PPC or pay-per-click advertising should be considered for any small business.internet marketing strategy. PPC offers some unique advantages over other types of marketing campaigns. The most common type of PPC advertising is Google AdWords. In this model, the company selects keywords for popular Google search phrases, and then bids on them when Google users use those phrases in organic search queries. If the bid is successful, the company’s pay-per-click ad appears in the Google user’s search results; if the user clicks on the ad, the company is charged the bid price. Typically, the company establishes a monthly AdWords budget, and once the budget is exhausted, bids are suspended until the next month.
First, let’s take a brief look at the advantages and disadvantages of PPC, and then compare it to other common types of small business Internet marketing campaigns.
Advantages and Disadvantages of PPC
On the plus side, PPC can be turned on and off quickly. Once ads have been written and a landing page developed (a landing page is the page users are taken to when they click on an ad), the Google AdWords can be used immediately to manage the campaign. Another important advantage: PPC can be continuously improved through the testing of various offers, landing page designs, keyword targets and other variables that affect user interest. Thus, a well-managed campaign usually produces higher click-through rates and conversions as it goes on.
On the negative side, PPC may require a hefty advertising budget — upwards of $1,000 per month — especially in competitive niches. Since click-through rates and conversion rates are often in the single digits, it takes a lot of volume to produce enough leads to generate ROI. Doing PPC on a small scale, without professional keyword research and campaign management is seldom effective unless the company has limited competition and/or a high-ticket product or service where only one or two conversions a year could pay for an entire year’s campaign.
PPC versus SEO, Social Media and Email Marketing
Other common small business internet marketing options are SEO, social media, and email marketing. SEO or search engine optimization, is a long-term campaign aimed at making a company’s website content appear prominently in organic search results. Its primary goal is to generate sales leads or e-commerce revenue. Social media marketing uses social media platforms to promote branding; establish credibility; drive traffic to a company’s website to generate sales, leads and referrals. Email marketing is the systematic use of email messaging to reach a target audience. Email is used for building customer relationships, driving sales and lead generation, and brand building.
Compared to SEO, PPC can achieve results more quickly, and be turned on and off at a moment’s notice. SEO is a long-term proposition, but after a period of years, many companies experience very strong and consistent results. PPC and SEO are often effective in combination, since having advertising and organic visibility on Google increases the pool of potential leads and drives competitor visibility lower.
Compared to social media, PPC produces results (good or bad) that are far easier to measure. Social media marketing can be highly effective for branding and customer engagement, but if the focus is on lead generation or e-commerce revenue, PPC tends to outperform social media. Again, these marketing campaigns can work in concert; for instance, using PPC to generate sales leads quickly, while using social media to steadily build brand awareness.
Compared to email marketing, PPC is usually more expensive to implement, since email-marketing campaigns can be managed in-house on inexpensive platforms. Both email and PPC can be effective for lead or e-commerce revenue generation, but a lot depends on the quality of a company’s mailing list. A strong, up-to-date, relevant mailing list should produce strong results no matter what the objective. A wise approach would be to test both PPC and email to determine which works best.
PPC and Email Marketing Help Sales
A final advantage of incorporating PPC into a small business marketing strategy is that you can use campaign data to improve all of your sales efforts. As PPC campaigns test various offers, messaging approaches, and audience segments, certain ones will become clear winners. Sales can use this information to sharpen their presentations and improve close rates.
Brad Shorr is the B2B Marketing Director at Straight North, an Internet marketing firm in the Chicagoland area that provides SEO, PPC and web design services to businesses across the United States. Some of Brad’s articles have been featured on Forbes, Moz and Smashing Magazine. Follow him on Twitter: @bradshorr.
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