The benefits of PPC advertising are plentiful. In fact, the more you use it and the more you learn about how to maximize its potential, the better your campaign will become.
One major disadvantage to PPC advertising is that it can be costly and time-consuming.
PPC ads are also known to interrupt your browsing experience, leading to a negative user experience.
However, there are many advantages to using PPC ads. They provide instant targeting capabilities and allow you control over how much budget you spend on campaign goals.
As with any advertising, it’s essential for marketers to monitor their campaigns and make adjustments when needed. So they don’t end up wasting money on ineffective ad placements.
In this blog post, I will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of PPC advertising so you can decide if this form of digital marketing would
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What Is PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising?
Pay-per-click advertising is also known as PPC, which stands for “pay per click.”
Essentially, when you type in a query into the search box on Google or any other search engine of your choice, you are taken to a specific website because it has been found relevant to what you searched.
Part of the reason this site is displayed is that the owner/administrator has paid some money to PPC networks.
These ads are called PPC ads or Paid Search Ads.
How Does PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Work?
Paid search works by companies bidding for ad space on search engine results pages.
Say you want to advertise that you sell “red widgets” so people will come and buy your red widgets.
You would pay Google (or its equivalent) a certain amount of money, say $1 per click, every time someone clicks on your ad. Google takes a cut, and the rest goes to you.
If no one clicks on your ad, then you don’t pay anything.
The search engine company makes money by charging a “click-through rate” or cost per click (CPC) for every person that clicks on an ad.
It is usually far less than the amount of money the advertiser pays for that click.
Why Should I Use PPC?
Your business will benefit if you use PPC (Pay-Per-Click).
It is less expensive than other forms of advertising such as newspaper or radio ads.
You are charged regardless of whether anyone calls to inquire about your company.
With PPC advertising, you can convert the lead into a sale once someone clicks on your ad.
Benefits Of PPC Advertising
PPC advertising is a type of online marketing that helps you reach your target audience.
It’s especially effective for businesses just starting and haven’t built up much of an organic following yet.
We discuss the ten benefits of PPC advertising for small businesses. If you’re interested in learning more about this powerful form of digital marketing, keep reading!
1. Low Cost of Entry
PPC advertising is a low-cost way to start an online marketing campaign.
It’s the most affordable form of digital marketing for businesses that are just beginning and haven’t built up much of an organic following yet. It can help boost your business!
Unlike SEO which can take years to see results, PPC advertising delivers instant benefits.
2. Easy To Set Up
It’s easy to set up, which means you get your campaign running in a matter of minutes!
It would help if you had the right keywords and budget.
Then it will be live so that people who are searching for what you offer will find you.
3. Fast Results
PPC advertising is an excellent way for small businesses to get quick results!
Your campaign can start generating leads and conversions within just a few days. It’s easy to track your progress in the early stages of your marketing efforts.
You’ll also see changes in the traffic on your website almost immediately, which makes it easy to track and see what’s working for you.
4. Targeted
PPC advertising is a targeted form of digital marketing that will help ensure your ads only reach people interested in what you’re selling.
Your ad will not see by someone who’s only looking for a haircut. But someone will see it in the market for your product or service.
5. Enhanced Brand Awareness
PPC ads are great at boosting brand awareness because they keep people on your website longer and can drive traffic back to you if done correctly.
These ads also help you build a relationship with your customers and increase the trust factor between them.
6. Better Conversion Rates
PPC ads are much better at converting than other forms of digital marketing.
They show up in searches when people are looking for what you’re offering.
So it’s easy for them to find you since you’re right there.
It is beneficial for small businesses that don’t have many resources to promote their products or services on other platforms like social media.
PPC advertising can be precious in that sense as well.
7. Increased Website Traffic
PPC ads can drive traffic back to your website. That is a huge benefit for small businesses that don’t have the funds to invest in other forms of digital marketing.
This form of advertising can also help you get qualified traffic because people actively search when they see these ads.
So it’s easy for them to find what they’re looking for on your site and convert them into leads or customers.
8. Tracking Tools
PPC advertising provides a ton of tracking tools to help you measure the success of your campaign.
That is helpful for small businesses who want to see how their marketing efforts are going and if they’re producing results or not.
You can track clicks, impressions, conversion rates, link acquisition and more. It is essential to see if your campaign has a positive impact or not.
9. PPC Ads Are Mobile Optimized
PPC ads are mobile-optimized and can see on both desktop computers and smartphones.
