing team with PPC experience to determine a budget, timeline, and the searched terms to be used for the campaign. In conjunction with their marketing team, the jeweller would also decide which PPC platform would best suit their needs. It could be Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Amazon Ads, Microsoft Ads, or any number of them.
Build Momentum
Before you can run a custom PPC campaign, be prepared to do some groundwork and establish a good foundation. Let’s consider the jewelry store mentioned above as an example of how to set a solid base for PPC purposes.
If this is the jewelry store’s first time running a PPC campaign, there will be some work to do while the campaign gains traction. Initially, PPC advertising takes about two months before most companies see a decent Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).
However, when working with an experienced and skilled PPC professional, that initial patience will be worth the wait and eventually yield impressive ROAS for a business.
For businesses that are short on time and want a way to quickly reach current customers, consider email and social media marketing.
The Benefits of Pay-Per-Click Marketing
Find New Customers
Casting a wide net over several online audiences is easily done with pay-per-click adverts. Reaching new customers as well as a broad match of interested prospects is a key benefit of PPC.
Budget Conscious Approach
An obvious benefit of having a paid online marketing campaign is PPC’s innate ability for advertisers to control their ad spending budget. Advertisers set a cost maximum and can rest assured that budget will not become inflated without pre-approved edits.
Low Commitment
PPC ad campaigns come with lower commitment needs than most traditional marketing methods. This is especially useful in case the campaign direction needs to be adjusted midway through the defined timeline.
Learn Your Audience
The information and insight gathered about your audience and customers from a quality PPC campaign are invaluable. Some customer characteristics that can be gleaned from a PPC campaign include:
- Customer journey information
- Buyer persona details
- Accurate demographic data
Improve Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is critical for developing trust and authority in your target audience. The more exposure you have in the digital world, the more people will see your brand and become curious to explore.
Start Your PPC Ad Campaign Today
If you’re already running ads and want to improve your return on ad spend, we can help. Request your free PPC audit today. We’ll give you high value tips for running more profitable ad campaigns.
