How Does PPC Advertising Fit Into Your Marketing Strategy

If you’re new to the world of digital marketing, then PPC might seem like something of a dirty word. After all in a world where we crave authenticity, such direct marketing methods can feel a little out of place. But it shouldn’t be that way. In reality, PPC advertising is just another tool in the marketing workshop – one that, when used properly, can be very effective for your business.

The most common mistake people make with PPC advertising is seeing it in a vacuum, and not as part of your overall search engine marketing and search engine optimisation strategy. Despite what you might think, PPC fits perfectly into the world of marketing strategy, and can help it generate better results across the board. You just need to use it properly.

What Should You Use PPC For?

Awareness: Because PPC is run through and by Google, it carries some pretty hefty weight when it comes to SEO. So if you’re looking to get your brand onto the first page of Google, running some PPC campaigns is a great way to catapult it up there quicker than your traditional organic SEO strategies will. This is particularly true if you’re running awareness-led campaigns, where to goal is for prospects to always see your company name and product/service in that search results. Clicks are a bonus at this stage – but they should still be directed to tailored informative landing pages.

Conversions: If you’re looking to promote a specific product, service or sale, then PPC will be your best performer every day of the week. By putting together a cost-related, conversion-oriented PPC campaign, you can put your promotion right in front of your target audience and entice them to buy. And by directing clicks to the appropriate pages, purchases can be made in a couple of clicks, dramatically increasing your ROI.

Engagement: This one is slightly further ‘out there’, but PPC can also be used as a way to increase brand engagement. Because PPC campaigns are flexible, you could use them to inform a new audience of your presence on social media, share select informative content with them of help create a mailing list by promoting free data capture lead content, life free downloads. In this case, landing pages should be focussed on engagement, including the ability the share the content.

Are There Any Drawbacks?

Like everything in life, there are positives and negatives to PPC advertising. We’ve covered the positives already, so in the interests of fairness, we want to share a few of the drawbacks to using PPC in your marketing as well.

Perception: Even in the modern age where being advertised to has become the norm, there are still people who are wary of the paid ads in Google. I have even met people who will refuse to click on a paid ad link (although when asked why, they couldn’t tell me). So within some circles there is still a negative perception of PPC ads. But thankfully this is rare, and is only a drawback if those people fall into your target audience.

Cost: One of the ‘P’’s in PPC stands for ‘pay’, so it should be unsurprising that cost is one of the drawbacks to PPC. And there ate companies who have wasted an enormous amount of money on ill-advised and badly managed PPC campaigns in the past. However, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get results – you just need to put the effort into getting it right, or hiring someone who will.  

Management: A PPC campaign is only as good as its management. So if you aren’t really sure what you’re doing or you have someone who isn’t that great managing your campaigns, then they can become a huge flop and cost you a fair bit of money. From choosing the wrong products to selecting bad keywords, not keeping things updated and not creating landing pages, bad management is the killer of PPC. So unless you have the time or money to invest in getting the management right, it’s often best to steer clear.

That said, every marketing strategy has its drawbacks, but when it comes to PPC, the benefits outweigh them every time. Going forward, PPC should be an important part of your general marketing strategy, no matter what you sell. And not just because it’s another tool you can use. Because it’s a tool that has a proven track record, the backing of the search engine you’re trying to win over, and a level of measurability and proven ROI that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s perfect if you know you need to do something to be found online, but you aren’t sure what yet.

At Ad-Extra, we help businesses get to the top of Google using these paid ads. Because we only focus on paid advertising methods, we know all the ins and outs of setting up and running successful PPC campaigns, so we can help you hit the ground running and get ahead of your competitors. For more information, or to start your PPC journey today, just get in touch with the team at Ad-Extra and book your free, no obligation consultation.