It means they’re easy to find when people shop in the stores because they can see these ads on their phones.
It also means they’re easy to find when people are searching for your product or service. And the search results will change based on where you are to help you find what you want most efficiently.
10. PPC Ads Are Flexible
PPC ads are flexible because they’re easy to set up. It can be tweaked anytime you want without having any negative consequences.
You never have to worry about doing anything permanent or making an irreversible decision regarding your marketing efforts. So this is an excellent option if you have the resources available.
Disadvantages of PPC advertising
We all know that PPC advertising has a lot of benefits, but there are also many disadvantages. It’s not for everyone, and it can be challenging to get started.
But what are the disadvantages of PPC advertising?
We’ll take a look at ten disadvantages of using PPC advertising!
1. Poor Quality Leads
PPC ads can sometimes lead to inferior quality leads.
It is partly because PPC advertising campaigns typically have a short shelf life.
That means you’re getting people who are not ready for your brand or what it offers right now and may never be interested at all.
You also don’t get any information on these people before they convert. So there’s no way of knowing if they even fit your target demographic!
2. Unreliable Results
PPC advertising is not the most reliable form of marketing.
You can’t predict how well your ads will perform. At the same time, some companies may enjoy success in their early stages.
There’s no indication that this will continue over time or as they grow into a more established brand.
PPC also relies heavily on competition within the desired keyword to be successful.
If you have a lot of competitors for what you’re looking for, forget about driving traffic unless you’ve got an unlimited budget!
3. Difficult to Manage
PPC advertising is not for the faint of heart.
It can be challenging to manage, and a lot goes into it. So if you’re looking for something easy, this might not be the best strategy for your business!
You have to write ads, create landing pages or campaigns, monitor performance metrics.
Even figure out what works well before deciding how much money you’ll need to make PPC work effectively, and then when it does start working.
4. Difficult to Scale
PPC advertising is a difficult strategy to scale, which means it’s not suitable for businesses of any size.
It can be expensive and time-consuming to find the right keywords. So you’re going to have an even harder time scaling up when your business grows!
You also don’t get much information on conversions before they happen, making scalability nearly impossible without extensive market research beforehand.
5. Poor for SEO
PPC advertising can hinder your efforts to rank well in search engines.
It is because the ads and keywords that you’re paying for are usually more expensive than those who would organically rank higher on a SERP (search engine result page).
It means people will click away from your site before they even see what you have to offer!
6. Potential for Fraud
PPC advertising is a tricky business that can often be fraught with fraud.
If you’re not careful, you might end up spending the money and getting nothing in return or, worse yet, have to deal with chargebacks from credit card companies!
You also don’t see any of these disadvantages when using Google AdWords. So this may be something you want to keep in mind before going through with it.
7. Competition
PPC advertising can be challenging to compete with, especially if you’re new or small.
The competition is so high these days that it’s nearly impossible to make a dent in the market without investing heavily and having access to an unlimited marketing budget!
8. Hard to Figure Out Which Keywords Work Best
Researching keywords with PPC advertising has its disadvantages.
They are often premium-priced, making them difficult to use unless you have an unlimited marketing budget or know what will work best before investing money into these ads!
It can also be tricky figuring out which ones are worth investing in because it’s always a guessing game.
Future Trends Of PPC Advertising
PPC advertising has been around for a long time, and it is still going strong.
It provides businesses with the opportunity to drive qualified leads through their website, which can do cost-effectively.
We will discuss ten future trends of PPC advertising that benefits for you!
Big Data
Many companies are investing in data analytics, and a big part is using it for PPC advertising.
The goal is to understand how their customer or prospect interacts with digital ads, optimize campaigns accordingly and measure the performance against other channels.
It enables them to find out what works best based on different insights such as location, time of day, device type, and more.
Artificial intelligence
We already see this trend but will more widely use it in the future.
Creative agencies and ad companies have been using AI for decades now, with Google being one of the first major players on this front.
However, as the technology progresses, will use AI more and more in PPC ad campaigns.
According to an article on Entrepreneur, “Using artificial intelligence for marketing tasks such as targeting relevant audiences or understanding customer sentiment has become a necessity.”
It means that ads with personalized messages are just around the corner!
Businesses can expect these ads to have a higher conversion rate. That will mean more potential customers.
PPC Automation
PPC automation is also predicted to grow in the next few years.
It means that more companies will be using robots to send out email campaigns and post content onto social media.
The benefit of PPC automation tools is that they can have a much wider reach than humans because they can post on multiple channels, such as blogs, Facebook and YouTube.
The use of PPC automation is predicted to grow by 2020 due to its success in recent years. And how cost-effective it can be for businesses with a limited marketing budget.
Smart Bidding
Smart bidding is the next trend in PPC that you need to be aware of.
This technology uses data collected from past campaigns and strategies for a more customized approach to advertising.
It means it can adjust bids based on what has been working well before.
Which gives businesses an advantage over those who don’t use this tool as they have fewer data to analyze.
Which means they are less likely to see as much success.
It is a trend worth paying close attention to!
Voice searches
Another trend to watch out for is voice searches.
Google has reported that the number of people using their search engine with a mobile phone or tablet increased by about 100% in just one year!
It means that more companies will be investing in online ads.
The next few years are predicted to be an excellent time for voice searches. That will lead to more and more people using this type of search engine.
It is an emerging trend that will have a massive impact on the advertising industry as a whole!
Augmented reality enabled ads
Augmented reality-enabled ads are the next thing to look out for in PPC.
This type of ad benefits is that it is more engaging and provides a better customer experience. They can interact with what they see on their screen, leading to increased conversion rates.
Another benefit of AR is that it will target specific customers, which means it can better serve their needs.
This ad also helps businesses by providing valuable information about potential purchases and what they want from an advert. So the design team’s workloads should decrease.
It is an emerging trend that will have a significant impact on the advertising industry as a whole!
Tips For Success With PPC Ads
PPC ads are an excellent way to drive traffic to your website and generate revenue.
Benefits of PPC advertising include targeting specific keywords, such as “cheap flights,” without investing a lot of money upfront.
Additionally, you can change or stop your campaign at any time if it is not successful.
If you want more success with PPC ads, these six tips will help get you started:
Targeting the right keyword is key to success with PPC ads.
Target high volume keywords
If you want your ad to show up when someone searches for “cheap flights,” make sure that this search term has a high volume of traffic on Google AdWords.
It will enable you to get visitors quickly and cheaply because advertisers bid against each other in real-time during a search.
Create a conversion goal
A conversion goal is an outcome you want to achieve with your PPC ads.
It will help keep you on track and make it easier for you to monitor progress.
Popular goals include signing up subscribers, downloading a free white paper or completing a contact form.
If possible, create conversion goals as soon as an ad campaign goes live.
It will provide a realistic impression of what you will achieve in the future.
Select the right bidding strategy
There are many PPC bidding strategies you can select.
The most popular options include Google’s Cost-per-Click (CPC) or Cost-per-Thousand Impressions (CPM).
Cost per click will cost you more than CPM, but it is generally preferred if your landing pages have high conversion rates.
It is because no impressions are wasted on someone who isn’t interested in your product or service.
And you pay as soon as a visitor clicks on the ad, not after they’ve seen it multiple times.
It’s important to note that both CPC and CPM campaigns have their benefits and disadvantages. So experiment with different strategies before settling for one.
Use negative keywords when necessary
Negative keywords help you exclude words that will result in your ad being shown to people who are not interested.
For example, if “cheap flights” is a high-volume keyword and brings up ads for cheap hotels on Google AdWords, adding the word “hotels” as a negative keyword will prevent these unwanted ads from running.
Negative keywords are beneficial for ensuring that your ad is shown to the right people.
For example, if you’re targeting “final sale,” adding the word “clearance” as a negative keyword will ensure that your ad is not shown to people who are looking for regular pricing.
Monitor campaigns regularly
It’s essential to monitor PPC ads regularly so that you can address any problems quickly.
It includes checking the keyword performance and checking on conversion rates.
If you notice that a particular ad is not converting well, stop running it immediately or change to another bidding strategy to improve your results.
Set up conversion tracking in AdWords and Analytics
If you are going to track conversions, it’s crucial that you also set up conversion tracking in AdWords and Analytics.
It will help you measure the success of your PPC ads more accurately and determine which ones generate the most traffic.
You can use Google Webmaster Tools to check how many clicks have resulted from each ad campaign and how many of those clicks have led to conversions.
Conclusion
PPC advertising is a great benefits to focus your marketing efforts on the potential customer who is most likely to buy.
Keep in mind that you should be aware of some disadvantages and trends when using this digital marketing strategy.
We hope these insights will give you the knowledge needed to create successful campaigns of your own or at least get started in the right direction!
If this sounds like something you need help with, let us know.
